Bomberman Online

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Bomberman Online
System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Developer: Hudson Soft, h.a.n.d., Studio Takuranke
Peripherals supported: Visual Memory Unit, Dreamcast Jump Pack, Dreamcast Keyboard, Dreamcast Modem, Dreamcast VGA Adapter
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-8
Release Date RRP Code US 2001-10-30 $36.9936.99 51065
ESRB

Bomberman Online (not to be confused with Online Bomberman) is an entry in the Bomberman series of games by Hudson Soft. This one was released for the Sega Dreamcast exclusively in North America, and is notable for being one of the few versions of Bomberman to be playable on the internet. Up to four players can play locally and up to eight players can play online.

On a small island on the Planet Bomber named Quintet Island is an event held once every four years called the "Bomb-A-Lympics" (similar to the real-life Olympic movement). Competitors are tasked to collect Gold Medals from all five Bomber Events that will grant them the title of "Master Bomberman."

A previous entry of the Bomberman series on Sega consoles, Saturn Bomberman used "direct dial", which could link multiple consoles together via the internet without the need for external servers. Bomberman Online, however, lacks this feature, and therefore can no longer be played online as its servers were shut down in 2003.

Several gameplay concepts and assets were used in future Bomberman games such as Bomberman LIVE, Bomberman ULTRA and Bomberman LIVE Battlefest.

Gameplay

Controls

The following are the default controls during gameplay. Controls can be changed in the options menu.

• Analog Stick/D-Pad - Move character
• - Set Bomb/Power Glove (Requires Power Glove item)
• - Kick Stop
• - Punch(Requires Punch item)/Line Bomb (Requires Line Bomb Item)

• Bomber Karate Controls
• Miso Bomb Controls
• Additional Items Controls

Unlike some of the previous entries that attempted to bring Bomberman gameplay into the third dimension such as Bomberman 64, Bomberman Online retains the traditional grid-based gameplay centered around blowing up other opponents with bombs. Laying down a bomb will cause it to explode after a small period of time. Each player is given three stats: Bombs, Fire and Speed. Bombs determines how many bombs can be placed on the playfield. Fire determines the player's bomb's blast radius depending on where it is placed. Speed determines how fast a player can move. Gameplay becomes more intense the faster players move and how they place bombs. A blast radius connecting to other bombs will cause a chain reaction providing greater advantages of the playfield.

Each game mode offers a variation of the standard Bomberman gameplay along with gimmicks and other powerups.

Game Modes

Bomberman Online plays host of five main game modes across both Single and Multi Player modes.

	Survivial Rule
	Bomb other opponents. The last player standing wins. Stages: (Normal Game , Battle Game, Network)
	Hyper Bomber Rule
	Collect three target panels and touch the center gate to win. Stages: (Normal Game , Battle Game, Network)
	Submarine Rule
	Plant bombs to have them appear on your opponent's side of the stage. This game mode is only available in Team Play. Stages: (Normal Game , Battle Game)
	Panel Paint Rule
	Use bombs to turn panels on the field to your color. Most panels wins. Stages: (Normal Game , Battle Game)
	Ring Match Rule
	Use bombs to blow off players from the arena for points. Players will respawn afterward. The player with the most points wins. Stages: (Normal Game , Battle Game)

Get ready for the Bomb-A-Lympics!

Normal Game

White Bomberman takes the challenge on his own to compete against five Champion Teams to reach the top spot by himself in the Bomb-A-Lympics. All opponents are computer controlled with each game mode broken up into three areas where teams in Two-Point Matches. Following those are Bosses in One-Point Matches. Defeating the boss earns a Gold Medal and a step towards the end goal of "Master Bomberman."

Each arena is dominated by one of five teams, which represents each rule type.

• Electric Dragons led by Thunder Bomber
• Red Phoenix led by the Bomber Brothers
• Princess Mariners led by Bomber Mermaid
• Iron Bulldozers led by Bomber Gunrock
• Storm Giants led by Aladdin Bomber

In addition to the main gameplay grants a random chance to obtain a "Collection Panel" which provides a costume piece that can be shown off in the online mode.

A list of stages can be found here.

Battle Game

Four Bombermen compete in the beginning of a Survival match.

Up to four players, either human or computer controlled, compete to gain the most points. Players can also be set for up to two teams to cooperate with one another. Additional rules are also set before the beginning of a match.

Computer	Weak Normal Strong
Games Per Match	Can be set between 1 to 5 games
Times Up!	Can be set between 1 to 5 minutes
Level	Beginner Normal Advanced
Sudden Death	Off On Random
Random Position	Off On
Skull Bomb	If on, skull icons will appear among the items to hinder players. Off On
Mini Game	If on, the winning player of a match will play Bomber Karate Off On
Miso Bomb	Activates Miso Bomb feature. (Only works with Survival and Submarine Rules) Off On Super

Once the rules are set, a stage is then selected. A list of stages can be found here.

Bomber Karate

Bomber Karate awards the lead player with an item that may help or hinder them the next match.

