I don’t think I can recall the number of Bomberman games that are in existence now, but it’s fair to guess there have been a lot. Within recent memory the bomber has made his way to the DS 3 times, the Gamecube once, the Xbox 360 twice and now it’s finally the Wii’s turn to get some in the form of Bomberman Blast.

Unlike some of the full priced offering that have been released in the past years, Bomberman Blast doesn’t bother boring you with its trivial and mind numbing single player adventure mode, and why would it? The thing everyone loves about Bomberman is simple addictive multiplayer gameplay and that is what Bomberman Blast delivers in abundance and for 1000 points you can colour me happy. You have a few options when to start- namely local or online play. That’s pretty much your whole game but you get what you pay for, this truly is no frills Bomberman, and I love it.

So what do you get in the no frills Bomberman you ask? Well for a start you get 12 stages going from your bog-standard stage using the original Bomberman style or newer offerings such as bowling themed levels were kicked bombs can move around or UFO themed levels allowing you to jump in space ships and drop bombs on your enemies. Then there is the bots with excellent AI allowing for some fierce and challenging gameplay. You also get 5 different play types such as Team Deathmatch, Timed Matches or your standard All vs. All match.

I really am happy with the level of customisation slapped in the player’s hands by the game. While you can’t change every single little thing, you can change weapons, skulls, how many items are on a map, how much time you get and a hell of a lot more. It means you can play a match the way you want it to be played and that’s something a lot of multiplayer games don’t grasp, especially those developed by the Japanese such as Smash Bros which has heavy restrictions when taken online.

While I could continue to list off various modes, thats not very fun. What is fun however is sitting down with 7 friends and playing an 8 player All vs. All match. I really haven’t had this much fun on a Bomberman game since Bomberman on the Sega Saturn a few years back and that’s really saying something.

One thing I definitely have to mention (and clear up) is the use of Mii’s in the game. Bomberman has been in the Nintendo gamers eye for a while now because of the use of Mii’s, however the game almost goes to the trouble of hiding them, giving the player no clue on how to gain or use Mii’s in game. We had to go back to the Wii Shopping Channel, download the manual and read all the way through it to find out how so let me write this boldly so you know. To use Mii’s in Bomberman, play on every map once. Now I have no idea why Hudson assumed writing those 10 words would be such a hard job in the game but for whatever reason they decided not to do it.

Unfortunately the game has some noticeable information missing in other regions also, with character creation guidance, control layout, Mii use and help all missing from the game itself, referring only to the manual which you have to go to the Wii Shopping Channel to re-download every time you wish to look at it.

Even though I spout off about the multiplayer greatness of Bomberman Blast, Hudson have made sure that even without friends you can still have fun. Full 8 player Wi-Fi is also available in the game which works wonderfully. In our play tests we were happy to find no lag or issues with any players at all and personally I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a patch allowing WiiSpeak to be used in the game once released in 2009. Is it a long shot? Possibly, but it wont stop me hoping.

Closing Comments
Aside from the minor inconvenience to re-download the manual every now and again to show people new to the game the controls and the lack of explanation of how to get Mii’s the game is extremely solid for a 1000 point title showing up some other WiiWare games currently at a higher price. With a good amount of multiplayer driven content for the price-tag, graphically pleasing and with some absolutely killer lag-free online matches during our play test, Bomberman Blast is the cream of the WiiWare crop. If you live in Europe buy it, if you live somewhere else cross your fingers and wait in anticipation.

Score 9.0

+ Good fun with friends and family
+ Still good fun only with bots due to excellent AI
+ Perfect online play
+ 1000 points price tag

- Poor overall presentation
- Lack of instruction
- Music a little off the mark
- Where did remote bombs go?