Monday, September 8, 2008

BOMBERMAN TOUCH - THE LEGEND OF MYSTIC BOMB

Players have been in love with the Bomberman series for many years now. Each time a new gaming system is released it is inevitable that a Bomberman game will soon follow. Launching with the iTunes App store for the iPhone/iPod Touch, Hudson Soft released Bomberman Touch: The Legend of Mystic Bomb. Fans of the series will be delighted to know that the classic Bomberman gameplay that they have enjoyed for years has stayed intact in this latest game.

The story for this game is very simple yet effective. Bomberman John and a friend have crashed landed on a mysterious island while they were out looking for treasure. After the crash, players must fight their way to find the treasure buried in an ancient temple. Players must transverse though various levels searching for the treasure while avoiding hostile enemies to get to it.

The controls are very simple for the player to use. The entire touch screen acts as a d-pad for players to move around. To use it, players just touch anywhere on the screen and where they touch becomes the “center” of the d-pad. Then players must then move their finger in any direction (left, right, up, and down) to get where they need to be. While this isn’t as accurate as a dedicated d-pad, it does get the job done. To drop bombs, players can press the bomb icon on the screen.

This game follows the rules of the classic Bomberman games. Players are thrown into a maze where there are various obstacles in their way. Players must clear a path and avoid the bomb flames to stay alive. In order to get to the end of the level players must destroy the enemies on the screen with their bombs. Players must be pretty astute to catch the bad guys because they always seem to be aware of their surroundings and try to take cover when a bomb has been dropped. Throughout each level they are various upgrades that players can collect that will give them more lives, bombs, and even upgrade the power of their bombs.

The visuals for this game are pretty good and crisp. What players will really enjoy is that there is no slow down, especially after a bomb has been set off. The jungle theme works really well for this game as well, and has a few small tie-ins to recently released movies. The musical score for this game is good, but players would rather listen to their own music. Sound effects are also strong and have a nice sound to them.

Bomberman Touch: The Legend of Mystic Bomb can be purchased on the iTunes App store for $7.99

Review Scoring Details for Bomberman Touch: The Legend of Mystic Bomb

Gameplay: 7.9
Players will love the touch-screen controls and it works really well for this game. This is classic Bomberman gaming at its best!

Graphics: 7.9
The graphics are crisp and clean.

Sound: 8.0
Players will love the classic Bomberman music.

Difficulty: Medium
As with all Bomberman games, it starts off really easy and becomes more challenging as players progress.

Concept: 8.0
No gaming system is complete without a classic Bomberman game, and the iPhone is no exception.

Overall: 8.0
My only real complaint is the lack of a multiplayer mode in this game. Hopefully the developers will come up with a way to include it in a future release. Players should get many hours of great gameplay out of this title.

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