Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Revision as of 09:58, November 11, 2024 by Dwhitney (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: Needs tables providing descriptions of each round, item, and object

Soundx.png It has been requested that at least one audio and/or video file related to this article be uploaded.
Please upload all related music, sound effects, voice clips, or any videos for this article. See the help page for information on how to get started.
Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
The game cover of Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
North American box art
Developer Hudson Soft
Publisher Nintendo
Platform(s) Game Boy
Release date Japan August 10, 1994[?]
USA November 1994[1] or December 1994[2]
Europe June 29, 1995[?]
Australia June 29, 1995[?]
Language(s) English (United States)
Genre Action
Rating(s)
ESRB:K-A - Kids to Adults
ACB:G - General
Mode(s) Single player, 1–4 players simultaneously (Super Game Boy only)
Format
Game Boy:
Game Pak
Input
Game Boy:
Serial code(s) USA DMG-EE-USA-1

Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! is a crossover game between the Wario franchise and Hudson Soft's Bomberman series that was released in 1994 and 1995 in North America and Europe, respectively. The game is a reskinned version of Bomberman GB, which was released in Japan in August 1994. The Wario franchise 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.

The player takes the role of either Wario or Bomberman and fights against up to three copies of the other character. Wario's goal is to rob Bomberland, while Bomberman's is to protect it. In every round, the player has to defeat the enemies by strategically placing bombs, while the enemies are able to do the same.

Story

Story from the instruction booklet[3]

WARIO INVADES THE LAND OF THE MADBOMBERS!

Wario, in his constant search for new lands to conquer and trea-
sures to gain, has found the extra-dimensional portal
that links his world with the one that Bomberman
inhabits. Thinking that the Madbombers will make a
nice addition to his legions of mindless minions (as
well as a new source of funds for his nefarious
schemes), Wario steps through the gate... and soon
finds that the Madbombers are not quite the dim-wit-
ted flunkies he originally thought them to be!
The ending cutscene

After completing the game, regardless of which character the player chose, Bomberman rides a motorcycle across a canyon. Wario appears, also on a motorcycle, and the two chase each other back and forth indefinitely until the player resets the game.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

The player can choose to play as either Wario or Bomberman, but this does not change any aspects of gameplay, other than reversing the passwords for each level. There are eight rounds in total, including three regular levels and one boss level per round.

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 blocks to clear the way and to reveal occasional Normal Items. The player wins by defeating the enemy Madbombers (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.[4] In this mode, two or more players are able to play against each other, with up to four players being supported using the 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. 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.

Bosses

At the end of each round, the player faces a boss that requires a strategy. The first five bosses drop a Special Item upon defeat.

Staff

Main article: List of Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! staff

Development

Bomberman GB was originally known as Bomber Boy 2 during development.[5] It was demonstrated at Summer 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.[6]

While Bomberman GB was getting ready for a Western release, Nintendo approached Hudson about doing a Mario collaboration.[7] Concerns about Bomberman's overseas popularity prompted the idea to replace the main character.[8] 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.[9] 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.[7] 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 Disney characters in term of strictness.[9]

References in later games

Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! is not directly referenced in later games, but it began a trend in Nintendo spin-offs that associates Wario with bombs. 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-ombs 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 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 have a Bob-omb-themed minigame in the Rec Room. In Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Wario's home stage 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 comics, Wario is the owner of a bomb shop. Lastly, the timer and logo for the minigames in the WarioWare games is a bomb with Wario's mustache on it.

Gallery

  • The game's logo

    The game's logo

Artwork

Bomberman GB
Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!

Sprites

Bomberman GB / Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
  • Wario

    Wario

  • Wario

    Wario

  • Wario

    Wario

  • Wario

    Wario

Screenshots

Box art

  • Canadian box art

    Canadian box art

  • European box art

    European box art

  • French and Dutch box art

    French and Dutch box art

  • Italian box art

    Italian box art

  • German box art

    German box art

  • Australasian box art

    Australasian box art

Miscellaneous

  • German advertisement

    German advertisement

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese ボンバーマンＧＢジービー[?]
Bonbāman Jībī 		Bomberman GB; "GB" can stand for "Game Boy" or "Great Battle"[5]

