Panic Bomber
More actions
| Panic Bomber | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Developer | Hudson Soft |
| Publisher | Hudson Soft (Japan), Nintendo (North America) |
| Platform | Virtual Boy |
| Device | Virtual Boy |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Puzzle |
| Play Area | Seated |
| Game Mode | Single-player |
| Release Date | JP: July 21, 1995; NA: December 1, 1995 |
Panic Bomber is a falling-block puzzle game in Hudson Soft's Bomberman series. It first appeared on the PC Engine CD and was later released in several other versions, including one for Nintendo's Virtual Boy stereoscopic console.[1] The Virtual Boy version, released in Japan as とびだせ！ぱにボン (Tobidase! PaniBon), was one of the five titles available when the console launched in Japan on 21 July 1995, and the only one of the five from Hudson.[2][3][4] It came out in North America as Panic Bomber in December 1995.[4]
On the Virtual Boy the game is single-player only. Contemporary reviews were mixed: Next Generation gave it two stars out of five and wrote that it "takes zero advantage of Virtual Boy's 3D abilities", while GamePro wrote that it "pushes the Virtual Boy engine to its max".[5][6]
Gameplay
Groups of three blocks fall from the top of the screen. Lining up three of the same kind horizontally, vertically or diagonally clears them.[7] Clearing blocks does not attack the opponent directly. Instead, it adds unlit bombs to the bottom of the player's own field. A lit bomb drops from time to time, and when it lands near the unlit bombs it sets them off. The explosions clear space and send garbage blocks to the opponent's field, and the player whose field fills up first loses.[7][1] Filling a meter by clearing lines earns a large "decker bomb" that removes a big area of piled-up blocks.[7] Hardcore Gaming 101 notes that, because of the shape of the playing field, a player loses only when the middle columns fill up and block the opening at the top, so stacking blocks along the sides is a common strategy.[1]
In the Virtual Boy version, the story mode sends Bomberman to Ever-Mist Island in search of a golden Bomberman statue.[1][4] Nintendo Life described three worlds, each with two opponents followed by a boss, and then two further opponents, for eleven computer-controlled opponents in total. Boss battles add "Skull Items", which can light all bombs, remove blocks or reverse the player's controls; this can be turned off in the options. "Flame up" power-ups extend the range of blasts and "level up" makes blocks fall faster. The game has four difficulty levels, and progress is saved through passwords given after each boss.[7] According to Hardcore Gaming 101, the new opponents follow a monster-film theme (including a werewolf, a mummy, Frankenstein's monster and Dracula), and several character names were changed for the English release, for example Pretty Bomber became "Ms. Flash".[1]
There is only one mode. Nintendo Life noted the absence of an endless mode and of any two-player option.[7] Hardcore Gaming 101 attributes the missing multiplayer to the Virtual Boy's link cable never being released.[1]
Use of the stereoscopic display
The Virtual Boy shows its games in red and black on two displays, one viewed by each eye, to produce a stereoscopic image.[2] According to Hardcore Gaming 101, the Japanese title's tobidase means "to jump out", a reference to the game's 3D visuals.[1] Nintendo Life's review describes the sparks from lit bombs coming slightly forward towards the player, an opponent character standing between the two playing fields with a three-dimensional look, and multi-layered backgrounds (ruins, a forest, a castle and others) drawn in 3D to give a sense of distance; it added that the backgrounds are hard to appreciate while the player is concentrating on the playing area.[7] Hardcore Gaming 101 wrote that characters have large, full-body animations that change with the state of the battle and that the cutscenes use the 3D effect to make Bomberman look like "a guy in a suit or a clay model". Because the display has no colors beyond red and black, the game has an option to change the blocks into shapes such as squares, diamonds and spheres.[1]
Development
Hudson Soft created Panic Bomber as the first Bomberman spin-off since RoboWarrior, choosing the falling-block puzzle genre in the style of Puyo Puyo. The PC Engine CD version was the first to reach the market.[1] Nintendo Life reported that a standard Bomberman game had been in development for the Virtual Boy, but Hudson chose the puzzle game as the character's appearance on the system; in the end it was the only Bomberman release for the Virtual Boy.[7] Hardcore Gaming 101 described the Virtual Boy game as a separate version with its own full story mode, in the vein of the Super Famicom game Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber W.[1]
