Mega Bomberman

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Mega Bomberman
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Westone
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT), Sega-Ozisoft (AU), Tec Toy (BR), Samsung (KR)
Licensor: Hudson Soft
Sound driver: Westone/Shinichi Sakamoto
Peripherals supported: 4 Way Play, Team Player
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code US 1995-03 1573 US (Mega Hit) 1997-09 $19.9919.99 1573 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub EU 1994 1573-50 EU ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub DE 1994 DM 119119 1573-50 PT 1994 MDJ1573 UK 1994-11 £34.9934.99 1573-50 AU 1994 $89.9589.95 FMEG38SMC BR 1995-05 048130 KR 199x GM94020JT SA ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub AS 199x
Non-Sega versions <img alt="PC Engine" src="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/4/4a/Logo-pce.png/16px-Logo-pce.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" srcset="https://retrocdn.net/images/thumb/4/4a/Logo-pce.png/24px-Logo-pce.png 1.5x, https://retrocdn.net/images/4/4a/Logo-pce.png 2x" />

Mega Bomberman is a Bomberman video game released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994. Though marketed as a Mega Drive exclusive, Mega Bomberman is derived from the 1993 PC Engine title Bomberman '94 by Hudson Soft, which was not released outside of Japan.

Mega Bomberman is the first of five Bomberman video games to be released on a Sega system (second of six if one includes the unlicensed Bomberman Special for SG-1000), and the only "traditional" Bomberman game to be released on the Mega Drive, compared to the five released on the Super Famicom/Super NES and the three released on the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16.

Story

Bomber Planet was originally a peaceful planet, protected by five spirits. One day, the peace was disturbed by an invading army of robots led by Bagulaa, who shattered the Spirit Pictures across the planet. Without the power of the spirits, the planet is thrown off balance and split into five fragments. To restore peace to his home planet, Bomberman must fight back against Bagulaa and his army to reassemble the Spirit Pictures and bring the pieces of Bomber Planet back together again.

Gameplay

Mega Bomberman is a typical Bomberman game with both single player and four-player multiplayer modes. In both modes, Bomberman can be moved with the D-Pad and place bombs that explode in a cross pattern with .

Normal Game

Normal Game is a single player mode in which the player, as Bomberman, must strategically set bombs to clear through soft blocks and defeat enemies in order to recover the Spirit Picture fragment of each stage before time runs out. In order to proceed between each screen and open the capsule containing the fragment, the player must destroy all the keys with their bombs. Some keys are carried by enemies, in which case the enemy needs to be destroyed first. Once the Spirit Picture fragment has been collected in a stage, all remaining soft blocks will turn into coins rewarding 500 points each, and the player has 15 seconds to collect them all.

There are a total of six areas in a game, and each area has three or four stages to clear. Cleared stages can be revisited and play exactly the same as usual, though all keys will remain destroyed and the exit will always be open. After all stages in an area have been cleared, a boss will appear, and the player must defeat it in order to progress to the next area.

Stages

	Jammin' Jungle
	Stages: 3
	A forest area with no notable gimmicks. The boss is a robotic banana accompanied by a monkey with a remote control. The banana will move around aimlessly, but will chase after Bomberman if the monkey is attacked. The monkey will actively avoid Bomberman if he gets too close to it (within two tiles) but won't react to bombs. The banana takes 8 hits to defeat, though the monkey can be defeated in 4 hits which will also destroy the banana instantly.
	Vexin' Volcano
	Stages: 4
	Some stages in this fiery area feature small volcanoes that will rain fireballs periodically, which can detonate bombs or stun Bomberman upon contact. Mine carts can also be used to travel from one location to another. The boss is a pyramid golem who will slowly pursue Bomberman and attack by launching its fists that will follow him for a while, launch three fireballs into the air that will land in random locations with a three-tile blast radius, or stomp the ground to stun Bomberman for a second. Takes 6 hits to defeat.
	Slammin' Sea
	Stages: 4
	An undersea area with no notable gimmicks. The boss is a giant crab who moves aimlessly around the arena, but will speed up and pursue Bomberman if he stands next to it. It will also spit four homing bubbles that will stun Bomberman and weaken the blast radius of any set bombs they smother, and its claw will extinguish bombs. 6 hits will destroy its shell, making its movement and attacks more aggressive, requiring 5 more hits to defeat.
	Crankin' Castle
	Stages: 4
	Some stages in this spooky area are shrouded in darkness, meaning only Bomberman and the whites of enemies' eyes can be seen. Some rooms also have large barrels which can stun enemies if the player destroys the posts holding them up, so long as the player is out of the barrel's way. The boss is a vampire bat who will land near Bomberman and shoot three fast-moving projectiles from one of its wings (or six projectiles if it opens both wings) or push Bomberman back before flying elsewhere. It will occasionally split into four smaller bats, with the real bat having angry eyes. Takes 6 hits to defeat.
	Thrashin' Tundra
	Stages: 4
	The stages in this snowy area are lined up with penguins. Some of these penguins can fire rockets at random tiles in a stage, which can detonate bombs, destroy soft blocks and stun Bomberman. The boss is a witch who will move in Bomberman's general direction and attacks by either hurling her crown like a boomerang or shooting eight snowflakes that will home in on Bomberman and freeze him for a few seconds on contact. Takes 6 hits to defeat.
	Final Area
	Stages: 1
	Taking place on Bagulaa's ship, this unnamed final area is a single long stage spanning multiple screens and the final battle. Brown hard blocks will periodically spray steam in two directions that will stun Bomberman. Soft blocks with skulls on them will detonate with a long blast radius when bombed. The final battle with Bagulaa spans three phases: In the first phase, he will float in Bomberman's general direction and periodically stop to fire four lasers straight and diagonally from his pods that can detonate bombs. Each pod takes 3 hits to destroy. In the second phase, Bagulaa will ride a dragon mech that moves left and right in an aimless manner and extend its head to breathe fire. It will occasionally stop so the hands can shoot electricity forward and diagonally. The head must be attacked 6 times to destroy the mech. In the final phase, Bagulaa will start attacking with bombs that have an 8-tile blast radius, and can also throw and kick bombs that detonate upon impact, jumping out of the way of the explosion. He will also periodically float into the air and drop four short-fused bombs on random tiles. Takes 5 hits to defeat.

