Neo Bomberman
gameplay
The goal is to destroy all the enemies and find the exit. The exit is hidden under a predetermined soft block, but will not open until all enemies are defeated. Each stage gives you 2 minutes to complete it; if time runs out, you will lose a life.
The timer is reset if a player dies. Players begin with 2 lives by default, and it's game over if they are lost. If you continue, all power-ups are lost, though 2 Bomb Ups, a Fire Up and a Speed Up will spawn onto the stage.
Enemies have unique patterns and characteristics. Some enemies will become eggs after they are defeated; stepping on the egg will allow you to ride them and gain access to their unique special ability. See the Eggs section for details. At the end of each world is a boss, a large enemy that will take multiple hits to defeat. Defeating the boss will allow you to progress to the next world.
After each stage you are awarded bonus points: 50 points for every second remaining on the timer, and 5000 points if a helper character from a cage (see items) is still alive.
Players are awarded one of three ranks based on their performance: an average ranking (よくできました" / "Skillfully done!") seems to be the default; the worst ranking ("もっとがんばるう" / "Do better!") typically comes from a low time bonus of around 20 seconds or less; and the best ranking is signified by a special jingle, and seemingly the result of rescuing a caged Bomberman or a high bonus score.
Despite the Neo Geo supporting 8 levels of difficulty in the dipswitch settings, the game has only four difficulty modes:
On Level 1, you begin both modes with 1 Bomb Up and 1 Fire Up, on Level 2 just the Bomb Up, and on Level 3 or higher you begin with no power-ups.
Playing Normal Game at Level 5 or lower is the default difficulty, while on Level 6 or above many enemies require an additional hit to defeat; the difficulty does not appear to effect bosses in any way.
The game is not optimised for playing in console/AES mode; it retains the difficulty from the arcade dipswitch settings, it has no credit limit implemented (allowing you to continue endlessly), nor any additional menus or options. The only change from the arcade/MVS mode is the ability to pause by pressing the Select Button.
There are five worlds with a varying number of stages in each. There are 37 stages in total.
Battle Mode
Details on the Battle Mode can be found here.
Controls
| BUTTON | ACTION |
| Control Stick | Move the player. |
| A Button | Lay a bomb. Pick up and throw bombs (see items). |
| B Button | Use special ability (see Battle Mode or eggs) |
| C Button | Stop a kicked bomb. |
| D Button | n/a |
| START Button | Start/join game. Continue (if all lives are lost). |
| SELECT Button | Pause. (AES/console mode only) |
Names are sourced from the cabinet artwork and the December 1996 issue of Neo Geo Freak. All items except for Bomb Ups, Fire Ups and Speed Ups are lost upon death, while those items are lost if you use a continue.
Bomb Up / ボムアップ
Allows you to drop one extra bomb. Maximum of 4.
Fire / ファイア
Bomb blast radius is extended by one tile. Maximum of 2 in Normal Game, and 3 in Battle Game.
Full Fire / 金のファイヤー
You are granted the maximum amount of Fire Up items. Exclusive to Normal Mode.
Speed Up
Walking speed increases slightly. Maximum of 4.
Bomb Kick / ボムキック
Allows you to kick bombs by walking into them. Press the C Button to stop a bomb while it's moving.
Power Glove / パワーグローブ
Allows you to pick up, carry and throw bombs. Thrown bombs are hurled directly forward, and won't stop until they hit a block (where it will bounce to the next free tile), an enemy player (which will stun them and knock two item panels out of them, and land two tiles past them), or the side of the screen (it will loop across to the opposite end of the screen).
Fireproof Suit / 防火服
Protects the player from all damage for 12 seconds. Exclusive to Normal Mode.
Penetration Bomb / 貫通爆弾
Bomb blasts will penetrate through soft blocks. Exclusive to Normal Mode.
Remote Control / リモコン
Bombs are now remote-controlled, and can be detonated by pressing the C Button. Exclusive to Normal Mode.
Wall Pass / ソフトブロック通過
Allows you to walk through soft blocks. Exclusive to Normal Mode.
Bomb Pass / ボム通過
Allows you to walk through bombs. Exclusive to Normal Mode.
Clock / タイム増加
Adds 30 seconds to the timer. Exclusive to Normal Mode.
Egg (タマゴ)
Spawns a creature that Bomberman can ride. See Eggs section for details.
Cage
Spawns a helper Bomberman, who will use Remote Control bombs to destroy soft blocks and attack enemies. They cannot be harmed by enemies or bombs, but will die if the timer runs out. If the helper Bomberman is still active once the level is completed, a 5000 point bonus is awarded.
