Developed and published by Hudson Soft in 1995, Super Bomberman 3 is another sequel in the Bomberman series that pushes new ideas and gameplay techniques, while at the same time dialling-in some of the ideas contained in Super Bomberman 2.

Super Bomberman 3 has a two-player Story Mode, so two human players can work cooperatively to complete the campaign (which is great), and it also allows up to five players to compete in Battle Mode, which is one more player than in previous games (a multitap is required, though).

The story in this game is a direct continuation from part two, with The Five Dastardly Bombers being resurrected by their creator, Professor Bagura. White Bomberman and Black Bomberman team up to defeat the cyborg bosses, before finally taking on Bagura himself.

The first new addition you’ll probably notice are the beasts that hatch from eggs that can be ridden. These are called “Louies“, and they come in different colours, and give you an extra chance if you’re hit by an enemy or accidentally blow yourself up. Unlike in Super Bomberman 4, though, you cannot carry extra eggs if you’re already riding a Louie. Depending on the colour of the Louie you’re riding, it will give you extra abilities to help give you an edge during play (green can run until it hits something; blue can kick bombs away; brown can lay a line of bombs; pink can jump over walls or bomb blasts; yellow can kick destructible blocks in the direction you’re facing).

In Super Bomberman 3 you have to bomb glowing switches to open the level exit. Some switches are contained inside moving craft that must be blown up, before then exploding the switch itself. Some levels have multiple screens to complete (which is also new to the series), and as you complete levels in a world, puzzle pieces are added to a portrait of the cyborg boss. When the portrait is complete, you can then access the boss level. You can also go back and re-play previous levels, by stepping into the teleporters, if you so wish (which, again, is new).

Boss battles are no longer two-part challenges. Instead, this time, a cyborg appears and immediately takes the form of some sort of larger boss, that you must then defeat. All the bosses have unique appearances and attack patterns, but defeating them is generally the same: you must blast them into submission, while at the same time avoiding their missiles and blasts. Some have multiple forms, which makes things more interesting.

There are also lots of other new features, such as: mine cart rides (where, when you’re riding one, you plough down enemies and destructible blocks); bridges across chasms; enemies that can jump over explosions (like the bouncing frogs); covered areas of the screen, where you can’t see what’s underneath them; wrap-around levels (where you walk off the bottom of the screen and reappear at the top, for example); and more.

Super Bomberman 3 has two types of multiplayer Battle Mode games: single matches, or ‘tag’ matches – the latter dividing players up into two teams. There are also three special options, that can be turned on or off: Sudden Death (as the timer runs down, the play area gets smaller), Bad Bomber (when players are eliminated, they can move around the sides of the screen and throw bombs into the arena), and Soccer Bomber (a minigame that allows the winner of a single match the chance to win an item they can use in the next match).

Overall, Super Bomberman 3 is another excellent instalment in the Bomberman series. Graphically, it’s less ‘flashy’ than the previous Super Bomberman 2, but the presentation, music and gameplay are all still top-notch, and this is another Bomberman game that I highly recommend.

More: Super Bomberman 3 on Wikipedia
More: Super Bomberman 3 on bomberman.fandom.com