Bada Bing, Bada Boom
Bomberman is a classics couch multiplayer game bar none. It's simple premise and even simpler controls means it's often been cloned but never beaten. Bombing Busters is the latest pretender to the throne but can it succeed where multiple other games have failed?
Bombing Busters unashamedly riffs off of Bomberman but sometimes aspiring to be something so loved is no bad thing as long as you get it right. There are five world's to conquer with each world containing six levels with a boss fight at the end of the final level. The gameplay is simple yet very devious. As you move around each level you will find yourself blocked in by various obstructions. To clear these obstructions you must place bombs next to them. Once you have cleared a path you must kill all the enemies that are patrolling the map by blowing trapping them with a bomb. When objects are blown up they release power ups that increase the amount of bombs you can drop at once, kick bombs out of the way, throw bombs and increase the range of their explosions. Just remember that you are not invulnerable to your own bombs and if you get caught in a blast you will die.
As you progress from one level to the next the AI of your enemies increases and you will need to much more than just dropping a bomb and running away in the opposite direction. You will need to get crafty and trap the little buggers using all the wits at your disposal. Each level while looking simple is devilishly difficult to complete. You won't get very far in this game without dying quite regularly. There is no energy bar here it's one hit one kill and when you did the level resets itself so you will have to start all over again. It's these old school rules that can quickly frustrate you and lead to you quitting and the main reasoning behind that is the controls. In a game such as this precision is paramount but the controls just feel off. It's a feeling that's hard to describe when moving your character around the screen but he seems to have a floating quality about his movements and 
I found myself constantly adjusting my position to avoid exploding bombs. I can't put my finger on it apart from it being a precision issue.
Graphically Bombing Busters would look just at home on the original Xbox or mobile phone as it does on the Xbox One. But we all know that graphics do not a great game make. The same can be said for the audio. It becomes very monotonous very quickly which in turn leads to it becoming very bloody annoying. The stupid phrases your character shouts out during the game when it kills an enemy are suppose to be amusing and maybe they are to someone else because I found them to be very repetitive and very unfunny.
When you buy a game like this you're not buying it for the single-player experience but for the multiplayer. This is where Bombing Busters really let me down. Sure there is the four player local multiplayer option but I don't have an extra three people who are into gaming hanging around my house all the time so the lack of any online multiplayer was devastating to me. Games like this thrive online and there has been a big mistake made by not including it. The single player campaign holds no interest to me so this game will my ever get played when I have a house full of like minded gamers.
Bombing Busters lack of online play pretty much kills the game stone dead. Sanuk Games have really missed a trick here especially when you consider that versions on the PS VITA included online play.
Developer: Sanuk Games
Publisher: Sanuk Games
Website: Bombing Busters
Twitter: @sanukgames
Bombing Busters is available now for £5.59
Review code supplied by Sanuk Games