Atomic bomberman network vista

Similarly, the level editor included to facilitate custom design of the game is quite difficult to interpret and execute. Atomic Bomberman is clearly first and foremost a multiplayer game, as although computer-controlled opponents possess decent decidedly not outstanding artificial intelligence, there is nothing quite as much fun in this game as playing against other human beings.

Up to ten players may play the game at once though not on ten separate computers , and as the number of players rises, the game becomes even more frenzied. Unfortunately, multiplayer games often suffer from the same jerkiness discussed below in the System Requirements and Comments section that interferes with single-player games lacking a full installation on the hard disk.

The pace of the bombing is so fast that even the tiniest delays can interfere with the gameplay. The graphics in this game, while passable, are definitely not outstanding. The colors on the screens seem extremely poorly chosen, with little sense of compatible shades and a general sense of muddy garishness.

Rather than wowing you with artistic beauty, many of these screens are actually hard to look at for very long. The best part of the visuals are the animations and the introductory video, both of which are nicely executed.

The music in Atomic Bomberman is nondescript, easily forgettable, and contributes little to the game. The sound effects are pretty standard and quite effective.

But it is in the vocal effects that this game shines, with a huge variety of comments interspersed in the gameplay. This variety is so large that you rarely have to worry about encountering the same response over and over again, and although occasionally obnoxious, these voice clips really liven up the game. The incredible attention to vocal effects comes at a steep price, however, as the discussion of system requirements below indicates. The documentation is minimal, consisting of a brief black-and-white jewel case manual, which seems to assume most buyers are already familiar with the game.

What is irritating here is that almost half the manual is devoted to a description of the Interplay web site, a public relations statement from the chief executive officer of Interplay, a statement of customer service, and a limited warranty. If game vendors are going to give us little hard-copy documentation, the least they could do is to devote most of it to information about the game rather than this kind of generic filler.

As such, these requirements are unremarkable for a game of this type. However, the reality of playing the game proved to be quite a different story. On my test computer, on which I have successfully installed and played almost recently-released games, I could not get the music and sound to work unless I did a full install, committing well over MB of hard disk space!!

When I talked to Interplay's technical support about this, they were nice but could provide no help. When installed on other machines, it appears that on those that did allow the music and sound to play without a full installation on the hard disk, there was a noticeable performance penalty: because sound effects have to be read off the CD-ROM drive with a minimum or medium installation, there are slight pauses in the game when these are accessed, and these often proved to be just enough to prevent you from responding quickly enough to your opponents.

With so many sound effects used in the game, they take up along with the music over MB, and that is the culprit for this game's space-hoggish nature. Thus, for guaranteed smooth operation of the game on the full range of machines, one has to commit over half a gigabyte of hard disk space, an amount truly outrageous for this kind of arcade game. Interplay is an excellent company with generally well-designed products, and has in the recent past at least on occasion done a super job introducing spruced-up versions of arcade classics see, for example, my earlier review of Tempest But in the case of Atomic Bomberman I cannot help but conclude that Interplay missed the mark.

There are just too many areas where dramatic improvements are needed. Thus, while I am thrilled that a game company is realizing that some of the very best computer game ideas involve looking back at the great pioneering video game efforts, I think fans of the original Bomberman and newcomers alike will be disappointed by this particular remake. Browse games Game Portals. Atomic Bomberman. Install Game. Click the "Install Game" button to initiate the file download and get compact download launcher.

One player controls one little bomberman; his objective is to blow up with bombs, yes all the other little bombermen on the screen, who can either be controlled by real human opponents or the computer AI.

Your basic bomberman can drop one bomb at a time, and the range of the lethal explosion from said bomb stretches only a couple of squares wide and high on your gridded gamescreen. As you play on, and blow up destructible wall tiles, powerups appear that increase the amount of bombs you can lay at one time, as well as the length of the explosion, and several other handy features that hope to give you the upper hand over your opponent.

So, as mentioned, it's very simplistic gameplay, but it's the lack of complexity that makes it so much fun. So much multiplayer fun, that is. Applause to Interplay for at least not trying to con any other type of buyer into purchasing this title; the box clearly exclaims "multiplayer mayhem!

The AI opponents are certainly challenging, but not rewarding to fight against. It means nothing to play endless screen after screen with nothing but a bunch of pre-programmed pyromaniac sprites running around the screen pretending to care if they disintegrate you or themselves.

The original Bomberman 's success, and the sequels it spawned, and the constant platform conversions made for it, were all down to the fact that the multiplayer aspect of the title excelled. Atomic Bomberman sports, to some extent, the fun and fast-paced action of the original and successful Bomberman from the late 80's.

If you can put up with the sometimes lethal jerks in gameplay, and losing 40mb from your hard drive let alone the recommended maximum install of mb for a game that should require less than 5mb, then this title may be worth purchasing. Remember though: this damning review has not been for fun. This game goes beyond the description of 'flawed' and into a class of its own; mistakes in its design are riddled throughout, and from a company that promotes itself as a bunch of dedicated gamers just interested in making good playable games, and not in great graphics or using new technologies, this is sickeningly hypocritical.

Regardless of its faults, Bomberman 's presence has been established for so long now that dedicated fans are apt to take to this release as much as they did the prequels before it. It has quite a large following already, and those interested should definitely check out Worth a look for Bomberman fans, although the freeware remake Mr. Boom is much more fun than this commercial title. These were redone for the final version. These look less awkward in the final release.

The bombs shown are part of the animation graphics. The final bomb carrying animations don't include them. A single player mode like the original Bomberman games was started, but not finished to any satisfactory form. Instead of being deleted outright, it was locked behind a simple cheat code. Press the C key five times at the Character Select screen to access the campaign selection window, then choose a campaign file to activate campaign mode.

Continue through the Character Select screen as normal to start the campaign. TXT, as shown here. TXT, but is nowhere to be found in the final game. It most likely would have worked like the wooden sandals Geta item that reduces your movement speed in other Bomberman games. RES files, there are several commands that are related to values read and used by the game for many things. Unknown February 18, at AM. Anonymous March 28, at PM.

Unknown May 6, at AM. Anonymous August 17, at AM. Anonymous July 6, at AM. Anonymous October 18, at AM. Anonymous December 5, at PM. Unknown January 5, at PM. Unknown May 22, at PM. Anonymous August 10, at PM.

Unknown October 4, at PM. Anonymous March 22, at AM. Unknown December 29, at AM. Helish Lawera May 5, at PM. Unknown November 11, at AM.