The Bomberman series has had a long run of releases for many years. However, it’s been a long while for the current generation consoles to see titles within the same series making its appearance. Thankfully, Bombing Bastards is carrying on the tradition as a remake, available for the Nintendo Wii U.
You take control of a robot who was created by a scientist named Dr. Wallow who is aiming to control the whole universe. As a result, you are in existence to get rid of all aliens found within the galaxy. Some of Dr.Wallow dialogue throughout the game can be humorous while others may find them kind of corny. Nevertheless, it’s still a little charming to have such a character bring life to this type of game.
The game will have you placing bombs to kill off enemies. While the idea is to trap them with your bombs so that they’re stuck in a spot within a randomly-generated map, some enemies can actually change their patterns of movements, thus making the game a bit more challenging. Take note that the environments will have power-ups waiting to be revealed.  When looking at the controls, Bombing Bastards moves and plays exactly like the Bomberman series. With accuracy and responsiveness, getting around and bombing your enemies has never felt so familiar.
When playing Bombing Bastards in adventure mode, you end up engaging the story via the single player campaign. Specifically, there are five worlds each consisting of five levels along with a boss battle. Although Bombing Bastards does not have a scoring system, it does evaluate you at the end of a completed level with a three-star rating. This creates longevity for this game as it entices players to come back to levels already completed but without a perfect rating.
As you progress further in the game, there are plenty of environmental obstacles and hazards to add some variety to the experience. But the boss battles themselves are where the gameplay can get exciting. It’s this added challenge of determining the right pattern that rewards the players with excitement and awe. However, that does not go without saying that they still need to figure out the boss’s attack patterns before reigning victorious.
It will take some time to complete Bombing Bastards in its entirety. I must mention that the degree of difficulty seems to be relatively high in the beginning. As you progress further, the pacing in challenge seems to be kind of small from one level to the next, thereby lacking the proper balance throughout the game. While this may be a turn-off to some types of players, those seeking a constant challenge may appreciate such a pace.
If you prefer to play against four other friends, then the battle mode is the way to go. Here, up to five players are out to kill off each other as they fight to the death until only one remains standing. There’s quite a customization you can implement during these battles. You can obviously adjust the time limit, of course, so that close to the end, the map shrinks, thus creating more of a challenge to the surviving players. But also, you can include other computer players to join in on the mayhem.
Bombing Bastards is presented with a cartoon style full of vibrant, solid colors. There is quite a degree of details within the characters themselves even though the same enemy types (just with different colors) keep making their appearances throughout the game. Still, the environment appears interesting and dynamic, thereby making the gameplay that much enjoyable. The soundtrack is a bit of a mixed bag here is you have classical music but remixed to modern tastes. It may not sit well with certain players, but at the very least, the tunes help to keep things on the edge, especially with the audio effects of the explosions making its deep impact on the players’ ears.
Bombing Bastards is certainly “da bomb” for Nintendo Wii U players, especially to those who are longing for a Bomberman type of game. If you fit this description, you may seriously want to consider picking this one up at the eshop.