Battle Game

Battle Game is the series-staple multiplayer mode for up to four players, in which the objective is to defeat the other players with bombs (all players start each round with one bomb and a two-tile blast radius) and be the last player standing, winning a set number of victories to win the match. In addition to free-for-alls, players can play a Tag match in which players can split into teams and compete to eliminate the opposing team.

Each round has a time limit of 3 minutes, with sudden death starting during the final minute in which hard blocks will rain down clockwise from the top-left corner until there is only a 9x7 patch in the middle of the stage, squashing any players caught underneath. If time runs out completely, the round is declared a draw.

Characters

Mega Bomberman allows players to choose a different character during setup. These characters are purely cosmetic for human players, though have different personalities and fighting styles when controlled by computer players.

	Bomberman
	Balanced offense and defense.
	Bomber Lady
	Holds back on offense, but don't underestimate her.
	Suicide Bomber
	Sets bombs everywhere he can without regard to his own life.
	Grampa Bomber
	Weak offense, but strong and stubborn defense.
	Big Bomber
	Rushes to find and grab all the items he can.
	Tiny Bomber
	Moves rapidly and likes sudden ambushes.
	Bookworm
	A cunning strategist with strong offense and defense.
	Bonsaver
	A very aggressive character.
	Construction Bomber
	Ignores opponents and concentrates on destroying blocks.

Stages

	Standard
	A basic stage with no gimmicks.
	Sea Floor
	Based on Slammin' Sea and features no gimmicks.
	Conveyor Belt
	Features conveyor belts that will carry players and bombs.
	Forest
	Based on Jammin' Jungle and features walls that form a maze, encouraging close-quarters combat.
	South Pole
	Based on Thrashin' Tundra and features rocket-launching penguins. Placing a bomb inside an igloo will extend its blast radius and blow the igloo's top off.
	Europe
	Features arrows that will redirect any bomb that is kicked onto them.
	Ancient Castle
	Based on Crankin' Castle and features trapdoors that will teleport players in a clockwise fashion.
	Magma
	Based on Vexin' Volcano, this stage has no soft blocks. Players instead start with 5 bombs and an 8-tile blast radius.
	Lightning Quick
	All players move at maximum speed in this stage.
	Bush
	This stage has four canopies that cover portions of the arena, making it harder to see bombs beneath them.

