Bomberman (1983 video game)

Bomberman (ボンバーマン, Bonbāman) is an arcade-style maze-based video game developed by Hudson Soft. The original home computer game Bomber Man (爆弾男, Bakudan Otoko) was released in July 1983 for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001 mkII, Fujitsu FM-7, Sharp MZ-700, Sharp MZ-2000, Sharp X1 and MSX in Japan, and a graphically modified version for the MSX and ZX Spectrum in Europe as Eric and the Floaters.[2][3] It had a Japanese sequel known as 3-D Bomberman, in which Bomberman navigates the maze in the first-person. In 1985, Bomberman was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It spawned the Bomberman series with many installments building on its basic gameplay.

Bomberman
1987 North American NES box art
Developer(s)Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)
Programmer(s)Yuji Tanaka (home computers)
Shinichi Nakamoto (NES)
Composer(s)Jun Chikuma (NES)
SeriesBomberman
Platform(s)NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001 mkII, Fujitsu FM-7, Sharp MZ-700, Sharp MZ-2000, Sharp X1, MSX, ZX Spectrum, NES/Famicom, Family Computer Disk System, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance
Release
Genre(s)Arcade, strategy
Mode(s)Single player

Gameplay
Bomberman in action on the NES.

In the NES/Famicom release, the eponymous character, Bomberman, is a robot that must find his way through a maze while avoiding enemies. Doors leading to further maze rooms are found under rocks, which Bomberman must destroy with bombs. There are items that can help improve Bomberman's bombs, such as the Fire ability, which improves the blast range of his bombs. Bomberman will turn human when he escapes and reaches the surface. Each game has 50 levels in total. The original home computer games are more basic and have some different rules.

Development

Bomberman was written in 1980 to serve as a tech demo for Hudson Soft's BASIC compiler.[4] This very basic version of the game was given a small-scale release for Japanese PCs in 1983 and the European PCs the following year.[4]

The Famicom version was developed (ported) by Shinichi Nakamoto,[5] who reputedly completed the task alone over a 72 hour period.[6]

Enhanced ports and re-releases

Bomberman is most known for the NES/Famicom version released in Japan on December 19, 1985 and in North America in 1987. Hudson Soft's director of research and development, Shinichi Nakamoto, commented in a 1995 interview that "I personally believe that the Famicom version of Bomberman is the one and only version of the game."[4] This version was ported back to the MSX the following year as Bomberman Special. Bomberman's appearance in this game (Hudson Soft re-used an enemy graphic taken from their own 1984 NES/Famicom port of Broderbund's Lode Runner) is an early version of Bomberman's more famous design, a robotic anime-like character with a pink antenna. The game was also released on Game Boy as a "Game B" mode of the game Atomic Punk. In 2004, this version of Bomberman was re-released for the Game Boy Advance as part of the Famicom Mini series in Japan and the Classic NES Series in North America and Europe. It was released in the same year for the N-Gage.

A remake/update was released for the PlayStation, titled Bomberman in Japan and Europe, and renamed Bomberman Party Edition in North America. This release features a port of the original version of the single-player game as well as a revised and updated version with pre-rendered 3D graphics and contemporary audio. The updated graphics and audio were also used for the multiplayer aspect of the game.

See also

References
  1. Hudson - Bomberman Portal Page (Internet Archive: Wayback Machine)
  2. Retro Gamer magazine, issue 66. "From the archives: Hudson Soft", pages 68–73
  3. "BOMBER MAN MSX (information) .:. Ragey's Totally Bombastic Bomberman Shrine Place". Randomhoohaas.flyingomelette.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  4. "Hudson Soft". Next Generation. Imagine Media (3): 78–81. March 1995.
  5. 『Super Bomberman Official Guidebook (スーパーボンバーマン 公式ガイドブック(小学館))』 (only in Japan) pp.104-105
  6. "Marathon Programming Session Resulted in Smash Hit Game". Kotaku.com. Retrieved January 21, 2011.

Other sources
  • Top Secret Passwords Nintendo Player's Guide
  • Bomberman Operation Manual, NES-BM-USA, Hudson Soft USA
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