Bomberman Generation
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Game Arts
Publisher(s)	Hudson Soft, Majesco Games, Vivendi Universal
Series	Bomberman series
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Release date(s)	NA June 3, 2002 JP June 27, 2002 PAL December 6, 2002
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: A ELSPA: 3+ ESRB: E OFLC: G8+
Media	1 × Nintendo optical disc

Bomberman Generation is a 2002 video game released for the Nintendo GameCube. It was later followed up by Bomberman Jetters.

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Plot 2.1 Crush Bombers 3 Reception 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Bomberman Generation consists of six worlds consisting of about five levels levels each. The levels involve puzzles, mini games, Pokémon-like battles using Charaboms who get befriended by Bomberman once defeated, and Charabom or bomb merge areas where a merge item and a bomb get fused or a Charabom and another Charabom get fused resulting in a stronger bomb or Charabom. Pommy (Pomyu) from Bomberman 64: The Second Attack and a few of his variations make appearances as Charaboms. The worlds have unique bosses each with a different strategy of defeating them. All of the worlds have puzzles that the player has to solve with bombs or Charaboms. Bomberman can acquire various power-ups which can increase his speed and his bomb power.

Bomberman Generation was one of the first titles to employ the style of cel-shading for the GameCube, a style utilized again in Bomberman Jetters and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The multiplayer mode resembles that of the classic games in that the players can no longer utilize full three-dimensional movement. The battles can consist of up to four human or computer characters. There are five different modes from which to choose.

• Standard Battle: This mode consists of classic Bomberman multiplayer where four players attempt to defeat one another by using bombs. Whoever is the last man standing wins. In the last minute of the battle, blocks drop along the edges of the arena, making it smaller and smaller until someone wins or time runs out, which ends in a tie. This mode has a variety of levels from which to choose, and the player can decide how often the power-ups appear.
• Reversi Battle: Bomb explosions flip the green floor panels to the color of whichever Bomber dropped the bomb. However, opponents can flip the panels previously flipped by other players. Whoever has the most amount of panels matching their corresponding Bomber when time is up is the winner.
• Coin Battle: By blowing up treasure barrels, players attempt to find the most coins before time runs out. Being killed causes the player to lose half of his or her coins. As the match progresses, Hige Hige Bandits appear to steal the coins, but blowing them up releases the coins and additional power-ups.
• Dodge Battle: Bombers cannot drop bombs; rather, bombs fall from the sky, and everyone must avoid the explosions. Bombers are equipped solely with Bomb Kicks, Punches, and Speed-Ups to avoid the blasts. The blast area of each bomb is shown on the arena floor. As the match progresses, a variety of different bombs will fall.
• Revenge Battle: All Bombers are in Revenge Bomber mode, and get points depending on how many moles they can stun or blow up. The bombs only go as far as the cursor allows, and merely stunning the moles with a bomb does not give the player as many points as making one explode.

[edit] Plot

According to the game's opening scene, stories of the origin of the universe's power have circulated for years, but it was not until recently that the source of the power has been found. Six crystals, named the "Bomb Elements," are said to contain unfathomable, though unknown, powers. So Professor Ein sends a space freighter to retrieve them and return to Planet Bomber for analysis.

However, en route to Planet Bomber, the freighter is attacked by a hired gun and is destroyed. The Bomb Elements fall out but are sucked in by the gravitational pull of the nearby planet Tentacalls. Professor Ein receives word that the Hige Hige Bandits, led by Bomberman's arch-enemy Mujoe, are making large scale moves towards Tentacalls, and it turns out that they were the ones responsible for the freighter attack. Not only that, but the Bandits have allied themselves with Bomberman's rivals, the Crush Bombers, who are also on the move to get the Elements for Mujoe.

Professor Ein orders Bomberman to Tentacalls to defeat the Crush Bombers and the Hige Hige Bandits, and to get the Bomb Elements before they do, for if even one element falls into their hands, then the universe would be as Mujoe pleases. Thus begins Bomberman's latest chapter to restore peace and order to the galaxy.

[edit] Crush Bombers

• Megaton Bomber - A huge bomber who acts as the Strength of the Crush Bombers. Rather than simply using bombs, His signature weapon is a Spiked Morning Star. His personality is best described as the big, strong, slow doofus character. The ball is held by a claw at the end of his arm and the chain is fed through the palm of his hand. His attacks usually involve Charging at Bomberman, flinging Small Bombs in his General Direction, and Swinging his Mace around in a Circular arc. His signature move is the "Megaton Crush," where he pounds the ground, sending shock waves through the arena, stunning Bomberman and making him let go of any a bomb he may be holding at the time.

Upon defeat, he is seen smoking, and he complains that he Feels Dizzy, before collapsing face-first to the ground and exploding.

