is a

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...

. The original home computer game was released in July 1983 for the

NEC PC-8801 The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the four major Japane ...

, NEC PC-6001 mkII,

Fujitsu FM-7 The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a home computer created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in Japan and Spain. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as th ...

, Sharp MZ-700, Sharp MZ-2000,

Sharp X1 The , sometimes called the Sharp X1 or CZ-800C, is a series of home computers released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It is based on a Zilog Z80 CPU. The RGB display monitor for the X1 had a television tuner, and a computer screen ...

and

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

in Japan, and a graphically modified version for the MSX and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

in Europe as ''Eric and the Floaters''. A sequel, '' 3-D Bomberman,'' was produced. In 1985, ''Bomberman'' was released for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

. It spawned the ''Bomberman'' series with many installments building on its basic gameplay.

Gameplay

In the NES/Famicom release, the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous character,

Bomberman is a video game Media franchise, franchise created by Shinichi Nakamoto and Shigeki Fujiwara, originally developed by Hudson Soft and currently owned by Konami. The Bomberman (1983 video game), original game, also known as ''Bakudan Otoko'' (� ...

, is a robot that must find his way through a maze while avoiding or destroying enemies. He can set bombs to attack enemies and destroy rocks that block his path; initially, the bombs explode after a short delay. Doors leading to further maze rooms are hidden under rocks, as are power-up items that grant abilities such as placing multiple bombs at once, increasing their blast radius, and being able to set them off at any desired moment. Bomberman will turn human when he escapes and reaches the surface. Each game has 50 levels in total. The original home computer games are more basic and have some different rules. Notably, completing the NES and Famicom version reveals that the game is a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to Hudson Soft's NES port of Broderbund Software's 1983 game ''

Lode Runner ''Lode Runner'' is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to ''Space Panic'' from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in ...

''. Upon clearing the final screen, Bomberman is shown turning into Lode Runner's unnamed protagonist. In the Japanese version of the game, the player is explicitly told that Bomberman will 'See

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

in ''Lode Runner, while in the international version, they are instead asked if they can recognise the protagonist from another Hudson game.

Development

''Bomberman'' was written in 1980 to serve as a

tech demo A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of sho ...

for

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

compiler. This very basic version of the game was given a small-scale release for Japanese PCs in 1983 and the European PCs the following year. The Famicom version was developed (ported) by Shinichi Nakamoto, who reputedly completed the task alone over a 72 hour period. According to ''

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. Adding (or subtracting) 0 to any number leaves that number unchanged; in mathematical terminology, 0 is the additive identity of the integers, rational numbers, real numbers, and compl ...

'' magazine, ''Bomberman'' adopted gameplay elements from the Coreland/

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

arcade hit '' Pengo'' (1982). The European home computer versions were released as ''Eric and the Floaters'' to avoid any association with a series of terrorist bombings carried out by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

during

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

Enhanced ports and re-releases

''Bomberman'' is most known for the NES version released in Japan on December 20, 1985 and in North America in January 1989. Hudson Soft's director of

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

, Shinichi Nakamoto, commented in a 1995 interview that "I personally believe that the Famicom version of ''Bomberman'' is the one and only version of the game." This version was ported back to the MSX the following year as ''Bomberman Special''. Bomberman's appearance in this game (

re-used an enemy graphic taken from their own 1984 NES/Famicom port of

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits '' Choplifter'', '' Lode Runner'', '' Karateka'', and ...

's ''

'') is an early version of Bomberman's more famous design, a robotic anime-like character with a pink antenna. The game was also released on

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

as a "Game B" mode of the game '' Atomic Punk''. In 2004, this version of ''Bomberman'' was re-released for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

as part of the Famicom Mini series in Japan and the

Classic NES Series This is a list of games that are part of the ''Classic NES Series'' in North America, in Japan, and ''NES Classics'' in Europe and Australia. The series consists of emulated Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Entertainment System#Region ...

in North America and Europe. It was released in the same year for the N-Gage. A remake/update was released for the PlayStation, titled ''Bomberman'' in Japan and Europe, and renamed '' Bomberman Party Edition'' in North America. This release features a port of the original version of the single-player game as well as a revised and updated version with pre-rendered 3D graphics and contemporary audio. The updated graphics and audio were also used for the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Notes

References

Other sources

*Top Secret Passwords Nintendo Player's Guide *Bomberman Operation Manual, NES-BM-USA, Hudson Soft USA

External links

*
Bomberman (Family Computer) - Hudson Game Navi
- Hudson Soft (Japanese) on Wayback Machine {{Bomberman series, state=expanded 1983 video games Bomberman Famicom Disk System games FM-7 games Game Boy Advance games MSX games NEC PC-6001 games NEC PC-8801 games Nintendo Entertainment System games PlayStation Portable games Puzzle video games Sharp MZ games Sharp X1 games Video games about slavery Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Jun Chikuma ZX Spectrum games N-Gage games Multiplayer and single-player video games Strategy video games Single-player video games Hudson Soft games