I always had fond memories of Bomberman games and clones so obviously I love this game. Still...
The game features a quest and a battle mode. The battle mode allows you to play versus other players and the CPU. Quest mode is.. well... a quest you have to fulfill.
The quest is fairly simple and the puzzles are rather easy to solve, lets say it certainly doesn't require a lot of skills to solve them, they aren't probably even that challenging for the youngest who play this game. However there is enough to collect and some of these extras, like hidden Karabons which are Pokemon-like beings who enhance your skills, aren't that easy to find. These extras are not necessary to complete the game but they can keep you busy for a bit longer and make the quest more interesting if you really search out for them. Overall the quest seems to be targeted towards the younger players.
The storyline and dialogue isn't that great if you look at the game as an RPG/adventure, the game is more emphasized on action and blowing things up than a compelling storyline and interesting personal dialogue. Basicly the whole plot revolves about your friend Max who has disappeared during a mission. You have to find him and figure out what happened to him. This is surely interesting enough but the story could've been better even though it comes with some nice twists now and then.
During the quest you can visit villages and talk to people to figure out what happened to Max. Some of the dialogue seems a bit quirky and forced, it doesn't make you want to stay in the villages for a longer time to discover what the inhabitants have to tell you and you will certainly not build up a certain relationship with them. They often just tell you two things and then you're off to go back in the wilderness. Sometimes villagers are hidden at akward places, you think you've hit it big time because he/she was so well hidden but in the end you notice they have very little to say. This can be a bit disturbing now and then.
But overall these are just minor things to deal with and you can quickly forgive the game because the action is nice and blowing up things legally is of course, awesome. The music and sounds suit the game very well and the graphics are neat. The intro of the game has an anime look which certainly builds up the atmosphere around the quest.
Where the game really excels in is the multiplayer battle. First of all you can fully enjoy this game with friends with just one gamepak and two link cables for 4 player mayhem. With one game-pak you will still have a large selection of fields to play in. This makes the game diverse to play, more so than for example Mario-kart Super Circuit which just lets you play on one map with only one character, which gets boring pretty fast.
Secondly the multiplayer battle gives you a lot of things to set up and toy with. Most noticeably is a mini game where the winner of the round is allowed to try to catch an upgrade with a fishing-rod. You can also setup the intelligence of the CPU, time of the round and other little things that make the game more diverse.
If you want to play a Battle you can do this alone versus the CPU whom isn't exactly the brightest but it is certainly not as dumb as a doornail. It never really goes for the kill unless you are an obvious target like when you run into a dead-end for example. The CPU is good at dodging explosions till the end of the game, which requires some good Bomberman skills to take it out.
What makes the battle most enjoyable is that you are not really dead even if you were blown up. If you turn on 'revenge' you are allowed to throw in bombs from the sides of the field to annoy your enemies, hoping that you will kill them both at the same time during the process which results in a draw.
Bomberman Tournament is a great multiplayer game, the quest isn't that great and won't keep you up at night but it is a nice addition to an already great concept. Too bad the quest isn't worked out as well as the battle otherwise this game would be superb. Certainly a must have for the GBA if you like to play with friends and already played other Bomberman games/clones!