Bomberman Land Touch! 2 review

Game: Bomberman Land Touch! 2
Platform: DS
Genre: Casual (Party)
Developer: Hudson Soft
AKA: Touch! Bomberman Land: Star Bomber no Miracle * World (JP)

Staff review by Gary Hartley

March 30, 2008

It’s very tempting to play the informed games reviewer and let you, the gullible reader, believe that I've played the original Bomberman Land Touch but I’d be kidding not only you, but myself. Truth is, I had no idea what to expect from this game coming in other than the recognisability of Bomberman games of yore. That being, you trap a bunch of guys in a room full of destroyable blocks, give them bombs then let them mine their way through the maze while trying to blow each other up. But while this and a number of notable maps to explode and explore are present, it’s not Bomberman Land Touch 2’s main attraction, so forgive me if, from here on, I treat you like you’re as clueless as me.

What we have instead is a collection of mini-games spread across a theme park and connected by a loose plot that (thankfully) never takes itself seriously. The entire park isn’t immediately open for you to explore, though, and you’ll quickly encounter any number of locked gates that impede your progress. Each of these gates lead deeper in the park, and all you need to unlock them are a number of prizes won from the stalls already available to you.

Stalls are easily recognisable; they're bright-coloured tents with a clown prating around in front of them. Talk to said clown and he'll challenge you to take part in the attraction (and incorrectly use 'Ciao' as a greeting, for some odd reason). Winning the event will win you a piece that often corresponds with the area's theme. Need ten earth pieces to open a pesky gate? Then grind the Earth Zone!

Progression is kept tight, forcing you to try out and beat each stall available to you, meaning you can't try and work your way around the mini-games that give you trouble. This could have been a double-edged sword: while it's good to offer that extra motivation to plough through the games you initially suck at, gamers will find some too difficult to progress from easily. But even here, Hudson has been clever. Continue to fall short of the mark on multiple attempts and, at the cost of a token, the bar will be lowered for you.

You might need this as you start to delve deeper into the bowels of the park, taking on challenging missions such as tapping falling musical notes as close to set line as you can, because, should you miss one and it hits the ground, all the notes on the screen vanish and you have a score you need to beat. Touch 2 not only does a good job of throwing an insane selection of differing games at you, but employs a clever sliding difficulty. You’ll also have problems with a game that asks you to slingshot yourself into the air to try and collect coloured bombs for point, but you’ll have less of a problem pulling the same bombs out of a pond when you take on a fishing mini-game. It will probably take you a few turns to rack up enough points to pass a stage that has a hanger spit out a constant stream of tanks at you that you need destroy by lobbing bombs into their path, but you’ll probably find it easier to finish off a game of air-hockey played with an explosive puck you need to explode in the face of your challenger. There are over 40 mini-games in all to find, challenge and overcome, and, though some will pop up numerous times, the opposition will change. You may just be chasing a score, or one of the parks various denizens might challenge you to a head-to-head.

But the theme park you find yourself trapped in has more to offer than clown-fronted booths with winnable tokens and pieces. You’ll also need to explore tirelessly to discover hidden stamps booths which mark your achievement card and to find special items that are just as vital as the collectable pieces you need to unlock the gates. That plain looking bomb you find can not only destroy pesky obstacles in your path, but can be used as a counter-weight on that see-saw. That worn broom you can buy from the ticket booth may seem useless at first until you do a little beach-combing

But, while all the wandering around is obviously more padding to elongate the game’s length, exploring the island is great. Trying to find a top hat & cape to win a cosplay tourney hosted by a huge golden robot with a beak and a fear of water or searching the available zones desperately for a trio of hidden bomb ninjas keeps things ticking over and stops them from getting too monotonous. I may not have played the previous Bomerman Land Touch!Touch 2 and, odds are, so will you.

You can even get online where I'll destroy you at exploding air hockey.

More Reviews by Gary Hartley
	Montague's Mount (PC) Tedium doted with explosive creativity.
	Silent Hill Downpour (PlayStation 3) Written in crayon, broken beyond repair, offering pre-watershed scares, and headlined by Korn.
	Monstafish (PC) Swim away.

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