The PC Engine version of Bomberman was where this famous video game series really began to take off. It features enhanced graphics, sound and gameplay, further refining Bomberman into the more familiar ‘modern’ incarnation that most games-players know and love. Bomberman was released in Japan in 1990; in North America, for the TurboGrafx-16, by NEC Technologies in 1991, and in Europe by Ubisoft in 1992.
Tag Archives: Bomberman
Bomberman, NES/Famicom
The first NES/Famicom version of Hudson Soft‘s Bomberman was a significant enhancement of the Bomberman concept, and was the first game in the series to feature the famous Bomberman player character, with the white helmet (actually an enemy graphic taken and adapted from Hudson‘s 1984 Famicom port of Brøderbund‘s Lode Runner). Bomberman was released in 1985 in Japan, but wasn’t released in North America until 1989.
Bomberman, MSX
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.
Eric and the Floaters, ZX Spectrum
I find it pretty amazing that Hudson Soft‘s famous maze-based, bomb-blasting game, Bomberman, was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1984, but it was. It was developed by Hudson Soft themselves and published by Sinclair Research in the UK (much like Hudson Soft‘s other famous Spectrum game, Stop the Express). Even more bizarre is the name of the game, but there was a good reason for the change…
Saturn Bomberman, Sega Saturn
The Saturn‘s version of Bomberman is one of the best Bomberman games available, with perfect-bomb-dropping gameplay and beautiful, colourful 2D graphics that retain the look and feel of the Super Nintendo and PC Engine classics, but with a slightly modern twist. Well, modern for 1997, when Saturn Bomberman was first released.
Mega Bomberman, Megadrive/Genesis
I have said previously on this blog that no system is complete without a version of Hudson Soft‘s Bomberman, and the Megadrive has one in the form of Mega Bomberman.
Neo Bomberman, Neo Geo
Every home console had to have a version of Bomberman, and the Neo Geo had one too.
Actually, technically that’s not true, because – while Neo Bomberman did get a Neo Geo release – it was only ever for the MVS (arcade system). It was never officially released for the AES (home system). So only ever appeared in arcades. And that was mostly just in Japan.
Neo Bomberman was sold into some countries outside of Japan, although when the game is played on a European system the text is displayed in Spanish and not English.
Wario Blast, Game Boy
What do you get when you cross Hudson Soft‘s classic Bomberman with Nintendo‘s cheeky Wario? Answer: you get Wario Blast on the Game Boy. A super fun handheld action game with puzzle overtones that was first released in 1994.
Bomberman ’94, PC Engine
Bomberman ’94 says “copyright 1993” on the title screen, and it came out in December 1993 in Japan, so just made it out before the turn of the year. And it’s a classic in the Bomberman series.
Dyna Blaster, Atari ST
This game is really a re-titled Bomberman – Hudson Soft‘s famous maze game – on the Atari ST. The game was re-named to avoid any association with the IRA bombing campaign in the UK, which was happening at the time.