Bomberman '93

Bomberman '93 is an edition of the famous Bomberman game released by Hudson in 1993 for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console.

The Hudson Soft series began with Bomberman in 1985, a game released for NES and MSX. This was followed by Dyna Blaster in 1990, initially for TurboGrafx-16 and later ported to Amiga, DOS, Atari ST, and other platforms. Bomberman '93 is the second game in the series to be released for the Hudson Soft / NEC console, but in this case, it was an exclusive.

As expected, this '93 edition retains the well-established original mechanics, with your hero (known as "white Bomberman," given his white hat) tasked with eliminating enemies from each level. As you know, this is done by strategically placing bombs to surprise or trap enemies. The bombs explode after a few seconds, propagating to adjacent tiles, destroying stone blocks, and stopping only when they reach indestructible walls. The right technique requires placing a bomb when an enemy is nearby, then hiding behind a wall, hoping the enemy can't escape in time. Collected power-ups allow you to acquire more bombs, control the explosion range remotely, or widen the bomb's blast area.

Bomberman '93 introduces some new features: there are Battle modes, where you face off against four other opponents (human or computer-controlled), and Versus mode, where you can challenge a friend. In the levels, you can find new elements like sliding doors, conveyor belts, or warm holes. Instead of mostly similar levels, here we have seven worlds, each with eight levels. At the end of each level, you must find the hidden door inside a block to exit. Additionally, at the end of each world, after the eight levels, there is an end-level boss to defeat. All of this adds depth to a game that, in its previous editions, excelled mainly in multiplayer mode.

The technical capabilities of the NEC console make Hudson Soft's game an absolute visual treat: perfect animations, colorful backgrounds, and detailed sprites. It's no wonder Bomberman '93 is considered one of the best episodes in this famous series, alongside Super Bomberman 2 for the Super NES, and one of the best games ever released for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console. It's definitely worth trying!