Bomberman DS isn’t beautiful by any means, but it does what it has to do. Graphics really aren't something that is concerned with in a game such as this, so I guess that point is moot. There is one part in Bomberman DS that is in 3D, but that part is only in the opening credits. The rest of Bomberman DS is 100% good, old-fashioned 2D goodness.

I don’t know if it was because this game was 2D, or if it was because I haven’t played Bomberman for quite some time, but Bomberman DS really reminded me of my experiences with my NES and SNES. I find a lot of games today focus solely or mostly on graphics and deny me of gameplay, but I was glad to see that there are still a few actual games out there, and not just graphics demos.

The sound isn’t anything special either, really. Each of the levels has a different background track, and there are of course different sound effects for things like bombs and enemies. Other than this, however, there isn’t much more to say about the sound. Its pretty clear coming out of the DS’s stereo speakers, but its synthesized much like other cartridge-based games. That’s not so much of a problem, because if you were looking for a game with an incredible orchestrated soundtrack, you probably weren’t looking towards a portable anyway, right?

Bomberman DS plays just like the old Bomberman games on the NES, but with a slew of new power-ups. The goal of the game is to clear the stage of enemies with your bombs, and then walk into an exit tile. The game is structured pretty regularly, and there are themes to each of the 10 different levels. The 10 different levels are sectioned off into 10 stages, so there is a total of 100 stages in all. This may sound like a lot, really, but the first few levels won’t be much of a challenge, so those will be conquered quite quickly.

There is a good range of power-ups to be gotten in Bomberman DS. These power-ups can increase your firepower, increase the number of bombs you can drop at once, increase your speed, and even give you different types of bombs, such as remote bombs and power bombs. When you pick up a power-up, you don’t gain its ability right away as in most games. The power-up is put in storage for you to use at will, and you can carry up to 99 of each power-up type.

Every sixth stage on a level is a bonus stage, which allows you to pick up a good number of power-ups. Deaths in the bonus stage don’t cause you to lose a life, fortunately, but you have to kill all of the enemies in the stage in order to get any bonus whatsoever. The timer in the bonus stage could be a limiting factor, so the name of the game is to kill the enemies and do it quick.

The last stage on each level is, of course, the boss battle. There is a little bit of repetition in bosses (some later bosses are just souped-up copies of earlier bosses), but there is still a good bit of challenge in some of them. If you are a power-up hoarder however, as I am, you should be able to make short work of the bosses.

To top it off, what good Bomberman game would be complete without a nice multiplayer mode? Bomberman DS is definitely fun to play with friends, and they won’t even need to have the game themselves, as Bomberman DS includes a single cartridge mode. The only drawbacks to this, however, is that the game data can take some time to transfer, so if you were just looking for a quick start game, that may turn you off. Patience is rewarded, however, as there are quite a few stages to choose from, some of which have their own game theme. Some of the multiplayer stages even allow you to use the microphone in the battle to certain effect, usually placing or detonating bombs.

Bomberman DS isn’t really a hard game when you get right down to it. What you have, really, is a game that is well adapted to the DS, but can be slightly challenging at times. In my experience with the game, the beginning is one of the more challenging areas, because you are just getting used to controlling your character (which is what you can say about most games, really). The controls aren’t anything unfamiliar, since you use the patented (literally) Nintendo cross-pad, A, B, X and Y buttons. The only real use of the touchscreen is for item selection and multi-player battles.

The real difficulty in Bomberman DS comes later on, as the time limit on each stage is not enough to complete some missions unless you have a lot of pre-practice. These are times when you should be thankful that one of the power-ups is capable of extending the clock by a minute. Some of the enemies on later stages are also quite persistent, needing two, three or even four bomb blasts to kill. The difficulty is something that can be managed, however, as power-ups are essentially under every rock and around every corner.

One of the things that I really like about the DS is the fact that it allows you, via the touch-screen, to do things that you would not have been able to do without going into a menu screen in other games. In Bomberman DS, this is also true. While you are playing the game, the touchscreen serves as a menu of power-ups that you can use at any time during the stage. The only exception to this is during boss battles and bonus stages, which take up both screens. Usually, using power-ups in a stage can be hazardous, as you have to watch out for enemies at all times, and concentrating on a second screen to choose a power-up might cause a mistake.

There really isn’t much else to the game besides “place bomb, blow up target”. The main challenge lies in the execution of this, and not in the complexities of the game’s menu system. One thing, however, that I think could use improvement is the save system. Every six stages, the game will automatically save for you, but you are also allowed to do a quick-save. The quick-save, however, will quit your game, so you can’t just save and continue on. I guess the logic of this was that the DS has a fantastic sleep mode, so if you just want to put the game down for a second you can close it, but it could possibly be annoying to some, for sure.

Overall, Bomberman DS is a fun game that I would recommend anyone to play. It’s not especially long or upsettingly short, but it’s just about the length you expect from a portable game. If you remember the old Bomberman games and you would like to experience them again, pick up a copy. At $30 MSRP, it won’t be something you’ll regret later.