Review: Bomberman Story DS (NDS)

Developers need to note that, when making a kids' game, you need to make sure it will also capture the hearts of the older generation, much like Pixar do with their movies. This is something that Hudson haven't taken on board because, after a mere ten minutes, Gamestyle was already left wanting to put Bomberman Story down and never return. Toy Story, this isn't.

The game is all very happy and smiley, going as far as to call your main character Cheerful White... it's enough to make lumps of sick appear in your mouth. The story revolves around a search for stolen scientific data and, as a member of the Justice Department, it's naturally your job to find it. The problem is the characters that accompany you on your quest are neither funny nor charming; they are simply one-dimensional characters that offer nothing to the story. The nonsense they continually spout is the sort of stuff you'll want to skip through very quickly, as Gamestyle found itself doing.

Bomberman Story is an action-RPG in the Zelda mould. Though the combat all occurs in realtime, there is a traditional levelling-up system. However, quite how each new level improves the character is rather enigmatic, as stats are mysteriously absent and no improvements are made apparent as you progress through the game. The combat is as you'd expect it to be - dropping or throwing bombs to destroy enemies or bosses. It's simple at first, but, as the game progress, the enemies get more difficult and you'll need to utilise newly-acquired bombs. These range from bait bombs, which can lure your opponents, to the shining bomb, which is the equivalent of a nuke.

Some thought has clearly gone into the game; unfortunately it's not enough, because the rest of the game is uninspiring and bland. Level design is tedious and you'll just want to get to the end so you can journey to the next dull-looking planet. The graphics don't help, because it all looks very basic (of course, every adventure game now looks that way after Phantom Hourglass), and everything just looks like it was pasted together with little care or attention.

Hudson have nicely found a way to tack on some touch-screen controls, though they're not as you'd expect. Instead of using them during the main game, you'll often come across simple mini-games that require little thought and are just minor diversions from the main story (one particular game had Gamestyle blowing up logs to form a bridge). But this is a minor complaint compared to the pacing problems. You'll be making good progress only to inexplicably come across something that requires you to have saintly patience. For example, early in the game, a woman asks you to kill three enemies; after doing so and venturing back to inform her of your job well done, you're asked to this time kill five enemies. Dutifully doing so and trudging back to the woman (which is a fair walk), you're then asked to kill ten of them. While this character thinks it's hilarious, you'll be thinking of laying a bomb next to her and watching her explode into a million pieces.

There is a saving grace and, not surprisingly, it's the multiplayer. Offering both local player and wi-fi options, it shows that Bomberman with friends is still up there as one of the best multiplayer experiences around, but it's unfortunately not enough to save this title from the pits.

Bomberman Story is very much aimed at children, but even their attention will soon wane. The repetitive nature of the gameplay coupled with the uninspiring locales and ghastly characters hardly make this Bomberman's finest outing.

Rating: 3 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver