Look at that chibi Chief!

Super Bomberman R has really come into its own post-launch, and all that work is leading up to a round of ports for the Nintendo Switch title. It's heading to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox ??One this June with P-Body, Ratchet, and? Master Chief as exclusive new characters, respectively. Here's how they look:

It's about what I'd expect given all of the other guest characters that've found their way into Super Bomberman R since launch, from Dracula to Vic Viper to even Pyramid Head. I'm good with the original Switch version,?????????????????????????? but I'm glad to see this game reach a wider audience. The new ports will cost $40.

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This is probably a thing

[Update: Konami has confirmed the news directly to Destructoid -- Super Bomberman R will be making it to PC, PS4, and Xbox One in June. The latter two consoles will host a release on ?June 12, with the PC release to follow a day later. Platform exclusive characters are in, in?cluding Rachet, Master Chief, and P-body.]

I was just talking about how odd it would be to have a Bomberman game not hit a Microsoft platform after ??years upon years of success on the Xbox Live Arcade, and here we are less than a week later.

While Super Bomberman R was originally a Switch launch title it seems to have had a year and change of exclusivity, as Konami has all but confirmed its existence on other platforms. Just recently a Korean rating was spotted for a PS4 edition, and now there's a very official looking listing for R on Micros?oft's website, plain as day (and s??creencapped in case it went up early).

It seems like Micros??oft has it slated for June 12 but no price is set yet (it originally went for $40).

Super Bomberman R [Microsoft] Thanks Jason!

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I didn't expect this from Konami!

As much as Super Bomberman R missed the mark in some basic, fundamental ways, the developers have stuck with it, and I have to commend their post-launch support. The latest update is a big one, offering a much-smoother frame rate (if it isn't hitting 60 frames per second now, you could've fooled me), tighter controls, difficulty adjustments, and several new maps. And yeah, ??it's free.

The patch notes, in full:

• Four new VS stages have been added to the shop (White Cross, Lagoon, Max Speed, Power Zone). [See the gallery below]
• Two new series of accessories have been added to the shop (Crowns, Bombs).
• The frame rate of the entire game has been improved. We also made slight adjustments and improved the controls as well.
• Less lags are likelier to happen when every participant in the Online Battle have good network connection. (If you want to find opponents with good connection, set Other > Basic Settings > Network Settings to the very left.)
• Made it possible to press L/R to change the inclination of he map in the Story Mode. Other > Basing Settings will also allow you to fix the camera position as well.
• You can now choose the strength of the COM on the Multiplayer Battle Mode.
• The strength of the Five Dastardly Bombers on the Story Mode have been adjusted.
• The difficulties of Beginner and Normal have been reduced, making it easier to beat them.
• Adjusted the heights and slopes on some maps to improve the visibility.
• If you continue a certain number of times in the Story Mode, you will be able to continue without paying anymore gems.
• Changed the BP (Battle Point) increase/decrease rate for the League Battle.
• Fixed other various small bugs.

Some of these now-fixed issues were actually keeping me from coming back to Super Bomberman R, so this is serious progress. I'm still of the mind that it's overpriced for what it is (a good but not great Bomberman game), though maybe I'll chan??ge my tune w??ith more updates like this one.

Ver. 1.3 Update Notice [Konami]

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Since Bomberman World in 1998

Super Bomberman R has room for improvement, but Konami has a lot to be excited for given its early sales numbers. Right now we just have Japan to go off of, but looking at Media Create sales, this is the first Bomberman game since 1998 to break 50,000 in sales in that region. This is a $5?0 game, mind, and not a downloadable like many others.

Yep, only Bomberman World was able to surpass that mark nearly 20 years ago on PS1, and had 16 more attempts before it hit the mark again with Super Bomberman R. Per??haps Nintendo's unending hype train deserves the credit, but either way, we can probably expect to see a follow??-up.

Media Create [NeoGAF]

Disclosure: Mr Destructoid is playable in earlier Bomberman games.

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That'd be a nice start

I wasn't holding out much hope that Super Bomberman R would see many updates, but it sounds like at least one im??portant patch is on the way. Konami says it is "aware that some players are experie??ncing control lag issues" and that, better yet, it is "currently working to improve the situation."

"Our first priority is to adjust control response times which will improve both the online experience and control lag during offline battles," continues today's notice. "We will share more information about the update'?s release date very soon. Future updates are also planned as we work hard to continuously improve the experience for players, both online and offline."

I've only just dipped my toes in the game -- long enough to clear the first world after shedding a laughably high number of lives against the out-of-control boss -- so I can't personally comment on the online lag situation. Knowing that it should improve makes me want to hold off for now. Well that, and this no-frills Bomberman game can't easily compete against Zelda for my time.

