Retro Review: Bomberman Land Touch!

©Hudson Soft Co., Ltd ©Atlus Co., Ltd.

After the critical failure of Bomberman: Act Zero, I seriously thought that Hudson was losing its touch with a series that shouldn't be too hard to make fun. Luckily, Bomberman Land Touch! proved that Act Zero was a one-time failure.

Instead of going the classic route of making a single-player adventure that revolves around the same simple concepts that the multiplayer involves, this game actually adds quite a bit of variety. The single-player is essentially a collection of 37 mini-games. You are sent to an amusement park island where you have to go around solving simple puzzles to get to the attractions (which are the mini-games). You then beat the mini-game for an item that you will use to move on. It is fairly simple and as far as 100% completion goes you will likely not have much of a problem finding everything you need to. With that being said, that does not mean the game is not challenging and is not fun. The mini-games themselves are overall very well thought out and are quite creative and fun. One mini-game will have you sliding the stylus back and forth on the screen as you try to make Bomberman run as fast as he can, while another might require you to draw a line from a certain fuse to its matching bomb. There is enough variety here to keep you entertained and luckily exploring the world isn't dull thanks to a certain level of variety in environments and a relatively simple layout.

©Hudson Soft Co., Ltd ©Atlus Co., Ltd.

The single-player is played only with the stylus and it works perfectly. The game is fun just for the mini-games itself, but Hudson didn't stop there. As expected, the multiplayer is where these games tend to shine the most. Not only can you play all the mini-games in multiplayer with others, but you also have the classic 'run around and try to blow your opponent up' mode for up to 8 players locally. A good majority of the multiplayer features can be accessed via Download Play, which certainly adds value to the game. There are a good amount of options for the classic mode and the stages are pretty well in order to keep things interesting.

Moving on, let's talk about the aesthetics. In all modes, the designs are done simplistically and get the job done quite well. You will find nothing amazing or jaw-dropping here, but due to the simplicity everything is crisp and very vibrant. For this type of a game, this works quite well.

©Hudson Soft Co., Ltd ©Atlus Co., Ltd.

The music, on the other hand, isn't the best out there. It gets the job done and nothing more. It is not memorable but it is not painful to the ears either. If they had at least made a larger variety of themes it would be nice. Sadly, I ended up playing this game on mute quite often, which is very unlike me. The sound effects aren't that great either. They are very basic and nothing to write home about. Once again, not painful to the ears, but don't be surprised if you find yourself playing this without sound sometimes.

Completing the 'campaign' will likely take you 10-12 hours at the most. As you play the mini-games you unlock the ability to play them separately for high-scores. Also, after you beat the game you gain access to an intensive version of one of the mini-games which will likely seem impossible to complete (I currently have a score of 52 out of 999). Not only that though, there is a hard mode to unlock after you beat it. Since the mini-games are fun, this added challenge is appreciated. They also streamline the process so that your second play through isn't too cumbersome (since you will already know how to find everything). The multiplayer is one of the main things that ultimately makes this a lasting gem, especially with up to 8 players locally. Keep in mind that all Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection functionality has long since been shut down for the original DS games. Since this game’s online play had shaky stability at best, that isn’t much of a loss.

©Hudson Soft Co., Ltd ©Atlus Co., Ltd.

Overall this is a very fun game and if you like mini-games and hectic but simple fun out of your multiplayer, this game is most definitely worth a purchase. This is one of the best of its kind on the DS and is worth the money for both casual gamers and hardcore gamers.
 
Graphics: GREAT
Sound: GOOD
Gameplay: AMAZING
Value: AMAZING
 
OVERALL: GREAT
 
- Teepu