Skull / ドクロ
Exclusive to Battle Mode. Curses the player with a random hindering ailment. Touching another player can spread the curse. The curses include (names are lifted from the internal level select):
- BOMB BOMB BOMB: Bomb diarrhoea; bombs are laid at every step.
- BOMB TIME MIN: Short fuses; bombs detonate in 1 in-game second.
- BOMB TIME MAX: Long fuses; bombs take a long time to detonate.
- BOMB NO SET: Bomb constipation; cannot lay bombs.
- FIRE MIN: Bomb blast radius is reduced to 1-tile.
- SLOW SPEED: Movement speed is reduced to minimum.
- HIGH SPEED: Movement speed is increased to maximum.
- JOY REVERCE [sic]: Directional controls are reversed (up is down, left is right, etc).
Collecting an egg will spawn a creature for the player to ride on. Each creature has a unique trait, whether it be a special ability or just how fast they move (see below for details and button commands). The creature also serves as an extra hit-point; if the creature is defeated, the player will survive and gain a short period of temporary invincibility.
Eggs come in organic (生物系タマゴ) and mechanical (機械系タマゴ) flavours. If you are riding a creature, you can tow up to two eggs of the same type behind you. If your current creature dies, you will automatically hop on one of your spare eggs. The towed eggs are invincible to enemy collisions, but can still be destroyed by bomb blasts.
In Normal Mode, eggs only spawn from specific enemies when defeated (see the World pages under Normal Mode). In Battle Mode, eggs can be found in soft blocks like any other item.
Organic eggs (生物系乗物)
Mechanical eggs (機械系乗物)
Dachon / ダチョン
An owl-like creature. This creature moves at the fastest possible speed.
"Dachou" (だちょう) is Japanese for "ostrich."
Torisan / トリさん
A large blue bird with no legs. Positioning the creature next to a bomb and pressing the B Button will launch the bomb into the air and onto a random position on the map.
Tori (とり) is Japanese for "bird." "San" (さん) is a general Japanese honorific for someone of the same social status, and can be translated as "Mr." or "Mrs." A literal translation of the name would be "Mr. Bird."
Ombu / オンブー
An indistinct cartoon creature. Moves at the slowest possible speed.
"Ombu" (負んぶ) means "carrying on one's back", like carrying a child on your shoulders. Doesn't give us clues to what this thing is meant to be.
Tamagon / タマゴン
A floating egg with eyes. Pressing the B Button will destroy all soft blocks on the map, at the expense of the creature's life. Only available in Battle Mode.
"Tamago" (たまご) is Japanese for "egg".
Baketama / バケタマ
Touching a bomb will disguise it as a soft block.
The creature's name is a seemingly portmanteau of obake (お化け, for "ghost") and tama (たま, for "sphere").
Dokyuun / ドキューン
A cartoon bullet with eyes and arms. Pressing the B Button will make it do a kamikaze attack. The player character will be thrown off it while Dokyuun flies forward at maximum speed and will detonate on impact with anything. Its explosion will have the same blast range as the amount of Fire Ups you currently have.
"Dokyuu" (どきゅう) is Japanese for "dreadnought".
Gaikottsu / ガイコッツー
A horned skull with a red glow emanating from its eye sockets. Touching any other character will curse them, as if they had picked up a Skull item. Only available in Battle Mode.
"Gaikotsu" (がいこつ) is Japanese for "skeleton".
Charge / チャージ
Holding the B Button will make the creature charge at maximum speed in random directions. If it collides with an enemy Bomberman, they will be stunned briefly and drop an item panel.
If you want to be pedantic, the Katakana is literally pronounced "chaa-ji", but it's listed as a recognised translation for the English word "charge."
Nucha / ヌチャ
A blue jellyfish with green tentacles. Can move through soft blocks.
The significance of the name is lost on me. The best I can think of is "nuchal", which refers to the back of the neck. Some deep-sea creatures have a nuchal tentacle, though I don't know of any jellyfish that have one (... do jellyfish have necks?)
Ridge-Razor / リッジレザー
A green spherical thing. Pushing the B Button will make it dash forward.
For level data, maps and boss hints, see the following pages:
| World 1 | World 2 | World 3 | World 4 | World 5 |
Soft block and enemy positions are predetermined.
The items in each stage are different if playing alone (1P) or in 2-player (2P).
Enemies have varying hit points if the game is played alone (1P), in 2-player (2P), and if the Neo Neo Geo's difficulty dipswitch is set to Level 6 or higher (L6).
