Bomberman is one of the oldest franchises in the gaming medium. It has lasted over 40 years due to a simple yet addictive formula, one of the most iconic multiplayer battle modes in any video game series, and a willingness to experiment as the trends and technology changed. A few of these experiments do boil down to Hudson Soft rather blatantly copying things that worked in other franchises, such as the green kangaroo mounts they started adding shortly after the Mario games introduced Yoshi. This trend of Hudson playing follow the leader is on full display here. And while the results of it end up being more of a mixed bag, the overall game is still a very fun and very addicting experience that fans won't want to miss out on.
Lets address the elephant in the room right away, this game was definitely drawing more than a few inspirations from the Pokemon series, right down to the game being split into its own Red and Blue versions. It was the late 90s, Pokemania was in full swing and pretty much everyone wanted a piece of that pie. Some series like Dragon Quest had an easy transition to this with their Monsters side games. Bomberman's attempt to work Pokemon into it's formula this was a bit more awkward, at least in this title. The game introduces the Charaboms, the resident Pokemon knock offs which you collect, trade, fuse, and battle. Later games would have them provide bonuses or abilities to Bomberman or Max, but in this one, their only utility is collecting power ups in the story mode to power them up for the monster battle mode. Charabom fights themselves are a fun enough distraction, but also really cheap and shallow, literally boiling down to a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors with a few statistics thrown in after to determine the winner. This is especially disappointing when the iconic battle mode that the Bomberman series is known for is absent from the game in favor of the Charabom battles. And for many that absence will be the deal breaker for this game.
But in spite of this rather glaring omission the game's strengths still manage to make Bomberman Max one of the better games in the series. The game's single player mode has the player traveling through mazes as usual, but this time with the twist of having different objectives to clear before the exit portal will appear. These objectives add variety to the experience with challenges ranging from destroying blocks or reactors, defeating all enemies, killing only a certain kind of enemy, collecting a Charabom, or finding a secret panel hidden somewhere. The game also has a good variety of enemies that are unique in both design and behavior, providing a good challenge to players that never feels repetitive. The game also follows a non-linear format similar to Super Bomberman 5 which encourages replaying stages multiple times and exploring. Each version of the game only has access to 80 of the game's 100 levels, requiring the player to link their game up with a friends with the opposite version to unlock the rest in their own game. This does feel like an unnecessary hurdle in the experience, but the content included in the base game of either title is still enough to warrant being considered its own full experience. The game also makes creative, if somewhat gimmicky use of the Game Boy Color's infrared sensor, allowing you to unlock mini games using a TV remote.
So in spite of numerous drawbacks and some rather noticeable omissions, Bomberman Max still manages to excel. It's strengths play up some of the best that the series has to offer, and will often be more than enough to make the player forget it's drawbacks. All of this, plus a great soundtrack and colorful visuals creates of the best single player traditional Bomberman titles to this day.
Lets address the elephant in the room right away, this game was definitely drawing more than a few inspirations from the Pokemon series, right down to the game being split into its own Red and Blue versions. It was the late 90s, Pokemania was in full swing and pretty much everyone wanted a piece of that pie. Some series like Dragon Quest had an easy transition to this with their Monsters side games. Bomberman's attempt to work Pokemon into it's formula this was a bit more awkward, at least in this title. The game introduces the Charaboms, the resident Pokemon knock offs which you collect, trade, fuse, and battle. Later games would have them provide bonuses or abilities to Bomberman or Max, but in this one, their only utility is collecting power ups in the story mode to power them up for the monster battle mode. Charabom fights themselves are a fun enough distraction, but also really cheap and shallow, literally boiling down to a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors with a few statistics thrown in after to determine the winner. This is especially disappointing when the iconic battle mode that the Bomberman series is known for is absent from the game in favor of the Charabom battles. And for many that absence will be the deal breaker for this game.
But in spite of this rather glaring omission the game's strengths still manage to make Bomberman Max one of the better games in the series. The game's single player mode has the player traveling through mazes as usual, but this time with the twist of having different objectives to clear before the exit portal will appear. These objectives add variety to the experience with challenges ranging from destroying blocks or reactors, defeating all enemies, killing only a certain kind of enemy, collecting a Charabom, or finding a secret panel hidden somewhere. The game also has a good variety of enemies that are unique in both design and behavior, providing a good challenge to players that never feels repetitive. The game also follows a non-linear format similar to Super Bomberman 5 which encourages replaying stages multiple times and exploring. Each version of the game only has access to 80 of the game's 100 levels, requiring the player to link their game up with a friends with the opposite version to unlock the rest in their own game. This does feel like an unnecessary hurdle in the experience, but the content included in the base game of either title is still enough to warrant being considered its own full experience. The game also makes creative, if somewhat gimmicky use of the Game Boy Color's infrared sensor, allowing you to unlock mini games using a TV remote.
So in spite of numerous drawbacks and some rather noticeable omissions, Bomberman Max still manages to excel. It's strengths play up some of the best that the series has to offer, and will often be more than enough to make the player forget it's drawbacks. All of this, plus a great soundtrack and colorful visuals creates of the best single player traditional Bomberman titles to this day.