Nerd Mentality

REVIEW: Bomberman Ultra

Posted July 6th 2009 by Derrick Lutz.

The Bomberman series has been around for over 25 years now, steadily chugging along with frequent releases that go mostly unnoticed. Bomberman Ultra, a PlayStation Network exclusive, is the latest in that line. I've always felt that Bomberman's core gameplay has some amount of universal appeal; you don't need to have grown up with Bomberman to have fun playing it now. So the most important question is, did they screw with that core gameplay?


The answer is no; Bomberman Ultra stays faithful to the original Bomberman formula. You and up to seven other players compete in a small top-down-view arena, trying to kill each other with bombs. This is a purely multiplayer game; you can play by yourself with computer-controlled bots, but you really shouldn't. There are a few different modes and rule-sets available, but they all come down to strategically placing bombs while trying not to get blown up.



There's not a lot going on visually; the simple 3D graphics are competent but uninspired. It's about what you'd expect from a ten dollar PSN game, but at the same time it's a little disappointing. I kept thinking how cool it would have been if they had taken a cue from Capcom's Mega Man 9 and gone with a retro style. But again, there's nothing wrong with the graphics, they serve their purpose well enough. The audio, on the other hand, is pretty annoying. Specifically, the menu music is ear-piercingly bad.

The biggest problem with Bomberman Ultra is its instability online. I'm quite positive that I played more matches that ended with the game getting stuck or even crashing the entire system than I did where the match went from start to finish entirely problem-free. In addition, the online lobby system is lacking some obvious features such as the ability to kick idle players. So you can end up sitting in a lobby for a long time waiting for everyone to ready-up.

Final Thoughts

If you're primarily playing with friends offline, then this is an easy game to recommend. Despite the somewhat bland visuals and annoying music, the classic Bomberman gameplay is intact and it's as fun as ever. However, if you're looking for some online Bomberman action, the decision is not so clear-cut. My bad experiences make it hard to recommend to anyone for online play. But hey, it could be worse; at least it's not Bomberman: Act Zero.

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