The Battle Mode is the typical Bomberman deathmatch, to defeat all enemy players and be the last one standing. All fights are fought best two-out-of-three, there is a 3 minute time limit. When the timer reaches 0:45, hard blocks will rain down and create a two-tile-wide border around the arena, crushing players and detonating bombs should either be caught beneath one.
When played in single-player, the mode plays out like a tournament, facing off against one to three AI opponents (see opponent lineup on left). If you win two rounds, you progress to the next match; once five matches have been won, the stage is considered complete and you choose the next one. Once all four maps are completed, the ending is played.
Playing in 2-player will pit the players against each other in a one-on-one match; there are no computer-controlled opponents. The victor proceeds to the single-player game while the loser loses their credit.
Players can choose one of twelve characters to play as, most with a unique special ability - see that section for details.
There are four stages available to fight on, each with their own unique gimmickry, as well as a variable number of map variants. Maps will alternate after every match in single-player; the only way to choose a map in 2-player is for a player to join in on the desired match during a single-player tournament.
Stage 1
No gimmickry.
Match 1 / 3 / 5 |
Match 2 / 4 |
Stage 2
There are no soft blocks. All players start with 3 Bomb Ups, 2 Fire Ups, Bomb Kick and Power Glove. These items are not dropped when defeated, and can only be removed by stunning opponents with thrown bombs.
Kicked bombs will bounce off the walls. Players can rebound by walking into the walls, thrusting them in the opposite direction at a faster speed; they will continually do this until a direction is pushed.
Match 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Stage 3
Includes warp holes that teleport players out of another hole. Foliage can be walked through and obscure players and bombs hiding inside; the foliage can be burned but will not drop items.
Match 1 / 4 Warps teleport between their diagonally opposite (top-left to bottom-right, top-right to bottom-left). |
Match 2 / 5 Warps teleport to their cardinal opposite (left to right, top to bottom). |
Match 3 Only two warps. |
Stage 4
Includes arrows that will redirect kicked bombs.
Match 1 The outer ring of arrows point counter-clockwise, the inner ring clockwise. |
Match 2 The outer ring point clockwise, the inner ring counter-clockwise, and arrows facing up and down in the centre. |
Match 3 All arrows point to the opposite side of the arena. |
Match 4 All arrows converge towards the centre. |
Match 5 Arrows lead bombs in circular patterns in the centre. |
A total of 12 characters are available to play in Battle Mode. Each character, with the exception of the four coloured Bombermen, has their own unique special ability:
Rubber Bomber / ラバーボンバー
Press the B Button and Down on the control stick simultaneously to transform Rubber Bomber into slime; this allows him to slither through soft blocks, functioning like the Wall Pass, though you cannot lay bombs in this form.
Fake Bomber / フェイクボンバー
Press the B Button and Down on the control stick simultaneously to transform Fake Bomber into a soft block. You can still move, drop bombs, pick up items and kick bombs in this state, though the disguise tends to work best when static. The computer-controlled Fake Bomber will never move while transformed.
Cat Bomber / キャットボンバー
Hold the B Button and Down on the control stick to charge up, then release either to begin dashing. This functions identically to Charge; Cat Bomber scurries in random directions and will stun opponents on collision, knocking an item panel out of them. You cannot prematurely end the dash, and it will last as long as you charge it up, to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Honey / ハニーちゃん
Press the B Button and Up on the control stick simultaneously to transform one of Honey's bombs into a heart bomb - you can repeat the action to transform more of her bombs, in order of when they were placed. Heart bombs will frantically scurry around in random directions (identically to Charge and Cat Bomber's dash abilities); be aware that a bomb's detonation timer does not reset when it is transformed, and there is no way of stopping their movement, so stand well clear!
Hayate Bomber / ハヤテボンバー
By pressing the A and B Buttons simultaneously, Hayate can lay a fake bomb - a bomb that will disappear in a puff of smoke after one in-game second.
Kotetsu / 小鉄
Press the B Button and Up on the control stick simultaneously to teleport. Where Kotetsu teleports to is entirely random, so use it as a panic button more than a strategic manoeuvre.
Gold Bomber / ゴールデンボンバー
Press the B Button and any direction on the control stick to dash in that direction. You can stop at any time by pressing another direction.
Atomic Bomber / アトミックボンバー
Press the B Button and Down on the control stick simultaneously to render Atomic Bomber invincible (and immobile) for 2 seconds. Requires 10 seconds for the ability to be accessible again.
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| page last modified: 06/04/2019 | ||