➤ Super Bomberman R 2, the review of an explosive chapter full of new features 🕹

In the review of Super Bomberman R 2 nothing is lost between alien children, level editors and many game modes never seen before.

Bomberman is a bit like Pac-Man and Tetris: you may not remember exactly the level structure of a particular chapter or how many episodes have been published in the last thirty years, but you still more or less remember that it was a lot of fun because of its simplicity and immediacy. Super Bomberman R 2 arrives six years after a first experiment by Konami to recover the historical name, enriching it from the point of view of the substance, the possibilities it offers and the essentials online. At that time everything was as it was, and not so bad, as you will know from reading the review.

What matters is that everything seems ready for the second round: the Super Bomberman R 2 project, although poorly sponsored, was even more ambitious than the previous one, with a series of truly notable novelties. Apart from a few small glitches and the usual inability to access the online servers, for some unknown reason, the time we spent in the company of the explosive men was well spent and bore the fruits that you are about to read.

Follow the Super Bomberman R 2 Review, which we played on Nintendo Switch but will also be published on all other available platforms (between current and previous generation) and on PC through Steam.

Ellon and Galactic Combat: Story Mode

Super Bomberman R 2, the review of an explosive chapter full of new features — Here are the protagonists of Super Bomberman R 2: a complete family of crazy characters

To start, Super Bomberman R 2 has a history mode, which is the campaign designed for a single player; Among other things, before launching into the arenas alone or with friends, it is highly recommended to spend a few hours in the company of the strange family of human bombs, since - and the protagonists themselves explain it to us - the plot of the title is functional for understand the numerous (and often intricate) game mechanics, including new ones.

At least the story is linear enough: Bomberman and company visit a (small) number of freely explorable planets, trying to save all the strange creatures that live there, known as Ellons. These are extraterrestrial children with special and versatile powers: in fact it is possible to use them to open doors, eliminate enemies and more; When they "die" in battle, they easily regenerate on special platforms. The objective of the plot, divided into planetary levels, is to find all the Ellons in each area, obviously defeating the bad guys who are devastating space, depriving it of precious natural resources.

The latter are the Lugion, equally mysterious life forms, which must be returned to their place with the sound of bombs. Each playing area, seen from above, is nothing more than a classic Bomberman chess board, obviously larger for greater comfort. exploration; In reality, however, it is always very clear how to proceed and what to do. The level design does not particularly shine, as does the technical sector on Nintendo Switch; However, this does not mean that the handful of hours necessary to achieve the Bomberman family's final victory do not pass pleasantly. Also because from time to time you come across shrines that activate mini-games or even entire games in Castle mode; and in fact the latter constitutes the heart of Super Bomberman R 2.

The gameplay: what a beautiful castle...

Castello is the new main mode from Super Bomberman R 2. Stop everyone - this doesn't mean classic games aren't available online and offline. There are, and there are also modes inspired by battle royale (Battle 64), in which sixty-four players compete at the same time and only one will survive all the explosions; like the Grand Prix, in which six participants organize themselves into teams of three and try to outwit the others; and again, a mode in which you will have to collect the most crystals and bring them to your base, in which the team that has grabbed the most will naturally win.

The real news, we said, consists of castle - with the strengths and weaknesses that every good castle brings with it. Clearly the name is symbolic, more to indicate the idea of defending a fortress than anything else, given that there is no actual castle on screen. The game, in this case, is again divided into two teams, but with opposite tasks: one player defends five chests from enemies; Everyone else will have to collect the keys scattered randomly around the level, open the chests and escape with the loot. If even one chest remains in place before time runs out, the defender wins. Imagine the commotion, not to mention utter chaos, that dominates every match, between explosions, respawns, and the use of devastating auxiliary weapons. The rules may also, from time to time, be rewritten by participants, whether or not to encourage specific styles of play.

Also noteworthy is the presence oflevel editor, with which you can modify all aspects of the environment, including the bonuses/maluses guaranteed by the presence of fixed and indestructible objects (the most immediate being the bomb cannons). All of this makes up most of the meat and works pretty well, barring a few small issues. Firstly, it's not like Super Bomberman R 2 does much to make newcomers feel comfortable: it explains a few things, but none of them essential; For once, when we need a real tutorial worthy of the name, we have to make do with what there is. And then, the confusion is too much: the games take place with four players, but from the fifth onwards it is more complex to pay attention to what is happening than to meet the victory conditions. As a result, you often end up winning without fully understanding what you've actually done constructively, especially against the CPU or in the campaign.

Even the technical and graphic sectors - except for the two-dimensional narrative screens - do not shine at all, and if this is understandable online (because many players at the same time, with different special effects, could make everything collapse) it is difficult to settle , in the single-player campaign, with repetitive and bare scenarios, in which the main objects of interest such as power-ups, enemies and Ellon are only noticeable. Adding many possibilities is very good, but managing them is also important. At least the main menus - except the editor, including the character menu - are very clear.

Conclusions

Tested version Nintendo Switch digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Price 49,99 € Holygamerz.com 7.0 Readers (10) 7.2 your vote

Like its predecessor, Super Bomberman R 2 is an ambitious title; More than its predecessor, it tries new paths and invents, with the right dose of madness typical of a production whose protagonist is a stylized bomber, a series of curious and, above all, effective possibilities. It is the care taken in these proposals that is not entirely convincing, in addition to their technical implementation, given that the chaos on screen may not even bother a large part of the public. The Castle is interesting, but the editor is not particularly intuitive and purists will still prefer the standard game mode; The single-player campaign is always welcome, but the levels are basic and, after all, can be completed in a matter of hours; New weapons like the Ellon laser beam are effective, but some too effective compared to others. Perhaps, sometimes, the key to success is not in the philosophy of “the more, the better”, but in the “little but good”. If you don't think like us, please don't drop a bomb on us. Because Super Bomberman R 2 is still a good game and you should give it a chance.