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Essentially a redo of the 2014 game, Taisen! Bomberman (also translated in its logo as "Vs Bomberman") reuses its assets to build something more balanced and fully-featured, incorporating aspects its predecessor was missing: a sprawling single-player mode with traps, enemies and other Normal Game staples; an online battle system with friend rooms and rankings; and perhaps most importantly, four methods of touch control! You can finally play the game without getting awful cramps!
The game alternately dials back and doubles down on micro-transactions - all of the game's features can be accessed without paying a dime, as you simply unlock features and characters by playing the Single Game. However, there are more measures designed to waste your time unless you pay with Diamonds, the game's currency.
Some, like reviving after a death or buying reserve items, are very much optional. Others, like being unable to play the Single Game until a heart has restored (wait 30 minutes or pay up!), are slightly egregious. And then there's buying "tickets" to play the online battle mode, or "renting" special characters for a day, which is so absurd I'm lost for words!
The game seemed to be regarded better than the last one, its improved control scheme alone earning a sigh of relief from many players. The presence of micro-transactions continued to attract ire just on principle, though as obtrusive as they appear, the game is very playable without them. Everything you can purchase is also available for free by completing the in-game missions, and you can access all of the game's contents without paying a dime. It's a darn sight better than the last one, which locked all of its battle arenas and 60% of its character roster behind a paywall!
One point of contention among fans (especially reviews on the iTunes and Google Play storefronts) was the unbalanced online matchmaking; despite its ranking system, there were no measures to pit players of equal skill against one another, resulting in a wide gulf between newcomers and experts. This was further exacerbated by item packs that equipped players with extra firepower at the start of a match; a nice little head-start for inexperienced players, but in the hands of pros resulted in them dominating the battlefield, perhaps the closest the series has come to an unfortunate "pay-to-win" mechanic.
On July 3rd 2019 the game announced its upcoming end of service, and halted all microtransactions. The game was discontinued from Apple and Android platforms on August 26th 2019, at 3pm Japan Standard Time.
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