Software:Bomberman 64 (1997 video game)

From HandWiki
Short description: 1997 video game


Bomberman 64
North American Nintendo 64 cover art
Developer(s)Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Hudson Soft
Director(s)Hitoshi Okuno
Producer(s)Shinichi Nakamoto
Hidetoshi Endo
Designer(s)Kōji Innami
Artist(s)Shoji Mizuno
Composer(s)Akifumi Tada
SeriesBomberman
Platform(s)Nintendo 64
Release
  • JP: September 26, 1997
  • EU: November 21, 1997[1]
  • NA: December 3, 1997[2]
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Bomberman 64[lower-alpha 1] is a video game developed by Hudson Soft, published by Hudson Soft in Japan, and published by Nintendo in North America and Europe for the Nintendo 64. The game was released in Europe and North America in November and December 1997, respectively. While the game never saw a release on the Wii's Virtual Console service, it was eventually released on the Wii U Virtual Console in both Europe and North America in March 2017 followed by Japan in June 2017.[3][4][5]

Bomberman 64 is the first 3D game within the Bomberman series. It implements a different single-player mode by incorporating action-adventure and platforming stages instead of arenas in which enemies or other elements must be destroyed. This new variety of single-player game was well-received by critics for its imagination and depth, though most critics also deemed the multiplayer mode to be lacking compared to previous entries in the series.

Three more Bomberman games were released on the Nintendo 64: Bomberman Hero (1998), Bomberman 64 (2000), and Bomberman 64 (2001).

Gameplay

This game is featured in full 3D, thus the directional controls change. Bomberman is able to walk in eight directions with a rotating camera facing in eight directions and with three different zoom levels. His bombs have a different effect than in other games of the series; the bomb's explosion waves have a spherical pattern, rather than the traditional cross-shaped ones.[6]

In both single player and multi-player modes, Bomberman always has the ability to kick, pick up, and throw bombs, without the need of power-ups, as in previous games. A unique feature of this game is that Bomberman can "pump" a bomb while holding it, which will make the bomb's explosion more powerful.[7] A pumped-up bomb cannot be kicked or picked up again. Unlike most platform games of its time, Bomberman cannot jump, nor can he swim in water, although he can wade in shallow water. Since Bomberman lacks the ability to jump, higher areas that do not have a path leading to them must be reached by bouncing across bombs - typically this requires the "remote" power-up to avoid the normally timed bombs exploding early. "Bomb jumping" is actually required to fully explore most levels, retrieve certain power-ups, and cross many obstacles.

If Bomberman runs into an enemy NPC, or is hit on the head by a small object, such as an unexploded bomb, he will become temporarily dizzy. While in this state, he can get hoisted up by an enemy and thrown around, or even finished off by getting thrown off the map, or into a bomb explosion. Bomberman can do the same to an enemy.

When Bomberman takes damage, he dies. If he has a "heart" power-up when he's hit, he will survive, but he will lose the heart. When he dies, all power-ups he obtained will scatter all over the place. In the Normal single-player mode, taking damage simply causes Bomberman to drop the heart, and if it doesn't bounce off the level, he can pick it up again to survive another hit. In the Hard mode, the heart will disappear.

The game has four bosses, all of which perform the same bomb attacks as Bomberman. All bosses can cause Bomberman to be dizzy if they touch him on Hard mode.

Game progression

At the start of the game, Bomberman can enter any of four anchors, which are terrariums of other planets (that were probably drained by Altair). In each anchor there are four stages. The first and third stages are adventure stages which Bomberman must navigate by solving puzzles and blasting his way toward the "Goal Arrow." The second and fourth stages are boss stages. Bomberman must fight Sirius or one of Altair's subordinates in the second stage, and he must fight the world's guardian in the fourth.

After Bomberman beats the first four anchors, he can enter the Black Fortress. Like the previous worlds, the first and third stages are adventure stages, but this time Bomberman must fight the guardian in the second stage and Altair himself in the fourth stage.

In every stage there are five gold cards to collect (100 total). Once all gold cards have been collected, the player can unlock the secret world, Rainbow Palace. After all the gold cards have been collected from there (an additional 20, making a grand total of 120 Gold Cards) the player unlocks more courses in multiplayer mode plus the "Full Power" cheat option. With the cheat activated, Bomberman starts with 8 bombs, 5 flames, power bombs, and remote bombs.

