Editing Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!

|release={{release|Japan|August 10, 1994|USA|November 1994<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081003181232/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/gameslist/manuals/dmg_games.pdf Nintendo ''Game Boy (original) Games'' release chart.] Archived October 3, 2008.</ref> or December 1994<ref>''Nintendo Power'' Volume 67, page 106. [https://randomhoohaas.flyingomelette.com/bomb/gb-1/ref.html#magazine Bomberman Shrine scan.]</ref>|Europe|June 29, 1995|Australia|June 29, 1995}}

|ratings={{ratings|esrb=K-A}}

|media={{media|gb=1}}

'''''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!''''' is a crossover game between the [[Wario (franchise)|''Wario'' franchise]] and [[Hudson Soft]]'s {{wp|Bomberman|''Bomberman''}} series that was released in 1994 and 1995 in North America and Europe, respectively. The game is a reskinned version of ''{{wp|Bomberman GB}}'', which was released in Japan in August 1994. The ''Wario'' series theme was exclusively added to Western releases. Aside from Wario's presence, the game is mostly unchanged and plays like other ''Bomberman'' titles. The ''Bomberman GB'' released in the West is actually the Japanese ''Bomberman GB 2''.

'''Story from the instruction booklet'''<ref>''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!'' North American instruction booklet, page 4.</ref>

[[File:WarioBlast.png|thumb|left]]

The game shares its objective with other ''Bomberman'' games. The player has to blow up between one to three opponent(s) via the use of bombs to advance, while they try to do the same to the player. The entire game is played from a top-down perspective. The player maneuvers around a grid-like playing field, setting off bombs to blow up unsuspecting enemies, and destroy [[block (Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!)|block]]s to clear the way and to reveal occasional power-ups. The player wins by defeating the enemy [[Madbomber]]s (which take on the appearance of the character not chosen). Every level is played with a best-of-3 rule. If the player wins two times, they gain access to the next level. Failure to do so results in a [[Game Over]].

When playing the game on the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] with a [[Super Game Boy]], an additional multiplayer mode for up to four players is available, known as the Battle Mode.<ref>''"Of course, what would a Bomberman game be without a Battle Mode?"'' &mdash; ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!'' North American instruction booklet, pages 4 and 5.</ref> In this mode, two or more players are able to play against each other, with up to four players being supported using the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System#Super Multitap|Super Multitap]].

The game also contains a secret game mode called "[[The Battle]]" (not to be confused with the Battle Mode), available by entering the password 5656 on the title screen to play as Bomberman, or 6565 to play as Wario. The passwords to access this mode can be found in [[Burn Zone]]. In this mode, the player starts with all power-ups, and the goal is to defeat endless waves of opponents to obtain a high score.

At the end of each round, the player faces a boss that requires a strategy.

''Bomberman GB'' was originally known as ''{{fandom|Bomberman|Bomber Boy}} 2'' during development.<ref name=bomber>nori_bomber (November 20, 2021). [https://twitter.com/nori_bomber/status/1462247400672690176 Tweet by Norio Ohkubo]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved September 2, 2023.</ref> It was demonstrated at Summer {{wp|Consumer Electronics Show|CES}} 94 as ''Bomberman'', and reportedly involved the title character stopping a new enemy named Mad Bomber from causing destruction in a location called Big City.<ref>''Club Nintendo'' (Chile) Año 3 No. 10, [https://archive.org/details/ClubNintendo26Ano03N10Chile/page/n21/mode/2up page 20.]</ref>

While ''Bomberman GB'' was getting ready for a Western release, [[Nintendo]] approached [[Hudson Soft|Hudson]] about doing a [[Mario]] collaboration.<ref name=ohbuko>nori_bomber (August 18, 2023). [https://twitter.com/nori_bomber/status/1692744409488765431 Tweet by Norio Ohkubo]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved September 2, 2023.</ref> Concerns about [[Bomberman]]'s overseas popularity prompted the idea to replace the main character.<ref>nori_bomber (March 21, 2023). [https://twitter.com/nori_bomber/status/1638034407692058624 Tweet by Norio Ohkubo]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved September 2, 2023.</ref> Mario was considered as the protagonist at first, but there were concerns that having him use bombs to defeat his enemies would be out-of-character and off-brand.<ref name=nori>nori_bomber (February 27, 2021). [https://twitter.com/nori_bomber/status/1365848274960146432 Tweets by Norio Ohkubo]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved February 28, 2021 ([https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1365874820395589638 English translation by PushDustIn]).</ref> The development team suggested [[Wario]], who had his own games on the market, and since it was insisted to keep Bomberman, the game became a crossover.<ref name=ohbuko/> Even though Wario was a new character at the time, Nintendo sent the developers a list of approved and forbidden actions for the characters, which designer Norio Ohkubo likened to the approval process for using {{wp|Disney}} characters in term of strictness.<ref name=nori/>

''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!'' is not directly referenced in later games, but it began a trend in Nintendo spin-offs that associates Wario with [[bomb]]s. Technically, bombs having any relevance to Wario first appeared in ''[[Wario's Woods]]'', but in this game, they are solely used against him. Beginning in ''[[Mario Party]]'', Wario has an association with [[Bob-omb]]s as his home stage, [[Wario's Battle Canyon]], features the landscape of a canyon wrought with explosions from a war between Bob-ombs and [[Bob-omb Buddy|Bob-omb Buddies]], which Wario appears to be manipulating out of greed. In ''[[Mario Party 3]]'', Wario's association with Bob-ombs continues, as one is his default partner in the game's duel mode. In ''[[Mario Tennis]]'', Bob-ombs line the walls in Wario's home stage, [[Wario Court]], as well as his joint venture with Waluigi, [[Wario & Waluigi Court]]. In ''[[Mario Kart: Double Dash!!]]'', Wario's special item is the Bob-omb. In ''[[Super Mario 64 DS]]'', Wario is one of the two characters who has a Bob-omb themed minigame in the [[Rec Room]]. In ''[[Mario Hoops 3-on-3]]'', Wario's home stage [[Wario Factory (Mario Hoops 3-on-3)|Wario Factory]] has several Bob-ombs (ones larger than the Bob-omb one gets as an item) that appear as stage-exclusive hazards for the players. In ''[[Mario Super Sluggers]]'', Wario hits a bomb in addition to a baseball as his special move. In the ''[[Club Nintendo (magazine)|Club Nintendo]]'' comics, Wario is the owner of a bomb shop. Lastly, the timer and logo for the minigames in the ''[[WarioWare (series)|WarioWare]]'' games is a [[bomb (WarioWare series)|bomb]] with Wario's mustache on it.