Items

	Bomb
	Increases the number of bombs Bomberman can place by one, up to a maximum of 10.
	Firepower
	Increases the blast radius of bombs by one tile.
	Skates
	Increases Bomberman's walking speed slightly. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Sandals
	Decreases Bomberman's walking speed slightly. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Bomb Boot
	Allows Bomberman to kick bombs. Kicked bombs will continue moving until they hit an object or the player presses .
	Line Bomb
	Allows Bomberman to place all the bombs he has in a line in the direction he is facing by pressing twice.
	Remote Control
	Allows Bomberman to manually detonate his bombs using . Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Bomb Pass
	Allows Bomberman to walk through bombs. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Block
	Allows Bomberman to walk through soft blocks. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Restore
	Allows Bomberman to take damage without losing a life. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Fire Suit
	Makes Bomberman invincible to bomb blasts for 20 seconds. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	1UP
	Awards an extra life. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Clock
	Freezes all enemies for 10 seconds. Exclusive to Normal Game.
	Skull Item
	Exclusive to Battle Game. Infects a player with a random ailment, which can be passed on to other players by contact and will wear off after a while. The possible ailments are: Slow Sickness: Sluggish movement speed. High Speed Sickness: Uncontrollably fast movement speed. Reverse Direction Disease: Reverses the player's movements with the D-Pad. Bomb Set Disease: Bombs cannot be placed. Bomb Diarrhea: Bombs are uncontrollably placed every step. Minimum Firepower Disease: Blast radius is reduced to one tile. Premature Detonation Disease: Bombs have short fuses. Delayed Detonation Disease: Bombs have long fuses. Perpetual Motion Sickness: The player will keep moving forward and cannot stop. Change Locations: The player instantaneously swaps places with another player.
	Egg
	Hatches into a random Louie (see below).

Louies

Louies are rideable companions that are introduced to the series in this game. After hatching a Louie from an egg, a player can press the button to use the Louie's unique ability depending on its colour. If the player is hit by an enemy or bomb blast, the Louie will die, but the player will survive.

	Green Louie
	Can dash forward at an incredible speed, but will not stop until it hits an obstacle.
	Purple Louie
	Can jump. Press on its own to jump straight up, or while holding a direction on the D-Pad to jump two tiles forward, over soft blocks and bombs.
	Blue Louie
	Can kick bombs into the air three tiles ahead, over soft blocks. If it lands on an obstacle, it will keep bouncing until it finds a place to land.
	Yellow Louie
	Can kick soft blocks forward. If the kicked block hits a line of blocks, the last block of that line will be launched forward.
	Pink Louie
	Can perform a dance, which has no effect.

History

Development

A proof-of-concept build was released onto the internet which suggests that Hudson originally commissioned German developer Factor 5 to originally develop the game. This build contains an eight-player battle game (something that would not be seen until many years later), but despite Hudson reportedly being impressed with the demo, they decided to scrap the project and focus on porting Bomberman '94 over to Sega's console.

Legacy

Mega Bomberman was ultimately more successful than Bomberman '94 as it was not restricted to Japan. It was re-released as part of the Mega Hit Series in North America.

Versions

Though well received at the time of release, Mega Bomberman is considered to be a relatively poor conversion of the game, as Bomberman '94, despite supposedly running on inferior hardware, supports up to five players and features brighter graphics with more animation. Mega Bomberman also features a slightly altered soundtrack, possibly to appeal more to overseas markets.

Production credits

• Programers: Yuichi Ito, Hideo Iwakawa, Kazuyuki Kimura
• Graphic Designers: Takuya Aoyama, Yuji Iwahara, Tomomi Tada
• Sound Programers: Hajime Ohara, Takashi Morio
• Special Thanks: Kesuke Matsuura
• Music Composer: Jun Chiki Chikuma
• Art Director: Shoji Mizuno
• Producer: Hiroki Shimada
• Supervisor: Toshiki Fujiwara
• Director: Yoshiyuki Kawaguchi
• Basic Game Designer: Shinichi Nakamoto
• Presented by: Hudson Soft

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Mega Bomberman/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (KR) #1994-12: "xxxx" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in (ES) #33: "Enero 1995" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Hacker (HR) #6: "05/1995" (1995-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (RU) 30 (FR) PAL 94 (UK) 91 (US) NTSC-U 65 (RU) 80 (US) NTSC-U 78 (UK) PAL 87 (UK) PAL 91 (UK) PAL 92 (FR) PAL 84 (DE) PAL 88 (UK) PAL 87 (FR) PAL 78 (DE) PAL 85 (US) NTSC-U 87 (UK) PAL 94 (US) NTSC-U 50 (FR) 97 (DE) PAL 85 (UK) 86 (UK) PAL 58 (UK) PAL 90 (FR) PAL 92 (FR) 92 (ES) 88 (RU) 88 (DE) PAL 64 (US) NTSC-U 90

	82
Based on 28 reviews

Mega Bomberman

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Mega Drive, EU (No CE Mark)
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Mega Drive, EU (White CE Mark)
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Mega Drive, PT
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Mega Drive, AU
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Technical information

Main article: Mega Bomberman/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Bomberman '94

Bomberman games for Sega systems
	Bomberman Special (198x)
	Bomber Man (1988)
	Mega Bomberman (1994) | Mega Bomberman: Special 8 Player Demo (unreleased)
	Saturn Bomberman (XBAND) (1996) | Saturn Bomberman Fight!! (1997) | Bomberman Wars (1998)
	Bomberman Online (2001)