Synopsis

In the game's opening sequence, a peaceful-looking planet with gardens, rivers, and residential buildings abound is shown. But then the space pirate, Artemis, drops from the sky with a band of soldiers to raid the planet. Altair, the leader of the space pirates, watches from the Black Fortress, using his coveted weapon, the Omni Cube, to completely drain the planet's energy, condemning it to a zombie-like state. Artemis returns to the Black Fortress to meet up with her partners, fellow pirates Orion and Regulus and her superior, Altair. Together, they set their sights on their next target: Planet Bomber, home of the protagonist, Bomberman.

They maneuver their fortress into the atmosphere of Planet Bomber. Bomberman, from atop a cliff, observes the Black Fortress' descent. Not much later, the Fortress begins to open fire on the people of Planet Bomber, firing destructive energy rays into populated areas. A warrior clad in white then flies out to the surprised Bomberman, and asks if he plans to defeat the assailants. Bomberman gives an affirmative response, and the stranger (later introduced as Sirius) explains that a force field protects the Fortress from any outside attack. Sirius goes on to say that this force field can be deactivated by destroying the four anchors attached to the Fortress; the "Green Garden": a ruin-filled natural world, "Blue Resort": a fortress surrounded by water, "Red Mountain": a large volcano fraught with danger, and "White Glacier": a large, snowy mountain covered in ice. Once inside the Fortress, they must find and destroy Altair.

Bomberman climbs onto and destroys all four anchors with the help of Sirius, who supplies power-ups and teaches him new techniques. In the process, he kills Artemis and Orion, but Regulus survives. Once the force field around the Fortress is deactivated, the duo enter the Fortress. After sneaking through Altair's security measures, Bomberman finds and confronts Altair, and after a difficult struggle, defeats the pirate. The previously defeated Regulus swoops in and attempts to rescue his master from the battlefield, but is then knocked away by Sirius. Altair drops the Omni Cube, which Sirius lands on the battle platform to retrieve. Altair is annihilated by a newly powered-up Sirius. Sirius reveals that he was only using Bomberman's abilities into taking back the Omni Cube which was stolen by Altair, adding that he was sick of working with him and lying to him during the mission. He takes the Omni Cube and escapes to his secret lair to destroy Planet Bomber.

Bomberman pursues him, making his way through the palace, confronting Sirius for his betrayal. When Sirius is about to fire on Bomberman, he is saved by Regulus, knocking him away and destroying the Omni Cube. With the aid of Regulus, Bomberman defeats Sirius. Without the power of the Omni Cube, the Rainbow Palace crashes into the Black Fortress, destroying both, as Regulus escapes with Bomberman, informing him that he was surprised with Bomberman's ability to defeat Sirius, as he and his comrades had considerable difficulty taking the Omni Cube from Sirius. Regulus leaves Planet Bomber, stating that one day he will have a rematch with his new rival, Bomberman, who celebrates his victory.

Development

After working on the game for about six months, the development team scrapped all their initial designs and started anew due to the emergence of more advanced 3D games on the market.[8] It was subsequently exhibited at the 1997 Electronic Entertainment Expo.[9]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings69%[10]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStarHalf star[11]
CVGStarStarStar[12]
Edge5/10[13]
GameSpot4.6/10[14]
IGN7.6/10[15]
N64 Magazine50%[16]
Nintendo Power7.0/10[17]

Bomberman 64 received mixed reviews. Critics almost unanimously commented that, in a reversal of the Bomberman series's most fundamental trend, the single-player mode is much better than the multiplayer mode.[18][14][15][19] However, their opinions of the overall quality of these modes varied. Doug Perry from IGN applauded the single-player mode for its intrigue and inventiveness, particularly the bomb bridging and tower-building abilities, and stated that the multiplayer mode, while not the best of the series, is accessible and benefits from well-designed arenas.[15] Joe Fielder from GameSpot instead judged the single-player mode to be a satisfying improvement over previous Bomberman single-player experiences, but not essential, and said that the multiplayer mode has "lost all the addictive charm that so positively defined the series."[14]

