SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 PC Review

Good ol’ Konami Digital Entertainment, or more casually known as just Konami, seems they’ve been quite busy, but then again…. They never stopped being great. Konami is probably one of the longest standing developers at the moment, considering they were founded in 1969, but they hit the ground running right from the start and simply never stopped. With early releases like Contra (Yes, that Contra) in 1987 on your stone-age console to more recent but just as popular games like the Metal Gear Solid series.

 

Now, not everything related to Konami is as serious. Sometimes, you need something different or something a little silly; believe it or not, they released games that fit that description too. Though with their incredibly long history, it seems they’re also adamant about reviving many of their old releases and bringing them to the modern age. One of these revived games is SUPER BOMBERMAN 2, though it’s now called SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2, released on 13 September, with all the whacky goodness with some extra sprinkled on top for that little bit of flare.

SUPER BOMBERMAN R1 took us on an explosive adventure against the evil Emperor Buggler, now, with SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2, you’ll have to embark on another adventure to save the Ellons from the Lugian threat. Not much is known about the Lugians except that they’re after Ellonites, a strange and powerful crystal that is semi-closely guarded by the Elons. Meanwhile, , our famously chaotic team, the Bomberman Brothers, are following a new lead regarding the Black Moon that has been destroying cities.

As usual, the brothers tend to argue or bicker with each other and their leader, White. However, this is cut short when they get a strange energy signal from Planet Fulvita. White will, as usual, try to be careful when exploring the new planet, but the rest of his siblings have to add in their chaotic energy and send them flying into the unknown, where they meet the Ellons. Just like that, you’ll be thrown into the tutorial, and the first thing you’ll need to get acquainted with is your unlimited stockpile of bombs.

 

Naturally, it wouldn’t be SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 without bombs. Great for destroying enemies and soft rocks, the world is mostly open for you to explore with a bomb in hand, though you can also blow yourself up at the same time if you’re not careful. However, just like the first game, bombs are literally your only weapon, but it’s also all you need. Bear in mind that the Lugians you’ll be going up against will also use bombs and some of the variations.

Things might seem slightly slow at the start of SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2, mostly because your movement speed starts at a base level. Luckily, all your stats increase, movement speed included, with each Level Up. Leveling in SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 is actually pretty mindless since any items you pick up will have a number value ranging from 100 to 3000 attached to it, and that number goes straight to your EXP. Just keep throwing bombs at anything that can be blown up, and you’ll be swimming in EXP, making leveling up really quick and somewhat dangerous for you.

As mentioned before, leveling up will raise your stats. However, it’ll also increase your fire range (bomb explosion range), so if you don’t move away fast enough after placing a bomb, it’ll end up costing you a life. Something to keep in mind with your bombs is that they explode in a cross shape, horizontal and vertical lines; standing diagonally from your bomb or at least around a corner will guarantee your safety.

 

Sooner rather than later, you’ll be introduced to your first planet’s residents, the Ellons. These adorable and squishy little creatures are totally harmless to you, and you just need to gather them up for the sake of keeping them safe. However, they serve a secondary purpose; you’ll need them to open Ellon Shutters, activate Warp Devices and unlock Secret Puzzles. The shutters are similar to gates, and you’ll need to have found a set number of Ellons to open them. At least you don’t have to have them with you; it’ll be weird having 60 Ellons trailing behind you to open a Shutter.

Getting around on the planets you’ll visit would be incredibly tedious without the Warp Devices. This is due to each area resetting after leaving it. So, you’ll have to bomb your way through the many obstacles again just to follow a semi-linear path to deeper areas. Warp Devices are a godsend in this regard since you can easily revisit other areas or just quickly bounce back to your camp to pick up a fresh supply of Ellons to follow you to unlock Secret Puzzles and other Warp Devices.

While you’re out exploring the planets, you’ll discover that SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 isn’t quite as forgiving as it looks. Once again, bombs are key, but they can also be your downfall. This is due to the fact that they can also kill off the Ellons following you. This leaves you with either having to find more as you progress or run back to camp. Either way, you look at it, it can be a drag to lose your Ellons to your own bombs or bombs from cannons.

