Explode-’em-up sequel Super Bomberman R 2 has a launch date – it’s being released digitally on 13 September.
Don’t expect a national holiday or anything, but Bomberman celebrates its 30th birthday this July. And, with impeccable Konami timing, the latest entry in the long-running explode-’em-up series – that’s Super Bomberman R 2 – is out on 31 September.
As you’d expect, the classic loop of setting down bombs, running away, and catching your opponents in the resulting explosion remains intact. What SBR2 does have, though, is a nice selection of new modes. There’s your classic battle mode, where bombs are dropped until just one player remains. Then there’s a grand prix mode, where players can either compete for knock-outs or crystals against the clock. There’s also a chaotic-sounding 64-playerbattle royale mode, with sets of players competing on separate boards until only one winner remains – a bit like a gunpowder-heavy take on Tetris 99.
Most intriguing of the lot is castle mode, which loosens up the grid-based format of the traditional Bomberman battle arena, and has players running around looking for keys, unlocking chests and collecting power-ups on some quite sizeable maps. Players will also be able to create and share their own stages.
For players after a less competitive experience, SBR2 also has a story mode – one that appears to have a bit more variety than those we’ve seen in previous Bomberman games. The trailer above talks about exploration, attack and defence, as well as building and boss battles, so we’re intrigued to see how Konami packages all those elements together in one campaign.
The Bomberman series first emerged in 1983, and has long outlived Hudson Soft, the developer-publisher that created it. Initially developed for Japanese and European computers, Bomberman was quickly ported to just about every system imaginable, and the game’s formula steadily increased in complexity with each iteration and sequel. By the early 1990s, titles like Bomberman ’93 on the PC Engine and Super Bomberman on the SNES provided some of the most entertaining, frantic multiplayer action you could get on a console.
Hudson Soft sadly closed in 2012, with its IP taken up by Konami. Under its new banner, the series got the enjoyable – if unadventurous – Super Bomberman R in 2017.
Super Bomberman R 2 will be available digitally for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 13 September.
