Video Game / Bomberman Tournament

Bomberman Tournament (Bomberman Story in Japan) is a 2001 installment in the Bomberman franchise for the Game Boy Advance. The game differs from the usual game format by being more Bomberman meets The Legend of Zelda (similar to Bomberman Quest), with a side of Pokémon. It does, however, retain the classic multiplayer.

The Five Dastardly Bombers from Super Bomberman 2-3 invade the planet Phantarion, and MAX is sent to investigate. When MAX disappears, Bomberman is sent to find him, fight off the Dastardly Bombers, and save Phantarion.

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This game provides examples of:

• Alphabetical Theme Naming: The towns are all named after letters of the Greek alphabet.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The first four Dastardly Bombers all turn into giant monsters after absorbing the power of the fused Karabon that Bomberman brings to them.
• Blackout Basement: Well, at any rate, there are a few areas where a Karabon is required in order to light up the room.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: MAX.
• Chokepoint Geography: The first four of the Dastardly Bombers' bases, although it's particularly prominent with Magnet Base.
• Dragon Ascendant: For some reason, Brain Bomber is now the Big Bad.
  • Demoted to Dragon: Plasma Bomber.
• Early Game Hell: Bomberman starts out with little equipment and just three HP, so poor play and just two self-bombing mishaps will quickly kick the player to the game over screen. After the first boss fight, if the player backtracks and explores properly they'll obtain three more HP and the remote control bomb. By the end of the adventure, Bomberman will have many abilities that trivialize exploration and combat.
• Fusion Dissonance:
  • For each dungeon, you need to fuse two karabons to be able to open the final gate. Three of those four require Cartoon Creatures, so that doesn't seem too weird, but the fourth one requires mixing an eel (Unagi) with a pegasus (Youni) to create a winged sea-serpent (SeaWing). By this description, it might seem like it would just retain Unagi's body and Youni's wings but that isn't the case. SeaWing's head has a different shape compared to either component's, its scales' pattern is different from Unagi's, and while Youni has hooves and feathered wings, SeaWing has claws and webbed wings.
  • Afterwards, the boss will further fuse with the karabon you just fused to become a monster. All of the bosses are bomber-cyborgs (practically bombermen, humanoid but with mechanical parts), but most of the monsters have barely any relation with the components. To specify:
    • MagnetBomber fuses with Pommy Fangs (a fanged electric ball) to create MagnetDragon (a long mechanical dragon).
    • PrettyBomber fuses with Pommy Sea◊ (a Pommy variant with fins) to create PrettyBalloon (a fat Tentacled Terror).
    • PlasmaBomber fuses with Pommy Dragon to create PlasmaRock.
    • The only aversion is GolemBomber fusing with the aforementioned sea-serpent to create GolemGhost (a zombie-controlling phantom). The fusion retains GolemBomber's head but with different colors.
• Green Hill Zone: The first main area.
• Guide Dang It!: The karabon Elekong is one players will almost certainly miss no matter how much they explore because it appears at an oasis which is triggered at random.
• Healing Potion: Instead of hearts, Bomberman uses these to regain health. (That being said, certain NPCs will give you Heart Containers if you can find them and/or do something for them.)
• Heroic Mime: After the opening cutscene, Bomberman has no dialogue except for the ending.
• Lethal Lava Land: Golem Base and its immediate surrounding area is this, with aspects of Build Like an Egyptian, Death Mountain, and Shifting Sand Land.
• Market-Based Title: Bomberman Tournament is known as Bomberman Story in Japan. It's a more fitting title, since "Tournament" would imply more emphasis on online multiplayer with singleplayer that boils down to "multiplayer with bots". However, this game is more "Bomberman meets The Legend of Zelda with a side of Pokémon" in terms of the singleplayer, not that some people even bother with singleplayer in a Bomberman game.
• Monster Arena: Most towns have arenas for Karabon fighting.
• Mon: The Karabons.
• Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups: Setting MarinGon (who gives you Line Bombs) renders you unable to throw bombs.
• