In fashion with the latest Bomberman titles, a story has been stapled to this release, although we use that term loosely. You take control of the ever-cheerful White (that’s what he’s described as, it‘s not our words) who has been invited to a tournament at Bomberman Land to overthrow the current champion. Thereby becoming the greatest games player in the world. It’s all very silly and childish but that‘s what we were expecting. Every character is a cartoon cliché from Cool Black who just has to staple the word “dude” to the end of each sentence to the big fat Gold, who is your stereotypical dumb bully. Ultimately it’s like watching a Saturday morning cartoon.
You’d be forgiven for hating Bomberman Land as soon as you start. The opening cut scene goes on for what seems like ages, which isn’t helped by the fact that you can’t fast forward the text, having to wait a good seven seconds before the next three lines of dialogue pop up. Then once you actually reach Bomberman Land more cut scenes follow, explaining the wafer thin plot. Once you actually start the game itself though things do start to pick up.
The aim of the story is to earn the most reward pieces and to do this you have to get the highest grade in each mini-game. As you gain pieces your ranking will be displayed and the idea is to get into the top ten so that you can be promoted to the next zone. It’s like The Running Man for kids. The good news is the mini-games for the most part are actually fun to play. None of that flailing your arms around hoping that the game registers what you do. The rules explain each one perfectly and they actually do what they say on the tin. An added bonus is that they are quite varied too. From multiplayer attractions like the sword duel, to the single player foot race they’re fun even on your own, though the addition of a second player was always going to be a bonus.
If you so choose you can take time out from the main game to just wander around the Bomberman Land lobby. Here you can practice mini-games you’ve unlocked and do some shopping. The shopping may seem pointless but is actually quite necessary if you want to achieve those high scores. To play the mini-games in each zone you need coins (think of it like an interactive theme park) and you’ll get extra coins if the person at the information desk thinks you have ‘style’. Though it’s quite odd how this works. The game thought my character was incredibly stylish wearing ninja shorts, glasses and high heels.
It goes without saying that the original Bomberman multiplayer has also been included to add some lasting appeal and it’s just as good as we remember it. It would be nice if it was online, but we weren’t really expecting that from a Wii game. Graphically it’s also very basic and the music can range from charming to tedious.
It’s always nice when a game comes along that you don’t expect to enjoy in the slightest, but pleasantly surprises you. Bomberman Land is a shining light in an otherwise drab wasteland of terrible mini-game collections. Therefore it is well worth picking up for those who enjoy party games.
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