Year:1996
Genre:Puzzle
Developer:Raizing/Hudson
System:Super Famicom/Arcade/Virtual Boy/PCE-CD
I have a long history with Panic Bomber, it gets the distinction of being the first puzzle game I ever got serious about. This led to my love of the puzzle genre. "But hey buddy, you don't own the Super Famicom cart, how did you play it?". I played it when I was a lad,only I had the Virtual Boy port of it. I still bust out that ugly red and black thing and play a few games of Panic Bomber. I still have all my games for Virtual Boy too, maybe 8 or 9 of them, only a few are really worth playing though, one of them being Panic Bomber. But this isn't about Virtual Boy! This game is awesome. How awesome? continue reading to find out (or just scroll to the bottom to see the score I give it).
Story: Bomberman travels the world puzzling against stereotypes of whatever country he is in so that he can prove that he is the justice, not you.
Gameplay: The puzzle genre has always been about hand eye coordination, some dexterity, some memorization and quick judgment skills. This game follows the typical grid format found in the vast majority of puzzle games, one player on one side and your opponent on the other. I can't really think of any other puzzle game that plays like Panic Bomber though, it takes the familiar theme of "arrange falling stuff" and throws in heavy explosives.
The gameplay is simple enough, arrange 3 or more like-colored bombermen to make them disappear, they can be eliminated either horizontally or vertically and even diagonally which I thought was nice. Unlit bombs will appear underneath your pieces. These can be destroyed when you are given a lit bomb to drop down. When it hits something it will explode, however, your bomb explosion starts off small much like in a regular Bomberman game so you have to level it up to make bigger blasts. Leveling up is easy, just eliminate blocks from your screen, easy enough. You can build up a pretty sizable amount of unlit bombs along with the unlit bombs you are given to drop. You send obstacles to your opponents side not by eliminating blocks like most V.S. puzzle games. You do it by blowing things up.
When you have alot of unlit bombs and you drop a lit bomb and the explosion reaches them they all explode in one big chain reaction, the whole thing feels very satisfying and can send some nasty garbage blocks or stones to your opponents side. As you play you will build up a meter, when that meter is full you can drop a giant super mega bomb that will clear away blocks of a certain radius of wherever it hits, this is useful for getting out of tight spots, obviously.
That is what makes me enjoy this game so much, the bomb laying mechanic. It adds a nice layer of strategy. It is a nice exercise in endurance. Do I keep going and wait and get more bombs? Should I lay that unlit bomb there? It gets pretty intense, especially in...
FOUR PLAYER MODE!
Hell yeah! Four player puzzle games kick ass and this game is no exception. The gameplay is the same so I don't think I will get too into it, it is just silly fun playing this with 3 other people.
Graphics:
The graphics are typical Hudson fare, which is typical Bomberman fare. All the characters are simple in design, the backgrounds are bright and cheerful, reflecting whatever country Bomberman is currently in. The sprites are cute and feel alive. I really like the personality in the little Bomberman pieces. Some of them are looking around, some are sleeping and when you drop an explosive on them their eyes bug out. When you win all the pieces spin around. In the middle screen you see your opponent, who is either some cute silly looking enemy or a boss react to how the game is played. If you are losing they are happy if you are winning they look worried. I always like it when they do that. It's like "yeah you BETTER look worried motherfucker! Gonna puzzle yo ass into dust!".
The graphics are clean, bright and wholesome, exactly what you would expect from the Bomberman series. While it doesn't do anything truly eye popping with the hardware it gets the job done. C+
Sound: I'm REALLY not going to cover the music very well in this review. Since this is a puzzle game I play for how much fun the actual puzzle aspect is. That being said, I thought the music was good. I recognized some music and it brought back memories of playing the Virtual Boy version. I like that the music changes depending on what country your in, fitting the musical stylings nicely. Sound is crisp and clear and has a few voice samples, nothing too big though. B
Overall: I would say this game is definitely worth your time, the bomb laying idea is really cool and is what makes this game so unique. If you love Bomberman or if you love puzzle games I highly recommend you give this a shot, hell, bring a friend or two or three and have a four player battle.
I give Panic Bomber 8.5 Bomber-dreadlocks out of 10.
