Atomic Punk

The Good
If you were growing up in the Eighties and Nineties, chances were that one of the video game series you were familiar with was Bomber Man. It was quite a popular series by Hudson Soft, and I could see why. I mean, what could be more satisfying than blowing up your enemies in a multitude of stages? The first lot of games came out in the Eighties, but the version that I am familiar with was released in 1990. What made the series really shine is the ability for you and a friend to compete with each other in a multiplayer match.

Irem obtained a license from Hudson to create an arcade version of the game; and although the core gameplay is there, some of the mechanics are slightly different. Unlike the home ports, you do not have to keep blowing up random blocks to find a blue exit and risk running out of time. White Bomberman will instead make a peace sign and use a Christmas decoration to blow himself off the screen. Also, running out of time results in instant death; enemies resembling rotating coins simply do not appear here.

There are plenty of power-ups to discover, and my favorite of these is the remote-controlled bomb. With this power-up, you don’t have to wait three seconds for it to go off; it can explode as soon as an enemy is in its vicinity. Although it is a shame that the power-ups don’t carry through to the next stage, I can see why. Can you imagine what would happen if explosions result in flames going everywhere?

Some of the enemies behave differently. In the first set of stages, lobster-like creatures have the ability to hide behind blocks and invincible red flames transform into white penises, while enemies wearing leather jackets need to be blown up twice. There are power-ups that can help you blow them up, with my favorite being those remote-controlled bombs. A few power-ups are useless and only award you points.

The graphics are on par with the 1990 update. I like the flashing neon lights in the first area, and the way you walk on water in the second; it gives the second stage a nice touch. You and the enemies boast good animations, and some of the end-of-area bosses are huge. Sound-wise, the odd- and even-numbered areas have their own pieces of background music, but it is always the same for the bosses.

In the Euro/US versions of the game, up to four players can work as a team, but the Japanese version offers several modes: a versus game with you and three computer opponents, another versus game with two players and two opponents, and a normal one- or two-player game. The computer opponents have great artificial intelligence, and the screen depicting the four bombermen inside the Irem arena is fantastic. Strangely, the two-screen story is still shown in the versus games.

The Bad
I cannot think of anything.

The Bottom Line
A nice conversion from Irem, Atomic Punk shares the same mechanics as the home computer ports that got me addicted to the series in the first place, such as the multiplayer aspect of it. The sound and graphics are good, and the game itself should be given a go by anyone who is a fan of the series.