Bomberman

Article by: Polo
Pictured from: Bomberman Online
Created by: Hudson Soft
First appearance: 1983

Bio

There once was a man in a little game called Eric and the Floaters. He navigated brick-laden mazes, seeking a doorway to the next labyrinth while dodging balloon-shaped enemies. His weapon? Bombs. Nuke the lurkers, blast the masonry, and maybe pick up a nifty little trinket or two along the way. That character was and still is Bomberman, whose habit of running around blowing up blocks for hidden doors and power-ups resonates in a flood of clones, sequels, and spin-offs.

Called Shirobon ("White Bomber") in Japan, Bomberman is a robot commonly depicted as a peg-limbed, TV-set-headed, eyefully expressive anime character. Colorswaps like his rival Kurobon ("Black Bomber") are drawn using this formula, while newer Bomberpeople accessorize with helmets, gloves, boots, and other fancy addenda. In multiplayer melees, the colorswaps race for power-ups riddled under bombable walls. These include Extra Bombs, greater-ranging Fire Power, Skates, Flameproof Jackets, at-will-triggered Detonators, and more. For some players, blowing each other up just never gets old.

Selected game appearances

MSX

• Eric and the Floaters (1983)

NES

• Bomberman (1985)

Super NES

• Super Bomberman (1993)
• Super Bomberman 3¹ (1995)

Nintendo 64

• Bomberman 64 (1997)

Dreamcast

• Bomberman Online (2001)

GameCube

• Bomberman Generation (2002)

¹ no ReMixes in database

References

• Wikipedia - "Bomberman"
• Generation MSX - "Bomber Man"
• MobyGames - "Bomberman games"