Regarding the latency issues durin?g Online Battles. (2) [Konami via Nintendo Everything]

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Boom

I was able to witness the rise and fall of Bomberman with my own eyes. It was one of the first games I ever played on the NES, and when developer Hudson Soft died in 2012, I poured one out for the once-great franchise. For six long years after Bomberman Live: Battlefest hit XBLA, there was complete radio silence.

But now we have Super Bomberman R, headlining a brand new console launch, no less. Bomberman's Nintendo homecoming might not be as explosive as a lot of us hoped, but it gets th??e job done if you want to entertain up to eight people on a Friday night.

Super Bomberman R (Switch)
Developer: Konami, HexaDrive
Publisher: Konami
Released: March 3, 2017
MSRP: $49.99

Before you get too excited, keep your expectations in check -- it's Bomberman. What I mean by that is there's nothing here you haven't ??seen before, so if you're just going to be checking in solo, it probably isn't going to be worth your time. Like many party games at heart, you're going to want to wrangle up some buddies for this one.

With that out of the way, the story mode isn't too shabby, just exceedingly average. Its 50 levels go by really fast, and the weird cartoo??n sequences are so short that you barely even notice them. Said cartoons are very cute little transitions and a nice re-introduction to some old, classic characters, but they're basically just small animations placed on backdrops -- a lot more effort could have went into them, and the English dub, for that matter.

Although I wish there were more to it, it's not just about killing enemies (which range from dull to super emotive, especially after you blow them up). Gadgets and hazards like magnets that pull your bombs come up every few stages or so, as well as new primary objectives like hitting switches, collecting keys, or rescuing NPCs. By? the seventh level arenas start spanning multiple screens with a cool little zoom effect, and can get really taxing even on normal mode (there's three difficulty settings?). Two-player co-op (with drop-in!) makes the campaign even more fun, but I find myself wishing there was a little more to do outside of the 50 included levels, and the player count was boosted to four (it seems totally possible).

Again, it all zooms by quickly, maybe over the course of an hour if you have previous Bomberman experience. Bosses cap off every nine stages or so, and while their robot forms (which are basically mirror matches) are amazing, the big mechs that they transition into for their second phase aren't quite as captivating. They're mostly just lumbering, predictabl??e fights that utilize the same two or three attack patterns o?ver and over.

The main draw for most of you out there is probably multiplayer, and although Bomberman R doesn't stand out above the cavalcade of XBLA and digital releases over the past 10 years, it works. There's eight levels unlocked at the start with 12 more at the in-game shop, as well as settings for the num??ber of rounds, time, start positions, pressure blocks (read: sudden death), skulls, or revenge carts (which allow players to get back into the game after losing a life).

Although it doesn't feel in any way like it's a Switch (or even Nintendo) exclusive, I did enjoy the multiplayer tablet mode, which supports up to four people while on the go on the same screen. Given that it's Bomberman and doesn't require a split-screen setup, it was easy enough to identify where my avatar was at any given time. I can see this being a pretty fun way to break up the monotony of waiting in line at a convention (the go-to for my group was passing around a Game Boy Advance with Advance Wars).

You can also battle with up to eight players on the same TV (yes, you can hook up eight controllers on a Switch), with concessions for LAN and online play. Sadly the latter was not available for testing at the time of this writing, but we'll keep you updated on the situation whenever Nintendo fli??ps the eShop switch. Even with that in mind, I've taken advantage of playing with bots many times already.

Speaking of the unlock system I so casually mentioned above, it takes in-game coins which are earned through gameplay, and doesn't seem to push microtransactions. They're mostly for costumes, characters, new levels, and continuing in the campaign, creating an old school incentive to keep playing. As time passes though it's less "old school" and more of what people refer to as a gate (just look at the uproar when a fighting or rhythm game ships without everything unlocked). I don't mind, especially for a relaxed game like Bomberman.

And that's it. It's Bomberman, man. It feels like an arcade game with a $50 price tag. The campaign isn't as strong as it could be, but there's e??nough here to keep the ser??ies going until Konami can muster up a little more for the next iteration.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

_{[Disclosure: Mr. Destructoid is a playable character in earlier Bomberman games]}

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Just several weeks before launch, we finally know the basic gist of the plot to Super Bomberman R, which is hitting the Switch a?s a launch title. The evil Emperor Bugler has decided to resurrect the Five Dastardly Bombers and rule the universe, so it's up to the Bomberman Bros. to stop them.

The English voice cast reminds me of a really early '90s anime dubs, but the Japanese version is a little more polished (in terms of audio quality and enthusiasm). You can watch both below and read a preview of the game here. All there's left to do now is wait and see if it lives u?p to its nearly 34 year legacy.

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