#atomic bomberman

I was honestly torn on how to title this year’s wishlist article. While “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t” is the title of an actual Christmas film, I was also tempted to use “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t, But Then Was” – a parody title taken from The Simpsons – for the simple fact that it seemed funnier. But considering how I’ve stuck to using titles from real-world Christmas specials and…

Atomic Bomberman

Within the massive list of Bomberman games up until this point, it’s hard to get more unusual than Atomic Bomberman. As the first game in the franchise to be developed by an American company (Interplay Productions) and the first original title developed for computers, Atomic Bomberman channels trends and energy that are best described as “Extremely 90s”. As a result of its different origins, Atomic Bomberman makes many changes to the overall experience as well. The iconic protagonist is no longer the little white robot we’ve all come to love and has been replaced with multicolored robots that are much angrier and chattier. There’s no story at all and no other characters besides Bomberman show up. The visuals have been upgraded to 640×480 SVGA, making them crisper than any other 2D game up until this point, though the visual style still looks different from its previous games. Jun Chikuma and her wonderful musical stylings are obviously not present, but Atomic Bomberman does manage to beat Bomberman Hero to the punch with its use of drum and bass. Though it may be wildly different in many regards, this game successfully maintains the mechanical essentials of the Bomberman experience and can still provide solid multiplayer sessions even today.