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The gameplay is classic Bomberman and is all focused on multiplayer. That doesn’t mean that you can’t play alone, however. It just means that you can battle up to seven computer players in a deathmatch simulating multiplayer. Needless to say, while battling the computer is fun, you’ll grow tired of it much faster than if you were to play against a few friends locally or online. That’s the only real flaw in the single player gameplay. Aside from trying to collect trophies, there isn’t a whole lot of replay value if you plan on playing it alone. Yes, there are hazards in some levels and various modes to the deathmatches, but none of them are enough to make you want to keep playing after you’ve grown tired of the basic one-player deathmatch. But, Bomberman is rarely about the single player experience. It’s usually about multiplayer mayhem and fun...And Bomberman Ultra has that.
Playing online can be a bit of a hassle, however. Before a match starts, the game requires everyone to hit a button on their controllers to signify that they’re ready. This wouldn’t be a problem except that every time someone leaves or enters the ‘room’ before everyone can hit the button, everything resets and you’ll have to hit the button again....and again....and again until everyone manages to hit the button before someone else enters or leaves. My first attempt at getting online, I spent nearly ten minutes before we could finally get a game started. Once you start, though, the gameplay is generally smooth. There are hiccups here and there where you’ll see someone disappear and re-appear elsewhere on the screen, which can lead to the occasional cheap death, but overall it runs fine.
Bomberman Ultra also contains a mode called ‘Customize Bomberman’ in which you can dress Bomberman up to your liking. Several costumes are available from the beginning while the others have to be obtained during single-player matches by picking up rainbow-colored orbs that appear after a certain amount of time has passed during a match. Dressing Bomberman up like a pirate with a peg leg is a neat addition, but it’s more of a novelty than something that’d improve the game.
Graphically, it’s probably the best-looking game in the Bomberman series. Everything looks clean and pretty for high-def screens. The design is pretty simple, but that feels more like an art direction rather than laziness. As far as audio goes, the music is cheerful but it can quickly become tedious...Especially when you’re playing on the same stage repeatedly. Otherwise, aside from hearing a lot of explosions, there really isn’t anything else worth mentioning in the sound department.
Overall, Bomberman Ultra is a very fun game...And is up there with the best in the series. Unfortunately, without many changes to gameplay, if you already own a few Bomberman games there’s nothing really new here to make a purchase necessary...Unless you’d like to dress Bomberman up in a pink dress. The lack of innovation and the frustrating amount of time that can be spent just trying to start an online game bog down an excellent downloadable title on the Playstation Network. But, even with those flaws, Bomberman Ultra is a very fun game and well worth the money spent to download it.
8/10
