Bomberman Generation

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Bomberman Generation

Developer(s)	Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	US: Majesco Games Europe: Vivendi Universal
Release date(s)	US: June 4, 2002 Europe December 6, 2002
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone ELSPA: 11+
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Media	1 × GameCube Optical Disc

Bomberman Generation is a video game released for the Nintendo GameCube on June 4, 2002. It was followed up by Bomberman Jetters.

1 Story
2 Gameplay
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Story

Stories of the origin of the universe's power have circulated for years, but it wasn't until recently that the source of the power has been found. Six crystals, named the "Bomb Elements", are said to contain unfathomable, though unknown, powers. So Professor Ein sends a space freighter to retrieve them and return to Planet Bomber for analysis.

However, en route to Planet Bomber, the freighter is attacked by a hired gun and is destroyed. The Bomb Elements fall out but are sucked in by the gravitational pull of the nearby planet Tentacalls. Professor Ein recieves word that the Hige Hige Bandits, led by Bomberman's arch-enemy Mujoe, are making large scale moves towards Tentacalls, and it turns out that they were the ones responsible for the freighter attack. Not only that, but the Bandits have allied themselves with Bomberman's rivals, the Crush Bombers, who are also on the move to get the Elements for Mujoe.

Professor Ein orders Bomberman to Tentacalls to defeate the Crush Bombers and the High High Bandits, and to get the Bomb Elements before they do, for if even one element falls into their hands, then the universe would be as Mujoe pleases. Thus begins Bomberman's latest chapter to restore peace and order to the galaxy.

[edit] Gameplay

Bomberman Generation consists of five worlds, each with 6 levels for the first three worlds, four levels for worlds 4 and 5, and the last world is one small area with a boss fight in it. The levels involve puzzles, mini games, Pokémon-esque battles using Charaboms who get befriended by Bomberman once defeated, and Charabom or bomb merge areas where a merge item and a bomb get fused or a Charabom and another Charabom get fused resulting in a stronger bomb or Charabom. The worlds have unique bosses each with a different strategy of defeating them. All of the worlds have puzzles that the player has to solve with bombs or Charaboms.

Generation is fueled by what seems like a hyper-active delivery, giving it a mile-a-minute, sugar-rush style that makes it all the more enjoyable. Rather than a cumbersome adventure title many of the older Bomberman games were, Generation thrives on its explosive action and speed. The graphics in Generation were one of the first titles to employ the style of "cel-shading" for the GameCube (a style utilized again in Bomberman Jetters, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker would make popular), which gives the game a style more akin to an interactive comic book or cartoon versus the other Cube titles that would use more realistic graphics. This gives the game a more fluid and flight-and-fancy-free feel.

Along the way, Bomberman finds different power-ups that will aid him in his quest. They include:

FIRE-UP: Increases bomb blasts by one, up to a Level 5 blast.
BOMB-UP: Increases the amount of bombs you can drop; up to 6 can be put down at any given time.
SPEED-UP: Increases Bomberman's over-all speed; level 6 speed unleashes Bomberman's maximum running speed.
HEART: Adds 1/4, 1/2, or a complete heart re-filled to your meter.
HEART CONTAINER: Adds one more heart to your total amount of energy.
CHARABOM FEED: Specific items that increase your equipped Charabom's abilities in battle.

The classic multiplayer mode is back in full swing, though consisting of many differing modes, and can consist of up to four human and computer characters:

STANDARD BATTLE: Classic Bomberman multiplayer, where four players try to blow each other up. Whoever is the last man standing wins. In the last minute of the battle ("HURRY UP!"), blocks drop along the edges of the arena, making it smaller and smaller until someone wins or time runs out, which ends in a tie. Standard Battle also has a plethora of new levels, each with their own special set of rules:

STANDARD: No tricks or traps, just good old fashioned Bomberman action.
DRYCONVEY: The center of the arena is a moving conveyor belt that can move Bombers and bombs in whatever direction it's headed. A panel in the center of the arena can change the belt's direction.
TURN&BANG: Four panels in the arena have arrows that act as a guiding device for bombs. When kicked into one of these panels, bombs change direction in accordance to where the arrow is pointed and don't stop until they hit a block or explode. Bombs that collide turn into Super Bombs that stops dead it's tracks.
GREENFIELD: Instead of soft blocks, long green grass and flowers grow, and when burned, the flowers drop power-ups into the fray. However, the grass keeps growing back no matter how many times it's burned, which can hide bombs.
PIPEBANGS: Several parts of the arena have coloured pipes that both Bombers and bombs can enter. Bombs can be hidden in the pipes and can be used for secret attacks.
COLDWARP: An icy stage, where four weaker ice panels act as teleporters that either a Bomber or bomb can enter. Each warp randomly places you on another panel.
SUPERBLAST: No items or soft blocks, but each bomberman has eight Bomb-Ups, one Speed-Up, full firepower, and 1 Line-Bomb. Chaos ensues.
DUNKBANG: If a bomb is tossed in one of the four basketball hoops on the edges of the battle arena, they pop back into the arena as Bouncing Bombs and pose a bigger threat, no matter who threw it.