References

  1. ^ Game Boy (original) Games (PDF). Nintendo of America (American English). Archived October 3, 2008, 18:12:32 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  2. ^ December 1994. Nintendo Power Volume 67. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 106.
  3. ^ 1994. Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 4.
  4. ^ "Of course, what would a Bomberman game be without a Battle Mode?" – 1994. Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 4-5.
  5. ^ a b nori_bomber (November 20, 2021). 元々はボンバーボーイ2でした。　#ボンバーマンGB　のGBはゲームボーイの略称とグレイトバトル(Great Battle)の略称のダブルミーニングです。私が描いたラフ画を元にゲーム内画像の原画として、水野さんにリライトしてもらいました。. Twitter (Japanese). Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  6. ^ Club Nintendo (Chile) Año 3 No. 10. Page 20.
  7. ^ a b nori_bomber (August 18, 2023). ボンバーマンGBを海外展開させようとした時に任天堂さんからマリオとコラボできないか、との打診。マリオに爆弾持たせるのはイメージ的にどうなの?ってことになり、当時売出し中のワリオならOKでしょ。で、本来主役のボンバーマンも登場させなきゃってことでのクロスオーバー作品。. X (Japanese). Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  8. ^ nori_bomber (March 21, 2023). ボンバーマンGBを米国で売ろうとした時にボンバーマンの知名度に不安があったので主役キャラ交代。当初はマリオの名が挙がっていたが、マリオに爆弾テロのイメージ持たせちゃマズイだろ、ということで悪いことしても憎まれないワリオになったの。 #自分が知っている大人の事情を挙げる. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  9. ^ a b nori_bomber (February 27, 2021). Tweets by Norio Ohkubo. Twitter (Japanese). Retrieved February 28, 2021.
[Edit]
Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!
Characters Wario • Bomberman • Madbombers
Bosses Cup King • Top Man • T-Bear • P-Flower • Thunder Cloud • Pukupuku • Gururin Knight • Mad-Bomber
Rounds Normal Zone • Warp Zone • Arrow Zone • Fire Zone • Coma Zone • Ice Zone • Burn Zone • Power Zone
Normal Items Explosion Expander • Extra Bomb • Skull
Special Items Kicks • Dashin • The Trouncer • Liner • Moto
Objects Block (Regenerating Wall) • Bomb • Bomb-Guiding block • Heated Vent • Warp Hole
Other Bomberland • Staff • The Battle
[Edit]
Wario games
WarioWare series Main WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (2003, GBA) (Bird & Beans [2008, DSiWare] • Paper Airplane Chase [2008, DSiWare]) • WarioWare: Twisted! (2004, GBA) • WarioWare: Touched! (2004, DS) • WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2006, Wii) • WarioWare: Snapped! (2008, DSiWare) • WarioWare: D.I.Y. (2009, DS) • WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase (2009, WiiWare) • Game & Wario (2013, Wii U) • WarioWare Gold (2018, 3DS) • WarioWare: Get It Together! (2021, Switch) • WarioWare: Move It! (2023, Switch)
Ports WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! (2003, GCN)
Wario Land series Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994, GB) • Virtual Boy Wario Land (1995, VB) • Wario Land II (1998, GB/GBC) • Wario Land 3 (2000, GBC) • Wario Land 4 (2001, GBA) • Wario Land: Shake It! (2008, Wii)
Other Mario & Wario (1993, SNES) • Wario's Woods (1994, NES) • Wario's Woods (1994, SNES) • Wario's Whack Attack (1998, Adobe Shockwave) • Picross NP Vol. 7 (2000, SFC) • Welcome to Greedville (Wario's Grab Bag • Wario's Crazy Caps • Wario's Dunk Tank • Greed $chool Test) (2001, Adobe Flash) • Wario World (2003, GCN) • WarioWare Twisted Marble Maze Game (2004, Adobe Shockwave) • Wario: Master of Disguise (2007, DS) • Play Nintendo activities (2014–present)
Pitches Wario Pool (GBC)
Crossovers Super Smash Bros. series Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GCN) • Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii) • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (2014, 3DS) • Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014, Wii U) • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Switch)
Rhythm Heaven series Rhythm Heaven Fever (2011, Wii) • Rhythm Heaven Megamix (2015, 3DS)
NES Remix series Main NES Remix 2 (2014, Wii U)
Reissues NES Remix Pack (2014, Wii U)
Other Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! (1994, GB)
[Edit]
Game Boy games
Super Mario franchise Alleyway (1989) • Baseball (1989) • Super Mario Land (1989) • Golf (1989) • Dr. Mario (1990) • Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) • Donkey Kong (1994) • Mario's Picross (1995) • Picross 2 (1996)
Donkey Kong franchise Donkey Kong (1994) • Donkey Kong Land (1995) • Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996) • Donkey Kong Land III (1997)
Yoshi franchise Yoshi (1991) • Yoshi's Cookie (1992) • Tetris Attack (1996)
Wario franchise Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994) • Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! (1994) • Wario Land II (1998)
Miscellaneous Tetris (1989) • The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993) • Game & Watch Gallery (1997) • Game & Watch Gallery 2 (1997)
Retrieved from "https://www.mariowiki.com/index.php?title=Wario_Blast:_Featuring_Bomberman!&oldid=4429008"