By: David (@friendshipguy_)
• Super Bomberman R
• Developer - Konami
• Publisher - Konami
• Nintendo Switch
Good news: it’s our first Nintendo Switch review! In not so stellar news: I mostly feel the same way about it that other’s do. Super Bomberman R is the first title in seven years to get some form of a physical release, making it seemingly feel like a full, robust game unlike the past downloadable titles that were a core Bomberman experience based around its traditional form, and Bomberman: Act Zero if we’re really going to bring up that game. For the first game in seven years, Super Bomberman R does a lot of things okay, and a lot of other things really, really not-so-well, mostly fumbling in the single player/co-op story and lacking a full bodied multiplayer experience that one would expect from a near full-price physical release.
Super Bomberman R’s single player campaign can be completed in an entire sitting if anyone’s really inclined to sit down through it, but it’s paltry compared to previous games in the series. Bomberman 64, and Bomberman Generation both boast a full story mode that’s akin to an adventure game than what Super Bomberman R throws at the player.
There’s a total of five worlds, each consisting of about eight levels and a singular boss fight. It starts out simple enough, tasking you to clear out a handful of enemies in semi-traditional maps that returning players might be familiar with, though the single player story starts to devolve into almost every negative trope you can find in barebones adventure games today. The single player story devolves into fetch quests for keys, lighting up pads to open the portal, or escort quests where if you run just a bit too fast or cut a corner too sharp, you lose the trail of followers you had and have to collect them again lest they be taken out and sent back to their spawn point by a wandering enemy. These concepts aren’t built upon each other either; as you progress, each world throws another task at you that usually rotates on a cycle. What’s worse is that hidden switches or keys that you might have to collect aren’t randomly hidden, they’re stashed in the same spot every single time.
The only thing that could get worse is the art direction taken towards the game, which seems a little ludicrous a statement for a title like Bomberman. How can you deviate from such a simple aesthetic? The smidgen of cut scene you’re treated to between worlds and boss fights pops with vibrant colors and proud personality from the cast of characters which each adhere to a singular trait, though the game takes a complete turn of face when it comes to the actual art style used for the maps and elements that you can spot outside of the boundaries.
The more you play the single player story you start to get frustrated with ledges that don’t look climbable but are in fact, very much climbable, or gaps that aren’t actually gaps at all – who would’ve thought? The colors from the cut scenes get drained, and the maps become a dour façade of drab, dry colors which is a little ironic unless you pick the Blue Bomber as your champion of choice, considering he’s perpetually narcoleptic and wants to be here just as much as I did when playing through it.
Multiplayer is multiplayer. It’s honestly what everyone is going to be spending most of their time on, and surprisingly it has ranked matchmaking for the vivacious competitive Bomberman community that really requested such a feature. There’s quick matchmaking services as well as private lobbies for friends, which as far as I’m concerned is the only game so far that actually utilizes the online services for the Switch.
You get eight maps to play on, and a set of classic rules to adjust very minimally to your whim. There’s a second set of stages for you to unlock as well as other characters if you so wish, though you have to unlock those with gems which you earn by playing multiplayer, or slogging through the story over and over again to accumulate enough, that is if you manage to flawless a run and not have to purchase a second set of continues, or a third, or a fourth. It should be noted that you can only play with two players in the tablet play-style, where when docked the game opens up, allowing up to ten players to compete. This is actually pretty swell, considering in my time allowed to review the title I’ve taken it out and asked a few people be it at a café or at a friend’s place if they’d like to play. It serves its purpose well as a quick multiplayer title that you can probably play on a flight with the stranger next to you or a classmate if you’re so inclined to do so, and then throw it in to your dick and play some chaotic six-player matches with a handful of bots.
It’s about as good as a Bomberman title that you’re going to get unless you own a 360 with the last downloadable title on it, though it’s nowhere near the $50 asking price that Konami has set for it.