First Impressions: Akash: If Bomber's a guy, he's an online mail bomb..get it? Matt: Got the tar and feathers? Ryan: Let's do this!
In the past couple of years, a good portion of the gaming community felt that Hudson Soft's once hailed Bomberman series, lost its focus after moving from the Saturn to the world of 3D consoles. In an attempt to incorporate more modern visuals along with a one-player story mode on systems such as the N64, the franchise received limited success and gamers enthusiasm over the released titles seemed to calm down quite a bit. Learning from past mistakes, and taking the series back to its original roots, Bomberman is set to make a return on the Dreamcast this August, filled with the original style of the ever so fun multiplayer gameplay and creating a new venture into the world online gaming.
In past, Hudson has successfully created online titles like Atomic Bomberman on the PC, and NetLink Saturn Bomberman, featuring up to ten players with absolutely no slowdown in the process. If Dreamcast can hold true to that effect in the upcoming version, every fan of the original Bomberman series and more should make a massive return for the classic multiplayer movement.
By adapting to modern times, yet taking different route from creating graphics parallel to the N64 versions, the visuals in Bomberman Online will feature the 3D cell-shading technique. The method has been displayed in a handful of Dreamast titles in recent times, most notably Jet Grind Radio. Now, the models of the Bomberman characters appear to be taken of out cartoons, and placed within bright boards and backgrounds, full of color and animation.
Although the hilarious special effects and impacting explosions are a big element of the series, the gameplay and modes within Bomberman Online play a much larger part in determining the success of this multiplayer blast. Addictive action and frantic gameplay should lead to hysterical adoration from the gaming public once again, through modes like battle royal, hyper bomber, panel attack, and submarine attack. Before battling online chums and other friends at home, you can acquire items through a single player mode, and customize your own Bomber character, much like the idea found in the N64 version. There will even be an option to trade obtained parts with other online gamers through the collection panel mode. Thus, fashion is everything, and when you re-enter the multiplayer battles you will be able to make a big impact on your friends.