After a match has finished, the lead player will play a round of Bomber Karate. First by holding the trigger then pressing the button will cause the player to chop the blocks in front of their character. Depending on how deep the trigger is held, the more blocks of wood will be chopped through. The item received will carry over through every round of the next match.

If the Mini Game setting is set to off, the mini game will be skipped. The Mini Game cannot be played if players are in teams.

Miso Bomb

Miso Bomb allow players to jump back into the game.

When a player is defeated, and if the feature is turned on, players will appear on the sidelines in a small craft that allows them to throw bombs at the other players. Miso Bomb players will only be able to throw one bomb at a time and their fire rate will be at +2. If the feature is turned on to "Super" then they will be able to replace players if their fire range catches the target player(s).

Skulls

During rounds, a skull icon may appear depending on the rules set above. If skulls are turned on and collected, they will affect the player in one of several ways. They can also spread the skull power by touching other players. These are the following effects of the skull power-up.

• Sprint Sickness - Increases player's speed radically.
• Sluggish Sickness - Decreses player's speed drastically.
• Diarrhea - Sets bombs constantly
• Paralysis - Cannot set bombs
• Minimal Sickness - Decreases bomb explosion range
• Can't Stop Sickness - Cannot stop moving unless the player runs into a wall
• Reverse Sickness - Reverses the controls
• Short Fuse Sickness - Bombs explode quickly after setting them
• Long Fuse Sickness - Bombs take longer to explode after setting them.

Network

A backdrop used in the Network game setup.

Up to four players per console can join games for up to eight players over the internet. Not all of the game rules are available to play online however. Each local player can load their avatar created from the Extras menu so long as their VMU is present in slot 1 of their respective controllers. To play online would require a paid SegaNet account. This mode also grants extra chances of obtaining certain costume pieces not found elsewhere.

• Because all Dreamcast servers were shut down in 2003, these features no longer work.

Before each match is a central Arena room where players can join together in a chat room and begin or join rooms.

• Players will be able to chat by either plugging a Dreamcast Keyboard in slot B of the system or by using player 1's controller with the software keyboard.

Starting a room will grant access to the Room Master options. Once there, the rules can be set up for the match.

Room Master Menu Options

Set Up Rule	Set up the rules of a match.
Start Battle	Begins the game if all players are ready.
Kick Out	Remove players from the host's room.
Lock Room	Prevents entry of other players.
Exit Room	Closes the room and sends all players back to the Arena room.
Log Out	Logs out from the network and sends other players back to the Arena room.

Network Rules Menu

Battle Type	Survival Rule Hyper Bomber Rule
Games Per Match	Can be set between 1 to 5 games
Times Up!	Can be set between 1 to 5 minutes
Random Position	Off On
Select Stage	...

Extras Box

Extras Box allows for avatar customization to be used for online games.

Extras Box allows players to customize their Bomberman avatar for use in the Network mode with costume pieces obtained via Collection Panels from the Normal Game mode as well as rare opportunities in Network mode by destroying softblocks. Because the Network mode is no longer available, you cannot use your avatar and not all collection panels can be obtained normally. There are 96 panels to collect altogether. After selecting a menu option pulling the or Triggers will scroll between different options.

• Character Design

Using the D-Pad left and right selects a body part to edit and up and down to select a parts that are available. Holding will rotate the avatar and pressing will cycle between different animations. Once done, pressing will return to the main Extras Box menu.

• Character Name - This option edits the user name to be used in the Network mode. Characters can be entered by the onscreen keyboard or by the Dreamcast Keyboard when plugged into Slot B
• Collection Panel - Collection panels obtained will be presented on this screen.

Items

	'Bomb'
	Adds bomb to arsenal
	'Speed'
	Increases speed of player
	'Sandals'
	Decreases speed of player
	'Fire'
	Increases range of bomb explosion
	'Kick'
	Running into bombs causes them to move across the field. Pressing will stop them on the panel they move over.
	'Power Glove'
	Grants ability to grab a bomb once placed with . Allows to throw the bomb over soft and hard blocks.
	'Punch'
	Allows to punch bombs over over soft and hard blocks by pressing .
	'Line Bomb'
	Grants ability to set a row of bombs on the field depending on how many Bomb pick ups were acquired. Place a bomb then press to place a line of bombs ahead of your character.
	'Bouncing Bomb'
	A special bomb type that changes the player's bombs which will bounce against walls once kicked.
	'Skull'
	Causes one of several different ailments during a match. Wears out after a period of time. You can spread the sickness to other players by colliding with them. For a list of effects, refer to the Skulls section.
	'Target Panel'
	Used in the Hyper Bomber Rule gametype. Collecting three of these then passing the gate in the middle of the stage wins the round.

Other Items

	'Full Bomb'
	Maximizes bomb stat. Not used in the game.
	'Full fire'
	Maximizes fire stat. Not used in the game.
	'Heart'
	Provides protection from damage. Used only by bosses in game.
	'Collection Panel'
	Used when playing under Normal Game or Network. Grants one costume piece.

