The explosive, beloved classic is back with Super Bomberman R 2! Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Super Bomberman R 2 Review Overview
Super Bomberman R 2 Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Simple and Easy Gameplay Colorful Characters and Customization Creative Level Editor |
No Tutorial Mode Questionable UI Design and Control Scheme No Party Matchmaking |
Super Bomberman R 2 Overall - 56/100
While the game is built for fun in both online and offline modes, it certainly lacks variety. Despite presenting you with multiple options for playing the game and different ways to personalize your characters, Super Bomberman R 2 fails to address several issues, such as having no tutorials, questionable UI, weird controls, and lack of online options. Although the game delivers on the gameplay front, especially with the way it catches the classic Bomberman feel, the small issues add up. It almost seems like the game took one step forward with its new game modes and customization and two steps backwards with the lack of their previously implemented mechanics.
Super Bomberman R 2 Story - 5/10
The purpose of the game’s Story mode is to introduce the new Castle mode and the game’s Level Editor. To put it simply, the Story mode is a grindfest. It requires you to explore huge maps with repetitive gameplay of blowing up blocks to earn experience points and open the way to other parts of the maps. Another objective achieved by blowing stuff up is to free and befriend the Ellonites. These Ellonites have the power to transform into anything including weapons of mass destruction. As the Bomberbros, you are tasked to protect these Ellonites as their power will be used for all the wrong reasons including world domination. With slow progression and an unrewarding grind, Super Bomberman R 2’s story isn’t really anything special and doesn’t offer anything new to the table. It may even be fair to call it an inconsequential aspect of the game.
Super Bomberman R 2 Gameplay - 7/10
The game modes from previous titles are back: Standard, which is the classic four-player free-for-all; Grand Prix, a 3v3 team game with unique rules; and Battle 64, a 64-player Battle Royale format of Standard Mode. In this version, they also introduce the Castle mode, a hectic 16-player team game where the players are split between Attack and Defense. While the game is easy to understand, having no tutorial mixed and a weird control scheme makes for an unpleasant experience where you’re forced to learn things on your own.
Super Bomberman R 2 Visuals - 7/10
Visually, the game looks good and reinforces the arcade look and package of the whole game. The game’s characters and stages are all visually appealing and easy to identify. It even has an expansive customization system where you can dress up characters with the provided options. However, the game also comes with a lot of questionable UI choices like high-contrast menu colors, inadequate labeling, and many more.
Super Bomberman R 2 Audio - 6/10
Similar to the visuals, the soundtrack features catchy arcade tunes that you may or may not be a fan of. The game also features tracks from older Konami games like Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and Suikoden via the in-game shop. These can be used as background music while you play. But while the overall sound design is decent when it comes to the sound effects and interactions in general, the voice acting is a hit-or-miss due to how stiff and robotic some characters sound.
Super Bomberman R 2 Value for Money - 3/10
Priced at $49.99, Super Bomberman R 2 is not a worthy investment due to its numerous flaws and lack of features. Substituting a free-to-play game for a $49.99 one that basically copied the formula is absurd. Even with the expansive customization and multiple game modes, the game should offer more than what it presents.
Super Bomberman R 2 Review: A Repackaged Dud
Super Bomberman R 2 is a case of repackaging a good deal to tie it into something else for a higher price. The result is a redundant game, which took most of the old game modes and didn’t even improve them to add a $50 price tag. The new features they offer don’t justify creating an entirely new game out of it. Instead, they could’ve updated the previous game by patching in the new stuff they added here as they did previously in Super Bomberman R .
The game doesn’t offer any olive branches to teach you the game’s inner mechanics, like how to power up your bombs and how to interact with them via punting and punching. With the intuitive interface and controls, it may lead to some confusion with the navigation of the menus and the labeling of items. For example, it took me a while to figure out how to create a private room using Private Match and fill it with bots to play with friends. The Room Settings does not specify where you can include bots and it took some trial and error to do it. A lack of party options to play with friends in certain game modes also sours the experience. Personally, Bomberman has always been a party game I enjoyed with friends, and not being able to play with them in team modes like Grand Prix or even the Battle 64 mode is a missed opportunity.
But all in all, the game feels good gameplay-wise since it still plays exactly like the older Bomberman games. However, with the number of issues present, I don’t think this title can catch any player’s attention for long as the game can be confusing as soon as you start it and that everything is barebones right from the get go.
Pros of Super Bomberman R 2
| Things Super Bomberman R 2 Got Right |
|---|
|
Simple Yet Masterful Gameplay Colorful Characters and Customization Creative Level Editor |
Simple Yet Masterful Gameplay
Bomberman, at its core, is easy to understand: Blow up the obstacles, collect power-ups as you go along, and take your opponents down with your bombs. The formula is entertaining as well as familiar because multiple events can happen sequentially, leading to hilarious outcomes. This is especially true when you’re playing with friends. However, as easy as the game may be, there are a lot of different techniques like Trapping, Bomb Kicks, Bomb Dribbling, and more that require practice, situational awareness, and great timing.
