Bomberman DS Preview
Bomberman DS Preview
Bomberman has been a cherished series for gamers everywhere. The concept of the series is simple yet entertaining. The object is to move Bomberman through mazes filled with all kinds of obstacles. The obstacles vary between the different games of the series, but they are primarily blocks and an assortment of dangerous opponents. This is where your job comes in of somehow taking out all of our opponents without being killed. This time around, the Nintendo DS will lend its hand to the series by allowing Bomberman to use the functions of the two screens and stylus.
The first and sadly, most important use of the stylus in the game comes up at the very beginning. Before embarking on your adventure in the game, an air pump will appear in front of you. Your job will be to rub the stylus up and down near the pump so that a balloon will be inflated. Depending on how fast you are able to pump, you will receive power-ups that will be handy during the actual game. As soon as this quick part goes by, the actual game will begin.
The main part of the game currently utilizes the two screens. The top screen will show the graphics power of the DS by featuring a zoomed in 3-D view of the game. It will normally show a small portion of the board in much greater detail while the lower screen will show the old-school view of the game. The old school version is simply a bird’s eye view of the whole board. Although this is in 2-D, it is very smooth and relatively sharp while the 3-D view is still chunky and needs to become smoother.
Currently, this is the only way that the two screens are used and considering how much of an impact Bomberman has made on some consoles, it is quite sad that the screens are simply different views. I hope that Hudson [Software] can somehow think of another way to take advantage of the second screen. The other disappointment of the title is that the stylus does not have an important role to the game. The only other time that the stylus is needed is when you are cursed. At this point, you have to quickly rub the screen quickly to regain health.
The DS has an abundance of potential with all of its features, but at this moment, Bomberman can still use more of it capabilities. The touch screen could have more of a use to the game. Thankfully, there is still plenty of time for Hudson to improve upon the game and make it much more innovative and fun. The graphics and sound of the game are currently in good condition and with a bit of tuning they will be perfect for the release of the game. Finally, although it has not been discussed so far, the final version of the game will most likely have multiplayer capabilities to greatly enhance the replay value and enjoyment of the game. Needless to say, even if the game stays the way it is in the final version, the game will still be enjoyable simply because of the fact that the fundamentals of the game are highly addictive and fun any time.
| Ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hype Meter | 9 | Metroid Prime seems to be the game that could really make the DS the hit it deserves to be. |