 

Secret Puzzles can count as one of the bigger mechanics for SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2, but they do have one slight drawback, you won’t always know what to do. Each Secret Puzzle has its own title, which counts as a hint, but a quick basic overview of what type of Secret Puzzles to expect would be nice instead of leaving you confused with no idea what to do.

SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 isn’t just exploring and collecting Ellons; you’ll also need to defend your HQ on each planet. The rest of the team will basically pull you back to HQ before you go into another area if your HQ is under attack from the Lugians; this is where you’ll need some out of the box thinking to set up defenses in Castle Mode as a defender.

Luckily, before you defend, you’ll have a chance to place a mix of Parts consisting of Gimmicks and Wall Parts - Gimmicks are used to slow down your enemies with things like Conveyer Belts, Beam Ropes and Cannons. Wall Parts add that little extra bit of chaos to the mix, and with some creativity, you can build a small maze to funnel your attackers.

With your defenses placed, you’re ready to face off against your attackers. Castle Mode is a relatively straightforward game mode in which you have to defend treasure from your opponents along with the Ellons at the same time. Losing all your treasure or running out of Ellons means you fail; it’s as simple as that.

 

Keep in mind that this mode goes both ways. Just as your HQ can come under attack and you’ll have to defend, you can also find Lugian bases and become the attacker while they defend. The key difference is that you’ll have the whole team with you if you’re attacking. Sadly, having your whole team to help you isn’t always a good thing when there are bombs going around everywhere. You’ll discover very quickly that your team might be a bit…. Dumb, especially when you get killed the whole time.

To save the best of Story Mode for last, there is one interesting twist to remember. As you progress through SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 and reach new planets, you’ll start discovering new types of Ellons. This might not seem as essential, but starting on a new planet also means the rules change slightly, such as with activating Warp Devices and unlocking Secret Puzzles, both of which will require different types of Ellons. This does add a nice change of pace but also makes gameplay, in general, a bit more ‘grindy’.

With the single-player side of SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 done and dusted, there’s also the multiplayer side, just to make life a bit more interesting. For those who are easily paralyzed from having too much to choose from, maybe stick with Story Mode. You’ll get to choose between playing online with actual people, or you can just go for a more difficult route of going up against bots. Then there’s also the matter of the game mode to choose from. Aside from the classic modes like Standard, Grand Prix, and Battle 64, you can also go for a more chaotic round in Castle Mode.

 

The mechanics are mostly similar to what you’ll see in Story Mode, except that you don’t level up, and stats increases come from upgrades you pick up that drop from your opponents or blocks that you destroy.  From there, it’s just a matter of survival and completing the objective while taking down your opponents with a few well-placed bombs. However, once again, SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 is far from forgiving when it comes to bombs, and you’ll need to think on the fly if you want any hope of survival.

SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 features a mix between simple 3D asset design during actual gameplay and a fun cartoon art style in cutscenes; while this might be a strange combination, they both quite well and give the game as a whole a very friendly atmosphere. When you’re out exploring the planets, it can feel like you’re walking on a tabletop board game at times with how the ground is drawn and painted. This is because you can see the wood grain if you pay attention, while the hills also use different textures. With a game like this, you might not see much more than simple animations during cutscenes, but the small details in how the eyes and eyebrows are animated really bring each character to life.

To go with the whacky and chaotic visual design of SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 is its equally whacky soundtrack. The background music focuses quite a lot on over-the-top electronic music with some Japanese flare that comes off as overly excited. This matches the game perfectly at first, but it becomes incredibly repetitive after a while. If you don’t mind the overly repetitive music, this is perfect for you. For everybody else, you might find yourself turning off the background music to opt for something else and not as repetitive and eventually annoying.

 

Overall, SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 is a great reboot of a classic game we all know and love. With the same level of great storytelling and chaos, you’ll be thrown head-first into nostalgia while getting to play an old classic on modern terms. When you’re tired of Story Mode, there’s always some good and friendly fun with friends or through matchmaking if you want an interesting challenge as well. The only downside is the music becoming repetitive and stale after a while, though this is easily fixed by just turning it off and playing your own.

Jay Claassen (@R3GR3T_3NVY)
Editor, NoobFeed