Super Bomberman 2, Super Nintendo

Super Bomberman 2 was developed by Produce! and published by Hudson Soft, exclusively for the Super Nintendo, in 1994. It is the sequel to Super Bomberman, and it introduces many new elements to the series.

The game has a single-player Story Mode, consisting of five worlds, each with seven levels, the final of which is a boss battle (actually, the boss battle at the end of each is a two-parter, so could be considered two boss battles), and also a Battle Mode for up to four players (with a multitap).

The storyline in Super Bomberman 2 is: five evil cyborgs, called The Dastardly Bombers, are attempting to take over the universe. They arrive at Earth, capture Bomberman, and trap him inside a series of mazes inside their space station. Each “world” has its own unique theme, and mechanics, based on the cyborg you’re up against. The first world, for example, is based on Magnet Bomber, so has magnetic traps and objects that affect the gameplay. In subsequent worlds you go up against Golem Bomber, Pretty Bomber, Brain Bomber, and finally: their leader, Plasma Bomber. You have to beat all five to save the Earth and stop the invasion.

Hudson, it seems, really pulled out all the stops to make Super Bomberman 2 different to previous Bomberman games, and the game is full of surprises. There’s dynamite, that explodes and can set off a chain reaction when bombed; there are ‘extenders’ (red dots on the floor), that will extend a blast as far as it will go down a lane, if you drop a bomb on one; the exit is now opened by blasting a series of switches; there are new power-ups; new types of bombs; blocks that must be blown into holes to clear a path to switches, and there are magnetic enemies that pull you towards them (which is terrifying when first encountered). In the second world there are fire pits, instead of breakable blocks, that only go out temporarily when you blow them up, meaning that you can become trapped unless you’re careful. There’s also a furnace on every level that spews out fire along a set path once activated. And so on, and so on…

One thing the developers did carry over from previous Bomberman games is that – if you blast the exit door with one of your bombs – it will spawn a whole load of new enemies (so must be avoided, unless you want the extra points).

As mentioned earlier, the boss fights happen in two stages. In the first stage you must take on the cyborg for each world on foot (and they’re good at avoiding your bomb blasts), and in the second stage the cyborg will enter some sort of ‘mecha’ form and fight you again.

Multiplayer Battle Mode has also been enhanced, with “Battle Royale” and “Team” matches available over ten multiplayer-specific mazes. The winner of each match is also turned golden for the next match (called the “G-Bomber” award), and is given a power-up that is chosen via a spinning roulette wheel during the intermission.

Super Bomberman 2 is a brilliant evolution of the series and is super fun to play, even nowadays. In fact, all the Super Bomberman games (all five of them), are unique and enjoyable enough to warrant owning or playing now. They are really where the Bomberman series went into hyper mode, in terms of new ideas and gameplay enhancements.