NEO BOMBERMAN

Did you know the Neo-Geo got its own Bomberman title? Despite the multi-player nature of these games which would have been perfect for game centers (especially in the US with our huge 4-player cabinets), arcade-centric Bomberman games were and are a rare commodity. Released in 1997 along side Neo-Geo greats like The Last Blade, Real Bout Special, and others, Neo Bomberman was a surprise to gamers and critics. 

Produced by Produce! (I didn't stutter, that's the name of the developer), the developer behind Super Bomberman 4 on the SNES and others, Neo Bomberman most closely resembles those games in the series. Unfortunately Neo Bomberman staid exclusive to the MVS arcade hardware, and even in 2022 it still has never received a retrospective release on any platform. Neo Bomberman was also the last arcade Bomberman produced until Konami released Bombergirl to game centers in 2018!

Neo Bomberman isn't the only Bomberman game on the Neo-Geo, though. The vertical puzzler Panic Bomber released three years earlier in 1994 and saw a port to NEC's PC Engine Super CD-Rom. Like Neo Bomberman, though, it also never saw a release on SNK home hardware. This is a shame as both games are quite fun and would have made excellent home conversions for Neo-Geo players looking to play more than just fighting games and the occasional shmup at home this late in the hardware's life. Like most Neo-Geo games, a full menu system and home-centric features were built into the game's code, and you can access these features when playing on an MVS unit equipped with a Unibios. If the AES is your flavor of choice, you can play it via conversion, reproduction or on one of the multi-game SD card solutions like Darksoft's Neo-Geo Multi cart. 

The premise here is simple - somebody kidnapped a bunch of the Bomberfriends and it's up to White and Black to save them. This simple story is told through well drawn cut-scenes after you beat each world in the story mode, but there is no dialog or text. I mean, you don't exactly need a deep storyline for a Bomberman game, especially one released for an arcade audience. 

Gameplay is everything you expect out of a Bomberman game and absolutely nothing more. You walk around, drop bombs to defeat enemies, pick up items that buff your powers or give you new ones, and move on to the next stage once all enemies on a board are defeated. Along with the 5 world (with 7 stages each) story mode, Neo Bomberman includes the requisite battle mode where you and up to four...scratch that, just you and one other person can play. Yep, this is one of the first Bomberman games where you are stuck playing in 2-player battle mode. You can add up to two extra AI controlled bots to play with you, but that's it. Reports around the internet may lead you believe there was some sort of 4-player version planned and it's hidden in the game's code. This is not the case as this mode literally does not exist in the data. On the plus side, you can play through the entire story campaign with a buddy, and I feel this is where the game really shines. 

Up to this point, and well beyond actually, I would consider Neo Bomberman to be one of the best looking games in the series. The sprites are a little chunky but move with more animation than you'd typically see in a Bomberman game. Each of the five worlds has a specific theme, and they are all appropriately wacky. The intro, cutscenes, and overall presentation is typical Bomberman faire with bright pastel colors and a playful vibe. Music is fine and very much Bomberman-esq, but nothing to write home about. There is also a weird regional glitch that makes the game play in Spanish if you have a European bios installed in your hardware. The game has a a full English and Japanese translation built in, though, so you'll just need to switch the region or language to get it to display correctly. 

To be candid, there isn't much to say about this game. It's Bomberman, and it's on the Neo-Geo. If you like Bomberman and you like the Neo-Geo you'll like this game. If you don't like Bomberman, don't worry about trying to source a copy unless you're going for a complete MVS collection. The game is around $300 these days for an authentic MVS version, but bootlegs can be had for less. If you're on AES, you can source a conversion or a reproduction, or play one of the aforementioned multi-game solutions. In a world where much better Bomberman games exist, Neo Bomberman is hard to recommend due to its scarcity, lack of modes, and 2-player only battle mode. Still, it's a hell of a novelty if you have the means to play it and the story campaign is worth at least one play through with a buddy for some bomb bursting action.