Production credits

• Programming: Yuji Tanaka, Yoshikazu Hosoda, Nobuhide Tanako, Kouji Taguchi, Kazuharu Humoto, Takashi Azuma, Katsuhiko Kii, Kazuhiko Sugiyama
• Network Programming: Taku Nakayama
• Character Design: [sic made a full heading but no break exists until Animation Movie Credits]
• Character Designer: Shoji Mizuno, Akihiro Takanami, Naoto Yoshimi
• 3D Character Designer / 3D Movie: Hiroyuki Kitagawa
• 3D Edit Character Designer: Nobuhiko Inoue, Masahide Inaba, Akihiro Nakamura, Hitoshi Takiyama, Rie Ueshima, Kayo Fujimoto, Misa Nagai, Tomoaki Watanabe, Mineaki Sugata
• 3D Map Designer: Munenori Hitomi, Nobutoshi Jitsukawa
• Interface Design: Kikka Nakaya
• Game Designer: Kouji Yamamoto
• Music: Hironao Yamamoto, Shohei Bando
• Sound Effect: Masato Aihara
• Soundtrack Mastering: Osamu Narita
• Sound Director: Hiromichi Furuya
• Sound Managers: Keisuke Mitsui, Akihiro Sato
• Voice: Karen Takahata
• Narration Recording: JOE DOWN STUDIO
• Sound Technical Support: Katsunori Takahashi
• Director: Kaname Fujii
• Supervisor: Shigeki Fujiwara, Tatsumistu [sic] Watanabe
• Executive Producer: Hiroshi Igari
• Product Manager: Jun Kanda, Toshinori Imata
• Quality Assurance: Tsuyoshi Nakagawa
• Publicity: Kentarou Murayama
• Special Thanks: Keigo Yasuda, Bill Rich

Animation Movie Credits

• 3D Graphic Designer: Tomoaki Watanabe, Toshifumi Sekijima, Osamu Akita
• Cinematic Engineer: Jin Kamohara, Zenjirou Motono
• Movie Director: Shoji Mizuno
• Supervising Animator, Key Animator: Hisashi Kagawa
• Story Board: Deresuke
• Animation Director: Yoshihiro Oda
• Animation: Studio Takuranke
• Cinematic Quality Assurance: Rie Kondou
• Color Setting: Natsue Sasaki
• Coloration: Buyuu
• Art Director: Mitsuharu Miyamae
• Art Designer: Buku Production
• Director of Photography: Kouji Tanaka
• Camera Operation: Studio Takuranke
• Producers: Yasuhiko Kondou, Makoto Shinjou
• Cooperation: Cox, Studio Takuranke, Studio Cockpit

Sega Corporation Credits

• Co-executive Producer: Masanao Maeda
• Technical Support Team: Kenichi Iwanaga, Akira Ohe, Noboru Tomotani
• Coordinator: Kagasei Shimomura, Koji Kuroki

Sega of America Dreamcast, Inc. Credits

• Localization Producer: Jason Kuo
• Localization Manager: Osamu Shibamiya
• VP of Localization: Jin Shimazaki
• Network Architect: Takashi Kosaka
• Lead Tester: Nestor Protacio Jr.
• Assistant Lead Testers: Ray Murakawa, Davidson Talag
• Product Manager: Rich Briggs
• Associate Product Manager: Noah Musler
• Public Relations: Gwen Marker, Teri Higgins
• Creative Services: Bob Schonfisch, Angela Santos, Arianne Pitts
• Special Thanks: Peter Moore, Cord Smith, Koji Kuroki

Sega.com, Inc. Credits

• SegaNet Producer: Arthur Datangel
• Lead Network Analyst: Jason Nolen
• DC Server Operations: Douglas Land, Eric Fehr
• QA Manager: Lancelot Nelson
• QA Analysts: Nicolas J. Azizian, Darren Nagtalon, Clifford Wilhelm, Leland Ware
• Director of Games: Jerome Markota
• Business Development: Keitaro Shigemasa, Rie Wani
• Marketing: Bee Yinn Low
• Special Thanks: Ryoichi Shiratsuchi, Eugene Archibald

Created by Hudson Soft

Magazine articles

Main article: Bomberman Online/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in GamePro (US) #159: "December 2001" (2001-1x-xx)

Artwork

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Physical scans

Dreamcast, US
Cover
Manual Inlay

Technical information

VMU Features

Bomberman Online can utilize VMU storage to save Normal Game progress and accumulated Collection Panels. In addition online play allows one group of players (players per system) to use their avatar and nickname set from the Extras mode in the Network mode when plugged into slot 1 of their respective controllers.

Bomberman Online Save Data

Name	File Name	Comment	File Size	Icon
BOMBERMAN ONLINE	BOMBERMANONLINE	BOMBERMAN ONLINE	6 blocks

VMU Eyecatch

References

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)