Bomberman Hero

Bomberman Hero
The only 3D platformer in the Bomberman franchise, and quite a good one, and one of the best game of both the Nintendo 64 and Bomberman.
Genre(s): Platforming Platform(s): Nintendo 64 Release: JP: 30 April 1998 NA: August 31 1998 October 23 1998 Developer(s): I.A Publisher(s): JP: Hudson Soft WW: Nintendo Series: Bomberman Predecessor: Bomberman 64 Successor: Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!

Bomberman Hero, known as Bomberman Hero: Princess Millian Rescue! (ボンバーマンヒーロー ミリアン王女を救え!) in Japan, was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 and for the Wii Virtual Console in 2011. Hero focuses on single player action and is one of the few Bomberman games to not include any sort of multiplayer mode. To date, it remains the only Bomberman game in the 3D platformer genre.

Plot

"Bomberman was training very hard all days and night at Bomber Base to keep the universe peaceful.

One day, he received an order to check out a spaceship that had crashed in the Peace Mountains. When our hero arrived at the scene, he found a strange looking robot. According to this robot, the planet Primus Star was attacked by the Garaden Empire. This robot was able to escape with Princess Millian of Primus Star via spaceship, but the Garaden Empire captured them and took the princess away...

To help out, Bomberman left his home and embarked on a journey to save Princess Millian!"

Why It's A Hero

1. One of the main highlights and praises of the game is the soundtrack, which is absolutely phenomenal for a Nintendo 64 game, especially for a game made in 1998, and goes even to the point that it's given the game a cult following and is considered to be one of the best soundtracks out of any Nintendo 64 game; in fact, it's go as far as making people love the drum and bass genre of music, especially for children that get the game, despite the Bomberman franchise being mostly great in terms of the soundtrack; in fact, it's even considered to be one of the best soundtracks out of any Bomberman games and is even compared to the soundtrack from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
   • Redial is also one of the songs that made the game quite well known in the Bomberman fanbase, as not only is it relaxing, but it's also extremely catchy and makes you feel like you're going on an awesome adventure, which it is due to how great this game is.
   • Dessert is also a really good song, with it not only being hip-hop-like but it's also got the usual drums and bass that the game had in the soundtrack. This song is also extremely catchy and unforgettable, showing how unforgettable the soundtrack really is.
2. The concept of making a 3D platformer for the Bomberman franchise is an awesome idea that is extremely well executed here, and it's actually even better than Pocket Bomberman (which was decent too), and this game is basically what if Pac-Man World was a Bomberman game (even though that game was released later in 1999).
3. The plot, while simple and not very original, is still great since it's had great cutscenes that expand the story of the game, and this is one of the main reasons why the story of the game is this good. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack! had an even better story, but see the page for that game to know more about it.
   • In fact, despite being simple and a save the princess plot, it's actually more expanded than other games with that kind of plot, and it can be considered to be one of the best stories of the Bomberman series (only losing to Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!).
   • Much like the first Bomberman 64 and Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!, the story also had a dark tone that made it even more enjoyable; this would include some moments such as when we're Bomberman was attacked secretly and then after he was put in jail.
4. The controls are quite great, despite the jump being a bit clunky and flotty, since the game was designed with them and the level design was made with them, so there's no major problem with them.
   • They also are tight and responsive, so jumping isn't even a problem since it wasn't badly designed in mind since the game is so good in terms of level design that it can almost not be considered to be clunky since the controls are again designed with it.
5. Bomberman voice in the US version is pretty cute, although that makes him sound like a girl for some of his lines.
6. The graphics are amazing for a Nintendo 64 game released in 1998, with near-perfect character models that look like they've come from a Dreamcast game or even a GameCube game, especially the Bomberman model, which is the best to ever be made on the Nintendo 64.
   • This is also one of the reasons why this game has aged so well, since it's got a lot of details put into the graphics and is cartoony, which wasn't so easy to make on the Nintendo 64 game, especially in 1998.
   • The graphics look more advanced than most Nintendo 64 games that came after this one, even when compared to games that had decent graphics, such as the Castlevania games, Mario Party 2, Mega Man 64 and more.
7. You can get extra health points if you collect 200 diamonds, which is a nice game design since not any Bomberman games had done this before due to Bomberman dying in one hit except if he got a health item. Although collecting the diamonds is a bit too much and quite hard,.
8. Really good ending where Bomberman saves the princess and the latter gives Bomberman a kiss at the end of the game and says to Bomberman that she thanks him for saving her and also for his courage.
9. The difficulty is fair in comparison to most Bomberman games since most of the stages are designed to be fair in difficulty and balanced in most levels and boss battles, although some of them are extremely hard, especially at the end of the game.
10. Most of the twists are extremely awesome and feel like they came from a Mega Man X game due to how great they are. Not only that, but they also made up for the story since it would be the same without them.
    • This also shows that Bomberman can have great stories. Despite these games, we're not really supposed to get a strong story. This also shows that some games' plots can be simplistic but still awesome.
11. Awesome boss fights that are a big improvement over the one from Bomberman 64 since here they are challenging but still fair and balanced, although this is not always the case, especially at the end of the game.
    • This is especially true with Bagular since he is very challenging but also very fun and epic, to the point of being one of the best boss fights of the entire series.
12. Much like Bomberman 64, there's actually a secret world unlocked if you get a perfect score in all the levels, making this game very rich in terms of contents.
13. The game had automatic save, which made it easier to save the game since after finishing a level, it saved the game.
14. The game had high replay values, even by Bomberman standards, since this is mostly because of trying to have a perfect score in all the levels.
15. Due to the very strong story that is very well made and being edgy, it can be considered to be one of the darkest Bomberman games ever made, mostly losing to Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!.
16. The gameplay in comparison to other Bomberman games is extremely varied, which is a first for a Bomberman game, as there are many types of gameplay and transformations that Bomberman can get for some levels; in fact, these types of gameplay are so great that you might want to play these stages over and over just to replay them.
    • Bomber Marine: The Bomber Marine is a power weapon and the first one that Bomberman uses in the game. The Bomber Marine is equipped with the White Bomberman's legs, which allow him to swim and breathe underwater. The Bomber Marine is used in five levels.
    • Bomber Jet: The Bomber Jet is a power weapon and the second one Bomberman uses in the game. The Bomber Jet is equipped with the Bomberman's back, which allows him to fly straight forward through the air very quickly. The Bomber Jet is used in four levels.
    • Bomber Copter: The Bomber Copter is a Power Gear and the third one that Bomberman uses in the game. The bomber helicopter is equipped with the bomberman's head, and it allows him to fly straight up and move around freely. The Bomber Copter is only used in three levels.
    • Bomber Slider: The Bomber Slider is a Power Gear and the fourth and final one that Bomberman uses in the game. The Bomber Slider is equipped with White Bomberman's feet, and it allows him to slip down certain areas.
17. Amazing level design for most of the levels.

