Bomberman Hardball

Hudson Soft's Bomberman is a justly well-loved character. The multitap compatible SNES classic Super Bomberman effectively introduced a generation of console owners to the malicious joys of the four player Death Match. It even included a solid and challenging single player mode to boot, which could be played co-operatively with a friend. But perhaps because of the game's beautiful simplicity, Hudson has not always had an easy time following up the franchise. Updates have been accused of both not being innovative, and of changing the classic recipe and losing too much of the original's playability.

The most eagerly-awaited Bomberman title at the time of writing (summer 2005) is Bomberman DS, with enthusiasts hoping that the machine's graphical power and WiFi connectivity will finally ensure a successful outing for the diminutive pyrotechnician on a handheld. But another interesting Bomberman game that may have slipped your radar is Bomberman Hardball on PS2, published by Ubisoft. The game seems to have been inspired by a combination of things: the party games of Super Monkey Ball, which were as instrumental in shifting copies of the game as the single player experience; the proliferation of otherwise generic Nintendo sports titles featuring a certain red-capped Italian workman; and the long-running but still-developing Tamagochi/Virtual Pet/Nintendog phenomenon.

Yes, the game is really a combination of smaller games. Up to four players can participate in Bomberman Tennis, playing exhibitions, or entering full blown singles and double tournaments. Then there's Bomberman Golf, which again offers a tournament mode with any combination of CPU and human opponents. Completing the triptych of sports games is Bomberman Baseball, which can be enjoyed against the computer or a human, and also features a World Bomberman Series to enter. As well as this, you can customise your own little Bomberman, and watch him eat, sleep and play before saving him to your memory card. If all this talk of Bomberman simply has you longing for classic sweaty-handed action with insane power ups and crafty gameplay, then fear not. Unlike Mario Tennis/Baseball/Soccer/Party this be-franchised game does contain a version of the original that made the character popular: Bomberman Battle allows up to four players to take part in a variety of tournaments, all with the same core aim - blowing each other to Kingdom come.