When I saw the announcement for Super Bomberman Collection, my wife actually heard me shout from the other room. It was one of those genuine surprises that remind me why I still enjoy being both a critic and a game journalist. Super Bomberman 2 has a special place in my heart—being one of those epic weekend rentals we desperately tried to beat past our bedtime.
We’ve seen quite a few of these retro collections lately—and quite a few from Konami if we’re being honest—which feels both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s part of the problem I have with the business of games that everything old is new again. On the other hand, it’s nice for gamers to experience these iconic classics again, as their preservation steadily erodes.
Nevertheless, the Super Bomberman Collection is a pretty amazing bunch of games that absolutely stand the test of time. This collection, in particular, contains some of the best the series had to offer and really shows off the staying power of the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom.
“Nevertheless, the Super Bomberman Collection is a pretty amazing bunch of games that absolutely stand the test of time.”
If you’re unfamiliar with Bomberman, it’s a pretty straightforward and exciting puzzle game. Players take on the role of the titular Bomberman and must move through a variety of levels, dropping bombs to clear obstacles and eliminate enemies. Levels are perceived from a top-down perspective, and since bombs explode in the four cardinal directions, players need to be mindful of where they’re dropping bombs, lest they be caught in the blast themselves.
While it’s not strictly a puzzle game, there is a kind of puzzle logic to the action as players need to avoid enemies, destroy obstacles, to give themselves paths to move through, and trap enemies with well-placed bombs—all within a certain time limit. While Super Bomberman is a fairly straightforward experience, Super Bomberman 2 introduces some unique level mechanics that change with every world.
Super Bomberman 3 adds a furry friend named Louie that, depending on his colour, can perform different abilities, Super Bomberman 4 takes Bomberman and his friends on a time-travelling adventure. Finally, Super Bomberman 5 is a fairly enhanced version of Super Bomberman 4, featuring a 5-person multiplayer and bonus minigames. In addition to this, the collection features the Japanese versions of the original Famicom Bomberman and Bomberman 2, as well as a Boss Rush mode.
Fundamentally, it’s an incredibly solid offering that gives fans of the series a lot of bang for the buck and improves the experience in several ways. Most notably, it allows for seamless four-player multiplayer on one console, something that, back in my day, required a fancy controller peripheral. Being able to easily sit down with four friends and play these classic games really enhances the experience like never before.
In addition, there are the standard save state and rewind features that have become common in these collections. But the devil is in the details, and to its credit, Super Bomberman Collection does have a few neat touches. For starters, each of the main four games includes a “digital unboxing” feature that allows players to view the original box the games came in, then pull out and examine both the cartridge and the manual.
Unfortunately, the original Super Famicom manual books remain in Japanese, but they’re still an incredibly fun thing to look at—although you might need a translation app to guide you through the manual books if you really need to know what’s going on. Additionally, the Super Bomberman Collection contains a massive collection of artwork to look at, as well as a jukebox, so there really is a lot on offer to experience these classics.
“Additionally, the Super Bomberman Collection contains a massive collection of artwork to look at, as well as a jukebox, so there really is a lot on offer to experience these classics.”
I’ve seen some reports online of input lag in Super Bomberman Collection, and while I don’t disbelieve those claims, I personally haven’t experienced it. That could be because I reviewed the Nintendo Switch 2 version, and the beefed-up hardware may have helped mitigate any lag, but I can’t say for sure. From a performance standpoint, every game in the collection featured silky-smooth movement and precise input reads.
That said, I do wish these collections would go a little further when implementing the “CRT filter,” rather than simply applying scanlines on top of an upscaled image. There was a specificity to how these games were originally designed, visually accounting for the pixel ratios of CRT televisions and working with them to create crisp lines and detailed shading. While all the games in the Super Bomberman Collection look great, more faithfully replicating the original look would have made a noticeable difference.
There isn’t much else to say other than the Super Bomberman Collection is an incredible set of games, re-delivered on modern consoles. If you never got to experience the games that made Bomberman the iconic character he is, then you owe it to yourself to check these out. Now we just need Bomberman Hero in the NSO Nintendo 64 collection.