Power-ups can improve the number of tiles a bomb affects, enable you to push and kick bombs, move faster, and many more. By using a combination of your power-ups, you can perform feats such as chaining bombs together, pushing bombs toward your opponents with perfect timing, and even punching bombs over obstacles to trap opponents. These types of mechanics transform how players can play the game. At the surface, it looks simple, but it can have a deep influence on your style’s foundation.
Colorful Characters and Customization
Super Bomberman R 2 features a diverse cast of characters from classic Konami franchises like Suikoden, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, and more. These characters come to life in the Bomberman-esque art style as well as their own flair, be it what they wear or their personal character skills which were constantly being updated in the previous games to keep the meta fresh. Additionally, the game also offers multiple customization options for each character in the game with cosmetics. These add a personal touch to your chosen character, as you can customize them with great looking costumes, wacky poses, and even visually distracting bombs as you see fit.
Creative Level Editor
Super Bomberman R 2 also allows you to make your own levels. You can design them to be filled with traps, obstacles, gimmicks, and the like. The terrain and obstacles can also be colored to further personalize the look of the whole stage. These stages can be used in different game modes, allowing you to express your creativity by letting other players play on them.
Cons of Super Bomberman R 2
| Things That Super Bomberman R 2 Can Improve |
|---|
|
No Tutorial Mode Questionable UI Design and Control Scheme No Party Matchmaking |
No Tutorial Mode
The game doesn’t include a tutorial mode, which means newer players might struggle with learning the inner workings of the game. While this is definitely a means to encourage player discovery and experimentation, this might not be a good decision for newer players who want to dive head first into Graded Matches or Ranked modes. While I said that the game is simple enough to pick up, not familiarizing yourself with the game’s mechanics and controls will definitely lead to frustrating losses.
Questionable UI Design and Control Scheme
Plainly speaking, the UI is visually distracting. The loud colors are similar to Smash Bros’ UI design, but the choice of color combinations, small fonts, and localization issues with not being clear on wording add up to a very messy look.
Another problem with the game is the weird control scheme that it has. It would make sense for the default pause or menu option to be the Escape key, but it's actually the Enter key for this game. Additionally, the confirm button being Spacebar and the cancel button being the X key is awkward. I’ve never encountered another game that had that kind of keybinds. Lastly, the game’s lack of mouse support means that navigating its distracting menu can only be done using the keyboard or a controller.
No Party Matchmaking
While this isn’t necessarily a problem since you can play with friends using a Private Lobby, not being able to play with them in public team modes is a missed opportunity. While it can be excluded for Battle 64 as this may result in teaming, game modes like Castle and Grand Prix can make use of teamwork, especially since part of teaming up in Bomberman is avoiding friendly fire. Hopefully, this can be patched in, as it can be pretty hard to play with random teammates who you will have to watch out for as well.
Is Super Bomberman R 2 Worth It?
No, Not At The Moment
Asking for $49.99 when the previous iteration was free-to-play is unreasonable, especially when most of the features here were already available before, but with just the addition of a shiny new coat of paint. Currently, the game is still receiving updates and is still a beloved classic, so there may be a resurgence in the future when they introduce more new features. However, at the moment it is not a purchase that is worth the cost.
Super Bomberman R 2 Overview & Premise
With the eight Bomberbros, visit new planets and make friends with the Ellonites, who are mysterious beings able to shapeshift into different things. Face the threat of the universe and once more save it from peril!
Super Bomberman R 2 FAQ
Does Super Bomberman R 2 Have The Option To Change Regions For Matchmaking?
At the moment, there is no way to change the region as entered at the start.
Does Super Bomberman R 2 Have An Option For Japanese Voices?
At the start of the game, you can configure the display language as well as the voice language of the game to your desired language including Japanese Voice.
Does Super Bomberman R 2 Have Multiplayer?
The game features online and offline multiplayer through Private Matches via the lobby system up to 64 players or the Battle Offline mode up to 8 local players respectively.
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Super Bomberman R 2 Product Information
 |
|
| Title | SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 13, 2023 |
| Developer | KONAMI |
| Publisher | KONAMI |
| Supported Platforms | Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, XBOX Series X, XBOX One, Steam |
| Genre | Party, Puzzle, Battle Royale |
| Number of Players | 1-8 (Offline), 1-64 (Online) |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone 10+ |
| Official Website | Super Bomberman R 2 Website |
