If there was ever a series of games that needs to go no further, it's Bomberman. The game peaked at Super Bomberman 2 (in a big way) and hasn't been the same since. We were bored with Mega Bomberman in '95. Burned our eyes out with Saturn Bomberman's ten player mode a few months ago. And now we are wondering why Hudson even bothers making new versions of Bomberman here in December '97 with Bomberman 64.

In multi-player mode, Hudson changed nearly everything from the older Bombermans. The game is in 3D and it shows. Bombermen walk in all directions. Bombs blast into 3D explosions. Arenas are on multiple levels and are more open.  Power ups are less significant in this version, but you really don't need them. The Bombermen are tough guys. They have the boot and glove powerups from the start   When hit by a kicked bomb, they get knocked dizzy. For a few seconds an opponent can simply kick a bomb to them and wait for it to explode. Or they can walk up and throw their opponents out of the arenas. And this is where the most disappointment lives. The game has been reduced to a simple kick a bomb in an opponents direction and hope it knocks him unconscious. Then you just throw a bunch of bombs near him and you've won. Definitely not the perfection that Super Bomberman 2 was.

The main reason for playing the one player game is to get more options for customizing your Bombermen. You can put different clothes on your Bomberman. As you go throughout the levels you are given more options in dressing up.

The control is a little stiff in multi-player mode but is actually quite good in one player mode. The graphics are quite repetitive in both modes but are clean and look good. The music is typical Bomberman stuff.

Basically if you're in the Bomberman mood go check out Super Bomberman 2 on the Super NES. If you can find it, you can probably get it for a good $25 or $30 dollars cheaper than the $50 tag on this game. It's a whole lot better and a much better value for your buck.

Overall: 6.9