Atomic Bomberman is a 1997 installment in the Bomberman franchise for Windows 95. It is a slight oddball in the franchise, being developed by an American company (Interplay, under license from Hudson Soft), who designed the game using pre-rendered 3D sprites and backgrounds, techno-inspired music, and the extensive use of voice samples (provided by Charlie Adler and Billy West, no less!). Gameplay retains the classic grid-based formula, and while there is a short campaign mode, the game's focus is on its multiplayer. In fact, it and Saturn Bomberman are still the only games to offer ten-player online.
This game provides examples of:
- Digitized Sprites: Similar to games like Donkey Kong Country, the bombers are rendered this way.
- Eyes Are Unbreakable: One of the death animations has the blown-up bomber reduced to a pile of ashes except for their eyes, which remain suspended in mid-air for a moment before dropping.
- Have a Nice Death: The game has many different death animations.
- Level Editor: Unlike Saturn Bomberman, ten players can be used in a variety of fields.
- The Many Deaths of You: A surprising first for the series, Bomberman has many ways to die, including but not limited to...
- An Arm and a Leg: The Bomber loses one of his legs, stays upright long enough to wave good-bye, then falls over.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: A devil version of Bomberman appears before turning to dust.
- Losing Your Head: Both played straight & inverted. In the straight example, he'll pat the empty space where his head used to be before collapsing. For the inversion the Bomber loses everything except his head and feet, the former of which spins in mid-air for a second before falling.
- Not Enough to Bury: The Bomber disintegrates entirely.
- Stripped to the Bone: The Bomber is blown apart, leaving nothing but a skeleton that quickly destabilizes.
- Sweeping Ashes: Nothing left but a pile of dust and a pair of floating eyes, which blink a few times before falling to the ground.
- Winged Soul Flies Off at Death: The Bomber turns white, gains a halo, and flies away.
- No Mouth: A surprising subversion. The characters usually appear to not have a mouth, except on the main menu
◊ and a bonus game◊ screen. - No Plot? No Problem!: Unlike other games in the series, this one doesn't have a traditional story mode.
- Oh, Crap!: Characters have such animations when cornered next to a bomb, or if trapped in a pile of barricades with no way out.
- Technicolor Fire: The Bombers' bombs explode into their respective colors.
- Title Scream: "ATOMIC... BOMBERMAN!"
It's over, you can go outside and play now.