Hudson Soft is credited as developer by Next Generation and Nintendo Life.[5][4] In Japan, Hudson released the game.[2] Next Generation listed Nintendo as publisher in its review of the North American release, while Nintendo Life's game database lists Hudson.[5][4] Hudson Soft also developed Vertical Force for the Virtual Boy.[5]
Release
| Platform | Region | Title | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Boy | Japan | とびだせ！ぱにボン (Tobidase! PaniBon) | 21 July 1995 (console launch title)[2][4] |
| Virtual Boy | North America | Panic Bomber | 1 December 1995[4] |
In Japan, the launch line-up consisted of three Nintendo titles plus one each from T&E Soft and Hudson: Mario's Tennis, Galactic Pinball, Teleroboxer, Red Alarm and Tobidase! PaniBon.[2][3]
Other versions
Hardcore Gaming 101 describes the following other versions of Panic Bomber, which differ in content from the PC Engine CD original and from one another:[1]
| Platform | Notes |
|---|---|
| PC Engine CD | The first version released; up to five players in multiplayer[1] |
| Neo Geo MVS (arcade) | Developed in parallel with the PC Engine version and released in January 1995; also released in North America[1] |
| PC-98, FM Towns | Released later in 1995; close to the arcade version[1] |
| Super Famicom | Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber W, a new version developed by Raizing[1] |
| Mobile phones (Java) | Bomberman Panic! (2001), followed by Panic Bomber Original (2004)[1] |
| PlayStation Portable | 2005, Japan only[1] |
| Wii U Virtual Console | PC Engine version, released in North America on 23 November 2017 as Bomberman Panic Bomber at US$5.99, published by Konami; the listing notes that it may contain foreign-language text and audio[8][1] |
| PC Engine Mini | 2020[1] |
Reception
Next Generation rated the Virtual Boy version two stars out of five. It called Panic Bomber "a decent 2D game that would have worked many times better on 2D hardware", said the lack of distinguishing colors made the "fast-paced puzzle game a tedious process at best", and argued that most players would not want to spend long periods with their face in the headset, although it granted that this Tetris-like game had "all the addictive elements of the original portable phenomenon".[5] GamePro compared the game's play and graphics to Kirby's Avalanche, found the 3D effects "a little timid" and the sound "a bit excessive", and called it "as addictive as Zoop or Tetris".[6]
Reviewing the North American release in 2009, Dave Frear of Nintendo Life gave it 7 out of 10. He praised the music and visuals and the variety of opponents, but criticized the single game mode and the lack of two-player play, which he connected to the "non-existent link cable", as with Mario's Tennis. He called it "probably not the Bomberman game most players wanted" but "another fine puzzle game for the Virtual Boy".[7] Hardcore Gaming 101 wrote in 2022 that the game "works quite well on the platform" and had "the same level of effort put into it as any of the previous versions".[1]
| Publication | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Next Generation (March 1996) | 2/5 | Virtual Boy version[5] |
| Nintendo Life (2009) | 7/10 | North American Virtual Boy version[7] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 Steven Barbato (2022-12-15). "Bomberman: Panic Bomber". Hardcore Gaming 101. http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bomberman-panic-bomber/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 石山裕規 (2021-07-21). "もう一度めくるめく赤い世界へ。任天堂「バーチャルボーイ」が本日7月21日で生誕26周年". GAME Watch. Impress. https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1339453.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ウワーマン (2020-07-21). "バーチャルボーイが発売25周年。ゲームの3D立体視にいち早く挑戦した先進的ハードでゴーグル型の本体が特徴的だった【今日は何の日？】". Famitsu. https://www.famitsu.com/news/202007/21202583.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "Panic Bomber (1995) - Virtual Boy Game". Nintendo Life. https://www.nintendolife.com/games/virtualboy/panic_bomber. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Panic Bomber". Next Generation, no. 15 (March 1996), p. 87. Imagine Publishing. 1996-03. https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-015/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Panic Bomber (Virtual Boy)". GamePro, no. 90 (March 1996), p. 69. IDG. 1996-03. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_090_Volume_08_Number_03_1996-03_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n69/mode/2up. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 Dave Frear (2009-05-25). "Panic Bomber Review (VB)". Nintendo Life. https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/2009/05/panic_bomber_retro. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "Bomberman Panic Bomber for Wii U - Nintendo Game Details". Nintendo.com. Nintendo of America. 2017. https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/bomberman-panic-bomber-wii-u. Retrieved 2026-10-13.