Shawn Smith and Dan Hsu of Electronic Gaming Monthly considered the multiplayer mode outright problematic, remarking that the 3D format, which occasionally makes it difficult to see what the player character is doing even in single-player mode, is a constant hassle in multiplayer. Hsu commented that "in my book, certain games should stay 2-D, and the B-man series is no exception." Their co-reviewer Crispin Boyer opined that the multiplayer simply gets old quickly, while Kraig Kujawa found it sufficiently intense and fun, though not as good as in previous installments.[18] GamePro found that the analog stick control works fine in single-player mode, but causes heavy aggravation in the heat of the multiplayer battle mode. However, the reviewer concluded that the single-player mode is good enough to make the game worth buying.[19]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Explosive Bomberman (Japanese: 爆 (ばく)ボンバーマン, Hepburn: Baku Bonbāman)

References

  1. ↑ "New Releases". Daily Record: pp. 12. November 20, 1997. https://www.newspapers.com/image/833982629/?terms=%22time%20crisis%22&match=1. "Bomberman 64//For N64//The hit cult game now reaches 3-D! Revel in the legendary 4-player battle mode!//Out Tomorrow" 
  2. ↑ "Game Informer News". Game Informer. 1999-02-19. http://www.gameinformer.com/news/dec97/120397a.html. Retrieved 2023-04-06. 
  3. ↑ "Bomberman 64 for Wii U - Nintendo Game Details". Nintendo. https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/bomberman-64-wii-u. 
  4. ↑ "Bomberman™ 64 | Nintendo 64 | Games | Nintendo". Nintendo. https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-64/Bomberman-64-1204884.html. 
  5. ↑ "爆BOMBERMAN | Wii U | 任天堂" (in ja). Nintendo. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000026290. 
  6. ↑ "Bomberman 64". GamePro (IDG) (108): 63. September 1997. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_108_Volume_09_Number_09_1997-09_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n63/mode/2up. 
  7. ↑ Bro Buzz (November 1997). "Bomberman 64". GamePro (IDG) (110): 90. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_110_Volume_09_Number_11_1997-11_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n91/mode/2up. 
  8. ↑ "NG Alphas: Bomberman 64". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (31): 80. July 1997. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_31/page/n81. 
  9. ↑ "E3 Showstoppers!". GamePro (IDG) (108): 38. September 1997. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_108_Volume_09_Number_09_1997-09_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n39/mode/2up. 
  10. ↑ "Bomberman 64 for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/n64/196799-bomberman-64/index.html. 
  11. ↑ McCall, Scott (1998). "Bomberman 64 (Nintendo 64) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=968&tab=review. 
  12. ↑ Pogarcic, Irena (December 1997). "CVG Review: Nintendo 64 - Bomberman 64". Computer and Video Games (EMAP) (193): 110–111. https://archive.org/stream/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_193_1997-12_EMAP_Images_GB#page/n109/mode/2up. Retrieved March 17, 2020. 
  13. ↑ "Testscreen - Baku Bomberman (Nintendo 64)". Edge (Future plc) (52): 80–81. December 1997. https://archive.org/stream/edgeuk052#page/n59/mode/2up. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Fielder, Joe (January 21, 1998). "Bomberman 64 Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/bomberman-64-review/1900-2544192/. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Perry, Doug (December 2, 1997). "Bomberman 64". IGN. Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/12/03/bomberman-64. 
  16. ↑ Nicholson, Zy (November 1997). "Import Arena: We've been looking forward to it for months and, well... Oh dear. - Baku Bomberman". N64 Magazine (Future Publishing) (8): 54–58. https://archive.org/stream/N64_Magazine_Issue_008_1997-11_Future_Publishing_GB#page/n53/mode/2up. 
  17. ↑ Dan; Erich; Henry; Sonja; Terry (December 1997). "Now Playing - Bomberman 64 (N64)". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) (103): 96. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named EGMre
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Larry, Scary (December 1997). "Nintendo 64 ProReview: Bomberman 64". GamePro (IDG) (111): 140. https://archive.org/stream/GamePro_Issue_111_Volume_09_Number_12_1997-12_IDG_Publishing_US#page/n141/mode/1up. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari



Warning: Default sort key "Bomberman 64 (1997 Video Game)" overrides earlier default sort key "Mobygames".



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Bomberman_64_(1997_video_game)&oldid=771067"