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Bomberman Tournament

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Bomberman Tournament
Developer(s)Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Shigeki Fujiwara
Producer(s)Hiroyuki Mikami
Artist(s)Shoji Mizuno
Kozue Satoh
Composer(s)Koichi Seiyama
Jun Chikuma
SeriesBomberman
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Release
  • JP: April 27, 2001
  • NA: June 26, 2001[1]
  • EU: August 10, 2001[2]
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer


Bomberman Tournament[a] is a game in the Bomberman series for the GBA. The game contains a multiplayer battle mode between linked Game Boy Advances. The player and up to three others can compete in any of the game's eight multiplayer battle arenas, each of which has its own unique gameplay twist.

Story

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On the edge of the galaxy sits a small planet, Phantarion. From the cutscene at the beginning of the game, it is given that five meteors (the five Dastardly Bombers, from Super Bomberman 2 and Super Bomberman 3) hit the planet. Shortly thereafter, a large fortress was erected, and in turn the land around the tall, tower-like fortress and the fortress itself began to freeze over. The people of Phantarion sent out a distress call, and Professor Ein sent Max to investigate. Upon arriving on the planet, Max makes his way to the base of the tower. Once inside, he is confronted by a huge bird creature (later found to be Plasma Bomber in his transformed state). He is knocked out by the bird by one fell blow, and is either sent to the top of the tower or down a hole (the exact cannot be determined, Max is only shown being pulled into a dark, foreboding circle in the center of the screen). When Doctor Ein talks to Bomberman a week later, Bomberman tells him that they have lost all contact with Max. Bomberman is then sent by Ein to save Phantarion and find Max, thus beginning the playable portion of the story.

Gameplay

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Tournament was generally lauded for its simple, approachable gameplay. In order to score (in multiplayer mode), players must lay time bombs in order to trap and obliterate their opponents, with the last player alive becoming the winner. As the player defeats enemies and clears away obstacles, a variety of power-up tiles appear. Randomly selected from a pool of 10 different items, these tiles have a number of effects, such as increasing bombs' blast radius, increasing the player's bomb capacity, or even reversing a player's controls.

Unlike other Bomberman games, Tournament's single-player quest mode is an action-adventure game with influences of Zelda, Pokémon and especially Hudson's Neutopia.

The majority of the action takes place in 2D from a top-down vantage point, while Karabon battles and select minigames are presented in a side view. Each of the game's six different environments possesses only a minimum of rectangular features but is detailed with other features, such as trees that topple over or an earthen giant collapsed in the middle of a road.

Development

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Bomberman Tournament was developed by Hudson Soft. The game was first announced at the 2000 Nintendo Space World, with a single screenshot shown to the public.[3][4] Publisher Activision was given publishing rights to release Tournament in Europe and North America.[5]

Reception

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Bomberman Tournament received "generally favorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[6] NextGen called it "An established multiplayer classic whose added single-player mode mixes in two of Nintendo's most beloved franchises."[16] In Japan, however, Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40.[11] Michael "Major Mike" Weigand of GamePro said, "Complete with colorful visuals and simple, dead-on controls, Bomberman will be right at home in this Tournament."[20][b]

According to a sales report from Reuters, Bomberman Tournament contributed to Activision's revenue going up thirty percent to $110 million in the second quarter of 2001. Both Tournament and the Game Boy Advance version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 accounted for 31% of the revenue.[21]

Notes

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  1. ^ Known in Japan as Bomberman Story (ボンバーマンストーリー, Bonbāman Sutōrī)
  2. ^ GamePro gave the game two 4/5 scores for graphics and sound, and two 4.5/5 scores for control and fun factor.

References

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  1. ^ Harris, Craig (April 18, 2001). "Bomberman and Pinobee for US Launch". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  2. ^ "UK Release Dates (2001 Releases)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 16, 2001. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  3. ^ GameSpot staff (August 24, 2000). "New GBA Games Announced". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on June 21, 2001. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  4. ^ IGN staff (February 23, 2001). "Bomberman Tournament (Preview)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Ahmed, Shahed (April 18, 2001). "Activision announces two more for the GBA [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 6, 2001. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Bomberman Tournament". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  7. ^ Semerad, Jay. "Bomberman Tournament - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  8. ^ Johnston, Chris (July 2001). "Bomberman Tournament" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 144. Ziff Davis. p. 91. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  9. ^ Zimmerman, Chris (July 20, 2001). "Bomberman Tournament". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on January 4, 2003. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  10. ^ Bye, John "Gestalt" (October 7, 2001). "Bomberman Tournament". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on November 25, 2001. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  11. ^ a b "ボンバーマンストーリー". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  12. ^ "Bomberman Tournament". Game Informer. No. 101. FuncoLand. September 2001.
  13. ^ Provo, Frank (July 5, 2001). "Bomberman Tournament Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  14. ^ Bub, Andrew S. (January 28, 2002). "Bomberman Tournament (GBA)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 2, 2002. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  15. ^ Zdyrko, David (July 6, 2001). "Bomberman Tournament". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Bomberman Tournament". NextGen. No. 79. Imagine Media. July 2001. p. 62. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  17. ^ "Bomberman Tournament". Nintendo Power. Vol. 146. Nintendo of America. July 2001.
  18. ^ Metts, Jonathan (August 25, 2001). "Bomberman Tournament". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  19. ^ Lake, Max (September 23, 2001). "Bomberman Tournament". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  20. ^ Weigand, Michael "Major Mike" (August 2001). "Bomberman Tournament" (PDF). GamePro. No. 155. IDG. p. 72. Archived from the original on October 10, 2004. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  21. ^ Bye, John "Gestalt" (July 25, 2001). "Activision on rise". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
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