Bomberman has to be my favorite dark-horse video game hero of all time. He may not get the fawning press coverage of, say, Sonic the Hedgehog or even Crash the Bandicoot, but he's an easy order of magnitude cooler than those corporate momma's mammals. It's the bombs, people: those glorious exploding spheres which can sow discord amongst your enemies and crumble maze walls faster than a battalion of Joshua-trained trumpeters ever could! No super-speed spin jump or hokey martial-arts move can compete with the raw concussive force (and resulting glee) of a well-placed bomb. Hudson's mobile Bomberman port, Bomberman Special, adds a dangerously addictive and compulsively playable new chapter to the grand Bomberman saga which has spanned so many consoles over the years; as it will reduce your productivity levels to rubble, it's somewhat akin to carrying a lit stick of intellectual dynamite around in your pocket.
Basically, Bomberman's a nutty superhero who runs around a maze, dropping bombs hither and yon with careless abandon. He's got no permit, no training, and no conscience: He is every OSHA inspector's worst nightmare, and if he gets in the way of one of his own bomb blasts, he's worm food. It's tough work trying to keep this holy terror alive, saving him from a coterie of nasty enemies--and himself--while setting charges and blowing up blocks to reveal the level exit; you will come to love the little scoundrel like a son anyway.
It's tough not to love this game. The graphics aren't spectacular, but clean and suited to the purpose of explosive mayhem; I dig the strangely haunting title screen music too. Blowing stuff up with bombs is undeniably fun. There are tons of nifty power-ups that will make Bomberman even cooler than he already is--you'll be able to lay more bombs, increase explosion range, walk through walls, raise the dead, balance the budget, and ride the bus for half fare. You'll feel especially awesome and ninjalike when you get the remote-detonation power-up, which allows you to set up an entire chain reaction, get to safety, and then pull the trigger at leisure. On the negative side, it'll be a long while before you encounter anything resembling a challenge in Bomberman Special; the first 10 levels or so are cake, and there's no way to make the game more difficult other than progress through it.
If you are at all a fan of puzzle or strategy games, you've already downloaded Bomberman Special. If you aren't, you probably will be soon after playing this game.
