The very first release in the famous Bomberman series was this game – aka “Bomber Man” – which was developed and published by Hudson Soft, for the MSX, in 1983. This is basically a prototype of the Bomberman we know and love, that was to come some years later.

It’s missing the white Bomberman – the series mascot – and the gameplay in this is a simplified version of the game, where you have to destroy ‘Floaters‘ that wander around a single-screen maze.

Initially there’s just one Floater, but these increase in number as the levels pass. The colour of each Floater also indicates their state. If they’re red, then they’re ‘angry’ and will home in on you, which can actually be advantageous if you lead them into a strategically-placed bomb.

In total there are 20 levels, and some of them require that you drop your bombs automatically, which really lights a fire underneath the player!

Hidden items can be revealed by destroying some walls, like a treasure chest for extra points, but the game has none of the power-ups seen in later versions of Bomberman.

One weird feature of this early Bomberman is the ability to drop bombs on half squares, which means that you can blow half a wall away, leaving the other half standing. Something that was “ironed-out” in later versions of the game.

As a historical curiosity, this first Bomberman is interesting, but it wasn’t until the release of the NES/Famicom version in 1985, and the PC Engine version in 1990, that the Bomberman series really began to fulfil its potential and become a must-play game.

More: Bomberman (1983) on Wikipedia