Bad Qualities

1. Despite being decent, the controls are floaty for the jump, which may cause some cheap deaths if you don't play the game correctly.
2. If you get a game over when you get extra health points, these will no longer be here, and you will have to search for the diamonds just to get them again. This even happens when you leave the game.
   • This is a major problem considering that the game can be hard in some of the levels and boss fights, not to mention that the diamonds are extremely hard to collect when you want to get 200 of them.
3. The game, while still awesome, is infamous for not having a multiplayer mode, in which some people play Bomberman mostly for this mode, but here it's justifiable since it's meant to only be a platformer and not be a traditional Bomberman game.
4. The drawn distance is bad, unfortunately.
5. While the game has dialogue, sadly, there is no voice acting in the cutscenes, probably due to hardware limitations.
6. The framerate is pretty chopy, as it was sacrificed in favor of the soundtrack, although that isn't that much of a deal due to how awesome this game and the soundtrack are.

Reception

Bomberman Hero received mixed reviews by critics but positive reviews by players and fans, with them praising the story, the soundtrack which was the most praised aspect of the game and the graphics.

The game had a score of 58% on the now defunct Gameranking website.

Trivia

• This is the last Bomberman game on the Nintendo 64 that had english voice acting, since Bomberman 64: The Second Attack! would had japanese voices for even the North America version, and the 2001 version of Bomberman 64, which is a port of Bomberman Land, was only released in Japan.
• This is the only 3D platformer of the franchise to date.
• This game was featured on the cover of Nintendo Power Issue 111.
• This is the only Bomberman game for the N64 which Bomberman can't pump bombs. However, he can still charge up a bomb in his hand to throw several bombs at once in a spread pattern. This has no special attributes other than being able to hit more targets at once.
• Although Bomberman Hero is commonly believed by Western players to be the first game where Bomberman could jump and had a life bar, Saturn Bomberman Fight!! already had both features when it was released in Japan several months prior, and Pocket Bomberman had also already allowed Bomberman to jump.
• Bomberman Hero's story looks to share similarities, or at least take inspiration from the Star Wars films, more specifically Episode IV: A New Hope.
• This game was originally going to be a Bonk game called Bonk 64 (Ultra Genjin in Japan)", however due to the Developers weren't sure how to deal with Bonk in a 3D World, the game was cancelled, later made it into a Bomberman game.

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