You can also alter the options of how often you will find specific power-ups (up to 60 in a standard battle can be used), including:

FIRE-UP: Increases bomb blasts by one.
BOMB-UP: Increases the amount of bombs you can drop.
SPEED-UP: Increases Bomberman's over-all speed.
POWER GLOVE: Bomberman can lift a bomb over his head and throw it over soft blocks.
BOMB KICK: You can kick bombs that travel along the floor at other Bombers.
SUPER POWER GLOVE: When lifted over your head, the bomb slowly transforms into a Secret Bomb, which has an explosion ratio of 5x5 panels.
SAFETY VEST: Bomberman becomes temporarily invincible.
REMOTE CONTROLLER: Hitting the B Button makes the bomb explode at will.
POWER BOMB: The first bomb dropped has full explosive capacity .
FULL FIRE: All bombs have maximum explosive power.
PUNCH: Punching a bomb will cause it to fly forward a ways, even over soft blocks and over the edge of the arena.
LINE BOMB: Bomberman can drop a line of bombs in front of him in the amount of however many bomb-ups he possess.
PIERCE BOMB: A spiked bomb whose explosions penetrate soft blocks.
BOUNCING BOMB: When thrown, the bomb bounces in a random direction, finally stopping to explode.
LAND MINE: The first bomb dropped sinks into the ground and vanishes. Anyone who walks over it triggers the one second fuse.
HEART: Bomberman gets one free hit against bomb blasts. Only one can be equipped at a time.
POISON: A skull icon causes random effects to Bomberman:
NUMB FOOT DISEASE: Bomberman moves very slowly.
FLEET FOOT DISEASE: Bomberman moves very quickly.
LOOSE BOMB DISEASE: Bomberman drops bombs arbitrarily.
STUCK BOMB DISEASE: Bomberman cannot drop bombs at all.
MINI BOMB DISEASE: Bomberman can only drop one bomb with a level one explosion.
FRENZY DISEASE: Bomberman cannot stop moving until he hits a wall.
REVERSE DISEASE: Bomberman's movements are reversed from the players original direction.
HASTE DISEASE: Bomb fuses are shortened.
BLITHE DISEASE: Bomb fuses are longer.
CHANGE: All bombers change places in the arena.
All poisoned Bombers can infect other Bombers with their conditions, just by touching them.

REVERSI BATTLE: Bomb explosions flip the floor panels dependant on who dropped the bomb (white, black, red, and blue. Whoever has the most amount of panels matching their corresponding Bomber when time is up is the winner. However, opponents can flip the panels previously flipped by other players.

COIN BATTLE: Blowing up treasure barrels unleashed both power-ups and coins. The purpose of the match is to have the most coins when time runs out. However, if you're blown up, you lose half your coins and all your power-ups and must scramble to get them back. As the match progresses, Hige Hige Bandits appear to steal the coins, and blowing them up releases the coins and additional power-ups.
Coin values:
GOLD - 100
SILVER - 50
BRONZE - 10

DODGE BATTLE: You cannot drop bombs; rather, bombs drop from the sky at you, and you must avoid the explosions. You are equipped solely with a Bomb Kick, Punch, and one Speed-Up items to avoid the blasts. The blast ratio is shown on the arena floor, so it seems simple enough to survive, but as the match goes on, it gets progressively harder.

REVENGE BATTLE: All Bombers are in Revenge Bomber mode, and get points depending on how many moles they can stun or blow up. The bombs only go as far as the cursor allows, and merely stunning the moles with a bomb doesn't give you as many points as blowing one up (50 as opposed to 250 or 500).

[edit] Trivia

Though not credited, more than a a few of the voice actors from Bomberman Jetters appear in this game (Bomberman, Professor Ein, Max, Mujoe, Hige Hige Bandits).

Pommy (Pomyu) from Bomberman 64: The Second Attack and a few of his variations make appearances as Charaboms.

The game states the Crush Bombers are the rivals of Professor Ein's group however this is the first game they appear in and they are practically a replacement for the five Dastardly Bombers.

In the opening sequence of the game, it is said that the Crush Bombers, are "hired guns", yet they carry the insignia of the Hige Hige Bandits, suggesting that they are the minions of the Hige Hige Bandits, no doubt "hired" by Mujoe to carry out the latest plan.

Assault Bomber's two arms look almost exactly like the arms of Bagular's final form you fight in Bomberman Hero, except that they perform different attacks (Bagular's left arm fires homing missiles, whereas Assault Bomber's shoots like a gatling gun, and Bagular's right arm shoots a powerful laser versus Assault's rapid-fire explosive barrage).