Developer: Hudson Soft Publisher: Hudson Soft Release: 04/28/95 Genre: Action
Hudson Soft was on a roll with the Super Bomberman series. Where the first game was a solid first attempt its sequel did an excellent job of shoring up its weaknesses, mainly the level design in the single player campaign. It established a great foundation to build on going forward which is why it is so odd that they would instead regress and make Super Bomberman 3 so similar to the titles on the PC Engine. Not that they were bad games mind you but it was nice to see them create a separate branch for the SNES. Regardless of my feelings about the game’s design when judged on its own merits Super Bomberman 3 is another excellent installment in the venerable series.
One night, Bagura enters a junkyard inside of his UFO. He finds the bodies of the five Dastardly Bombers, and then sucks them into his UFO. Upon doing that, he sets all five on tables, and begins working on reviving them! Upon hearing this, White Bomber and Black Bomber set out to stop the five Dastardly Bombers, and ultimately defeat Bagura himself. The two set out to save the day once again!
From its mechanics and graphics to its story Super Bomberman 3 takes its cues from Bomberman ‘93 and ‘94. The five Dastardly Bombers each inhabit their own planets that are mirror images from that game. There is a fire planet, swamp planet, jungle world, and an ice world. The only new environment is the pyramid which replaces the desert. While the themes are similar the level design is not. Rather than the large scrolling maps of its predecessor Super Bomberman 3 splits its individual levels into multiple smaller rooms. The levels are often just as long even though overall this is one of the shorter campaigns in the series. That is not a slight against the game however.
I won’t lie: I miss the larger stages of Super Bomberman 2. That game was creating with its use of puzzles and interactive elements to liven its gameplay. They went a long way toward giving the Super Bomberman series a unique identity separate from the PC Engine games. A lot of those elements are still present but they are not the focus. Instead we have a game that feels like a remix of previous titles rather than a wholly unique title. I like Bomberman ’94 but after Mega Bomberman we did not need another version of that game, especially when this series was content doing its own thing. That being said however it says a lot that it is still fantastic regardless.
One of the biggest problems with many of the previous Bomberman games was they overstayed their welcome. You might like the first few levels of a new world but you would spend far too long in them. Super Bomberman 3 solves that problem by being shorter yet still just as satisfying. Each planet features four stages and a boss battle. There is just enough variety in each level to justify their length and then it is time to face one of the Dastardly five. The boss battles are sadly simpler; they no longer feature two phases. Instead they immediately jump to the mecha phase of each fight and they are not as good as the second game. Although the story is shorter (and better for it in my opinion) the multiplayer once again makes up for it.
Multiplayer in Bomberman is an institution and Super Bomberman 3 comes loaded with options. Many of the game’s power-ups though present in the story feel as though they were designed for competitive play like the rubber bombs and especially the Louies. The World Bombers return and with their unique animations give this mode a load of personality. The twelve battle stages are a triumph of great design on their own but the game has cheat codes that alter them even further for more variety. While that is silly it is not an issue today like it was back in 1995.
The single and tag battle options have a few new features. Sudden Death option is joined by Bad Bomber and Soccer Bomber. Bad Bomber allows defeated players to still wreak havoc to active players by lobbing bombs in the field. Soccer bomber is a minigame that gives the winner the chance to start the next match with an advantageous power-up. The wealth of options and features make this a particularly strong outing for the series’ multiplayer. I only regret that I did not get to experience it when it was new. That it is still great today speaks to its quality.
In Closing
Super Bomberman 3 is another great installment in this long running series and another notch in Hudson’s belt. Hudson Soft did not miss when it came to Bomberman during the 16-bit era. Despite the familiarity Super Bomberman 3 remains one of its better installments.