• Beauty Bomber - Referring to herself as the "Red Jewel" of the Crush Bombers, Beauty Bomber is another Pretty Bomber-like Character who gloats about her looks, as her personality makes her out to be a materialistic princess. Her main method of attack is hitting bombs with her hips, causing them to bounce along the ground at Bomberman. When the wind bomb is use she'll say "That's intense," while holding down her skirt. If weakened enough, she will use her stage light lasers to either track in on Bomberman's position and shoot lasers at him, or using the lights as a protective barrier that absorbs damaging bomb blasts.

Upon defeat, she falls to her knees, complaining that her defeat "Really Stinks", exploding straight afterwards.

• Eagle Bomber - Eagle Bomber refers to himself as the "Blue Falcon" of the Crush Bombers. His own personality shows him as arrogant, brash, and extremely vain. With a pair of silver wings on his back which double as a Jetpack, he uses his own body as a preferred weapon. His main attack usually consists of surrounding himself in Blue Energy and flying along the ground in a drilling motion, in a lazy, haphazard manner in which to catch Bomberman off-guard. His main explosive attack consists of him flying up and carpet-bombing the entire arena, the positioning of said explosives being hard to maneuver through. He can also attack by Spinning like a top at Breakneck speeds (Utilising his wings as bludgeoning weapons in the process) and Hovering higher into the air and using his wings' Afterburners to incinerate Bomberman below. When down to One Heart, he gains a New Attack in which he flies around the arena trying to grab Bomberman. If he catches him, he gets behind him and pics him up, flies high into the air, and drop back down again at high speed, piledriving him into the ground upon landing.

Upon defeat, he mentions that "Roses are...Also Beautiful When they Scatter", before falling onto his back with his arms spread out, exploding upon impact.

• Assault Bomber - A huge bomber who is armed from head-to-foot with a plethora of weapons, including a Machine Gun on his right arm, and what could be a Grenade Launcher in the compartment in his head. His personality shows him as psychotic and malevolent, with a ravaging bloodlust. Assault Bomber fights more like a mech than a "Bomber" as he attacks mainly by charging at Bomberman with the Caterpillar Tracks mounted on his feet, and chasing him around the arena with Machine Gun fire. He can also suck up any unused bombs lying around the arena (And return them to their owner with Force), and separating his torso from his lower body, and Hover over Bomberman, continually following him and dropping a payload of red explosive spheres (thereby, his "bombing" attack) in his wake.

Upon Defeat, he is seen bent over, whilst various areas of his body are seen smoking, sparking and on fire. Instead of saying something, he merely screams in pain as he falls backwards, exploding before hitting the ground.

• Bomber Elite - The cape wearing leader of the Crush Bombers — and as can be expected, the strongest. He has psychokinetic powers and can teleport. He also has more honour than the rest of the Crush Bombers, and seems to be the most down-to-Earth and playful, telling Bomberman he'll "play" with him because he's bored.

For the first part of the battle, he is toying with Bomberman, rather than taking him seriously. During this period, he'll teleport around the room, occasionally stopping to toss a Big Bomb at Bomberman, which explodes if he comes near it. Next, he gains two more attacks. These include temporarily producing holograms of himself to fire Ring-Shaped Laser Beams at the player, and charging up Ki Energy and following the player around the room, before eventually unleashing the charged-up energy in the form of a huge explosion. However, once Bomberman proves himself worthy by getting Bomber Elite down to one heart, he "Gets serious" and summons powerful semi-spherical energy fields that grow in size as they rotate in the area. His standard attacks also became more difficult to avoid. After being defeated, he extends his hand towards Bomberman, praising him for defeating him. The reason for this is unclear, but it saddens Bomberman, and even makes him shed a tear. Unlike the other Crush Bombers, however, Bomber Elite does not explode after dying. He simply collapses to the ground, and slowly vanishes into a strange sparkling dust that evaporates into the air. He is often mistaken to be Female, due to a feminine voice actor in both English and Japanese versions; however in cut-scenes, Professor Ein clearly describes Bomber Elite as a Male.

[edit] Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	78.1% (35 reviews)[1]
Metacritic	81% (19 reviews)[2]
Review scores
Publication	Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8.33 out of 10[3]
GameSpot	8.0 out of 10[4]
GameSpy	[5]
IGN	8.1 out of 10[6]
Nintendo Power	4.7 out of 5[7]
Awards Entity Award Nintendo Power Most Underrated Game of 2002

Bomberman Generation has an average, but mostly positive review ratio of 78% on Game Rankings, including such web sites as IGN, GameSpot, and GameSpy, and including magazines such as Electronic Gaming Monthly and Nintendo Power.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Hudson Soft page
• Bomberman Generation at MobyGames

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