How retro can you go?  That's the question Nintendo's been asking with its "new" lineup of classic games.  My love for the Zelda and Mario games that started it all is so strong that I'm almost compelled to buy another Game Boy Advance SP.  The one I have works perfectly fine, and I don't need to have another GBA lying around the house (I already have three).  But the retro, NES-themed GBA SP is too cool to miss.  Even my sister (a casual gamer who mostly plays puzzle games and old-school shooters like Galaga) is stoked for it.

I haven't caved just yet, but I am caving when it comes to acquiring GBA versions of all my favorite NES games.

As cool as Bomberman was, it was one of the few games that never made it into my NES collection.  Back then I had extremely limited gaming funds, so it wasn't easy to acquire new software.  My NES collection inches closer to completion with the addition of Bomberman for the GBA.

This version of Bomberman is much different from the Bomberman games you've played on GameCube and Nintendo 64.  Two-dimensional, top-down gameplay is a must for any NES game (you couldn't do much else back then).  However, this is the game that launched the series, not one that's based on the current Bomberman titles.  All the frantic, hit-and-run action of the later versions is nowhere to be found.  Multiplayer is nonexistent.  They could have added a multiplayer mode, enabling GBA players to link up and bomb around with each other.  But that would have meant altering the content of the game, something the developers wanted to keep intact.  I would have objected to any changes to Mario or Zelda, so I'll just have to accept the fact that they didn't make any changes here.

Does this mean Bomberman should be tossed into the DO NOT PLAY zone?  No way!  It's dated and repetitive, but despite those two factors it is a pretty decent game.

At first glance each level looks the same: green background, gray blocks, single-colored enemies.  Additional glances prove that the assumption is mostly correct – Bomberman does rehash its environment, changing only the block alignment to add difficulty.  However, you've got to remember that this game is not from the current generation.  Outside of game collections and older siblings (who had the NES), younger gamers have not had the opportunity to play the roots of the industry.  They've been bombarded with polygons and wire-frame models.  The Bomberman series is guilty of doing that (though I must say that Bomberman Generations did keep me playing for many hours at a time).

The gameplay is good but is extremely primitive.  You know how in the recent Bomberman games you can drop a bomb, pick it up and throw it at an enemy, turning him into Kibbles and Bits?  That feature was not invented in 1987 (this game's original release date), therefore it is not present here.

Bomberman can drop bombs and...that's about it.  The goal is to trap enemies with clever bomb placement, not blow them to smithereens with a handy grenade.  I never thought of the game as being innovative, but at its time, when nothing else like it was around, the gameplay was very unique.

With a constant flow of familiar maps to complete, Bomberman's only sources for differentiation are the enemies and the power-ups.  Enemies vary in appearance but function like the Pac-Man ghosts, only without the heat-sinking-missile approach that makes the ghosts so deadly.  Some enemies move very quickly, and it's always the ones that move quickly that choose to hunt in packs.  This makes for quite a challenge.  Bomberman has to figure out a way to lay several bombs very quickly, and not in any ol' fashion, but in a way that will ensure the blast hits the enemies when the bomb explodes.  Only one enemy needs to come in contact with you in order to usher in the Grim Reaper, but you need to kill them all in order to win.

First-run explosions are short, reaching only one square in the direction that it travels (it can travel in all directions if placed in the center of four separate squares).  What comes next is the thing that will make new Bomberman fans truly feel like this is a part of their beloved series: power-ups.  You can't plant more than one bomb at a time in this game, but if you snatch a special power-up, you can throw that rule out the window and unleash more explosive damage.  Power-ups also give you the chance to enlarge the size of your blast radius, making it easier to kill those pesky, will-not-stay-put enemies.  It also makes it easier to kill yourself.  I couldn't keep track of the number of times that I trapped myself behind one of my bombs, or walked into one as it went off.

My favorite power-up is a precursor to the C4 explosives in Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2.  It allows you to plant bombs, move a safe distance away from them, and detonate on command!  You can many cool things with this power-up, like trap multiple enemies or create a barrier that prevents the faster enemies from getting to you.  Lastly, there's a power-up that enables Bomberman to run, because no one likes a superhero that moves like a horse with one leg.

Before lighting a fuse that could blow up in your face, it's important to know what you're getting with the very first game in the Bomberman series.  Zelda and Mario come as no surprise to anyone, but Bomberman might not excite younger gamers who played it for the first time on GameCube.  That said, Bomberman is a time-diminishing, arcade-style top-down bomber that is worth more than a glance, especially if you have any interest in the series' roots or retro gaming in general.  Just don't expect it to blow you away.

Gameplay: 7
Destined to be a classic for all time, Bomberman is not the must-play game it was when it was released nearly two decades ago.  It is, however, a fun nostalgic piece of retro gaming.  I wish there was a multiplayer mode, but like I said before, that would have meant altering the content.  They wanted the "Classic NES Series" to be just that – not an upgrade like all the SNES ports have been.

The fun is limited, so beware of that before adding the game to your collection.  Then again, aside from Bomberman Generation, I've never played a Bomberman game that kept me glued to the screen for more than an hour at a time.  If given a choice though, I'd gladly take several hours of this game in place of staring out the window during a long car trip.

Graphics: 5
Bomberman is 8-bit all the way, but its graphics can't even begin to compare with other 8-bit games released before and after 1987 (Bomberman's original release date).  This game gives you a few colors to look at, not much else.

Sound: 5
Thank goodness, this game has generic blips and bleeps by default!  That doesn't make them any better than they were two decades ago, but it's awful to see brand-new GBA games that sound like they were developed for the NES.  Bomberman, on the other hand, was developed for the NES and cannot sound any better.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Bomberman is not a walk in the park.  It looks easy, but if you're so inclined, would you like to make a bet?  Would ya, huh, would ya?  Gambling is a mistake – you'll lose eventually, no doubt.  And if you bet against this game's difficulty you'll lose right here, right now.

Concept: 5
Bordering on innovation two decades ago, Bomberman no longer feels like a standout game.  You can see where the innovation is in play in Zelda and Mario, but in this game it's not as clear.  There are too many similar games out there, both in the past and the present.

Multiplayer: N/A
I wish!

Overall: 6.5
A classic game that didn't age as well as we had hoped, Bomberman is a must-have game for those who know they must have it.  In other words, if you played the game years ago and want to rekindle the sacred love that's shared between a gamer and a cartridge, this is for you.  The cartridge is in the same shape that every other GBA cart comes in, but the color is gray instead of black, giving it that NES feel.