Super Bomberman R’s Battle Mode Hurt my Eyes

Blasting your mates in table-top mode on Switch’s compact screen isn’t that easy.

By Alex Simmons

I spent way too much time blowing up my mates on SNES Bomberman, so an updated version on Nintendo Switch is definitely interesting. The story mode with boss battles and upgraded graphics as shown in the trailer below welcomes the game’s return after so long. Unfortunately, the hands-on demo we played had none of this and focused purely on the multiplayer Battle mode, for which I have mixed feelings.

Firstly, there’s nothing to really differentiate it from previous Bomberman games. Obviously, the concept – be the last man standing – remains, but the power-ups are identical too. Additional bombs, speed boost, increased blast range, the ability to kick bombs… If you’ve played any Bomberman game in the last 20 years it'll be very familar.

The one thing that separates it is the ability to play multiplayer on the Switch screen in tabletop mode. The demo on show was the traditional four-player set-up, but with two AI and two using a Joy-con each. The analogue stick controls movement and one of the face buttons drops bombs, and I'm pleased to report that despite the Joy-con's small size, it feels great.

However, screen-sharing on a game like Bomberman isn’t quite so appealing. The game’s distant, top-down view works fine on big TV but when you play on the Switch’s compact screen, with your character little more than a few pixels tall, it makes it tough to see exactly what’s going on. On a couple of occasions I took a hit because I couldn’t see enough detail to get the precise level of control I want on a game like this, and the only way to really get around this is to move in closer – which obviously isn’t great for those playing with you. There’s no denying the game is still fun and I definitely think table-top mode will work for other games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it's just not ideal for Bomberman.

All of which makes the decision to not show any of the new story mode stuff even more bizarre. I’m excited to see what Bomberman R does that's new and to see what changes Konami has made to a game I’ve loved for years, but based on what I've played, right now I'm ambivalent.

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