Never have I played a game that frustrates and pleasures me in such equal measure. You see, on the face of it, Bombing Busters should be a delightful little Bomberman-style clone, one which brings enough content and challenge to allow fans of the genre the chance to partake in some lovely bombing madness.
And on one hand, Bombing Busters does exactly that. But on the other? Woah, it’s a whole different story. Because Bombing Busters is hard. I mean, stupidly hard. Especially those damn bosses.
Thankfully though, it is also one of those games which keeps dragging you in for just one more go – over and over again. Once you’ve spent half an hour trying to complete a level, it’s bloody hard to put it down.
Bombing Busters drops you straight into 30 mazes of pretty hectic bomb filled madness, with a rather humorous, non-essential backstory pushing things along nicely. Set across five unique worlds – Fairy, Ice, Wind, Fire and Spark – each with its own distinct mechanics, randomly created stages, multiple enemy types and end of world bosses to destroy, your task is quite simple… destroy all of the critters on the screen before they kill you. Or your five minutes runs out.
Do as requested and you’ll be gifted a number of stars, the value of which is determined by the speed in which you complete each stage. These stars however have absolutely no impact on the rest of the game and so long as you manage to wipe the screen of all enemies before the timer hits zero, you’ll progress on to the next. There is no Cut the Rope style star collection system in place here and I for one am hugely grateful for it, mainly because I just want to play the levels and the entire game that Sanuk Games have included – not to have to worry about hammering the same completed level time and time again in the hope of shaving a second or two off in order to grab another star.
On the whole, the gameplay mechanics are smooth, well paced and work as intended. Dropping a bomb is a simple process – and rightfully so as it is bomb dropping which you’ll be doing in plentiful supply – as is throwing or kicking it across the arena. Occasionally you’ll find yourself booting the explosives in the entirely wrong direction, but with enough practice should eventually ensure you get the hang of things. There are power-ups, and power-downs, to collect and the more you explode of the world, the greater the amount of pickups you’ll find. These range from increasing your blast radius, to grabbing a pair of skates to speed you up. You can also find pickups that bring in remote blasts or give the option to pick up and chuck your bombs across the screen. There is a whole load of help that comes your way and without the upgrades, will struggle immensely to survive. In fact, even with the extra abilities, you’ll still find Bombing Busters one tough cookie to crack.
If you do manage to make your way through five levels, then a big boss will be awaiting. Now, if you thought the standard stages were hard enough, then you’ll be having nightmares over these guys because they are some of the most hellish arcade bosses I’ve found in any recent game. You’ll die, and die, and die again as you attempt to get your bombs close enough to the world keepers in order to take them out. You may succeed, or you may fail outright, but it seems Sanuk Games have understood their bosses are a bit hard, and have allowed a get out of jail card to be used.
You see, thankfully, there is the option to run straight through and skip the boss levels should you so wish, heading straight on through to the next unique world. This is, without a shadow of doubt, an absolute godsend and allows the vast majority of players the opportunity to take in most of the game. I’d hazard a guess and say that if this helpful feature wasn’t in place, then a huge number of players would find themselves completely exhausted with everything Bombing Busters holds just a few levels in.
So, whilst the single player Adventure mode is the meat and drink of Bombing Busters, that isn’t where the fun stops as there is also a lovely little addition which brings even more action.
And it is here with the multiplayer aspect where Bombing Busters really does shine throughout. With all five worlds open to play from the off, and up to four local players all able to get in on the action, it is this multiplayer madness that delivers the real bombing experience. With win settings and the like fully customisable, whether you want a quick one-off battle against mates, or prefer to head on in with some ‘first to five’ tournament action that it provides, you’ll always find fun with a bit of multiplayer Bombing Busters. Things can get a little confusing when eight bomb busters are on screen at once, and this is amplified when you switch on the ghost resuscitation option, but it’s all a good laugh and that is exactly what you want from a local multiplayer mode. It’s only the fact that Bombing Busters doesn’t allow for any online opportunities which brings it crashing down a notch or two.
Bombing Busters is a bit of a blast. The single player side of things works well and comes with a difficulty level that will leave you shouting in frustration. As long as you are prepared to give it a decent crack though, will discover plenty of joy. Drop over to the multiplayer side and you’ll find even more action that is quite easily on a par with everything you get to take in on the solo side.
In fact, Bombing Busters is a bloody good Bomberman clone which you should well enjoy…just prepare yourself for some shouty frustration in the process.
