Super Bomberman R Reviews
Hudson Soft's much-loved series gets a surprise revival where great local multiplayer is balanced out by weak online and a premium price.
Super Bomberman R’s multiplayer versatility and boss-filled story mode are laudable retreads of classic gameplay, but its depth and customizability are disappointing. By contrast, the aforementioned Bomberman Live was a brilliant, fully featured Bomberman for Xbox 360 that came out 10 years ago, and it only cost $10. It’s reasonable to expect a bit more from a $50 Bomberman game in 2017.
Bomberman itself is still a classic, and works very well on the Switch, but the insanely high price makes this impossible to recommend.
A terrible continue system further drags down an otherwise mediocre story mode, and the lack of depth in multiplayer is immediately apparent
Nintendo Switch gets a blast of nostalgia with the return of Bomberman.
While Super Bomberman R brings back the classic Bomberman action, the package could stand to be better. Once you've polished off the short Story Mode, you're left with multiplayer. Local and online multiplayer is solid, but lacks match customization options found in older Bomberman games.
The $50 asking price of Super Bomberman R is hardly worth it to play by your lonesome, but as a go-to for when Zelda exhaustion kicks in or siblings get sick of hogged Joy-Cons, there's little reason not to award a sturdy recommend. It provides serious multiplayer mileage, and acts as a return-to-function for the Bomberman franchise, hopefully assisting a more dramatic former-glory restoration sometime in the future.
And that's it. It's Bomberman, man. It feels like an arcade game with a $50 price tag. The campaign isn't as strong as it could be, but there's enough here to keep the series going until Konami can muster up a little more for the next iteration.
Super Bomberman R makes its grand debut on PlayStation 4 without any significal changes. The fun part of the game stays with its story mode as well as the local multiplayer, due to the fact that there are barely any active online sessions. The gameplay, albeit simple and effective, feels old-fashioned and it becomes repetitive after some time.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Super Bomberman R is the game that Switch needed at its begining. Quick plays and lots of action with your friends in a very entertaining game that brings back the nostalgia.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Bomberman R isn’t remotely a £50 game. It is, at its base, a solid entry in a much-loved franchise, and one that plays to the Nintendo Switch’s strengths, even if will require plenty of investment to get the most out of it. The current online woes also do little to make it feel like a well-rounded package, making it difficult to recommend to anyone but the most committed Bomberman fan.
I think Bomberman is cool and cute, but this title is not the launch that the Nintendo Switch deserved. By either offering more new content or pricing the game reasonably, Konami could have jump started the Bomberman franchise, which has been MIA for years. Instead, Super Bomberman R just doesn't give the value or the fun that the price commands.
Good 'ol Bomberman is still crazy after all these years, but there's nothing really new, it lacks some options, the story mode is nothing exciting and the game is a bit too pricey.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A revival done wrong. Everything on Super Bomberman R could have been much better with not a lot of effort: its campaign is boring, and the online multiplayer doesn't work.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you can ignore the sheer cost, Super Bomberman R is a great way to have fun; get it and have a blast.
For the price, Super Bomberman R is a tough sell. It does deliver on the promise of a return to the classic multiplayer that we all love. And the Switch is starving for content, as all newly launched systems do. If you really love Bomberman's signature multiplayer, or if you really have to have a new Switch game, then Super Bomberman R will serve its purpose. If you want a full, content-rich experience then you'll want to wait for something else.
Though it is a little light on content, Super Bomberman R scratches the retro itch for hectic action. Voice repetition is a bit of a turnoff, but the charm and multiplayer focus help to make up for it. If you and your friends like purely chaotic action with up to eight players, Super Bomberman R might be right up your alley. If you aren’t investing in extra controllers, you might want to nab this after a price adjustment.
Overall Super Bomberman R is a great take on the classic formula. I enjoyed what it delivered and the extra characters add that nostalgia meter rise for me. I just wish Konami was bringing them to more franchises outside of this one. Still, this game serves its purpose and it is nice to finally see it on other consoles outside of the Switch. [OpenCritic note: Ken McKown separately reviewed the Switch (6) and Xbox One (7) versions. The scores have been averaged.]
While future Bomberman games have the potential to assert themselves as more lengthy and strategy-demanding titles deserving of a mind-blowing rating, the current release really is just lighthearted and fun … and that's just fine.
Despite a couple of flaws, Super Bomberman R is a strong entry into a long-running franchise. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but offers enough variation to the gameplay to keep veterans of the series on their toes, while also helping newcomers ease into the format. It's a shame that online battles seem to be such a mess at the moment, because with that up and running to its full potential this would easily be the definitive Bomberman game.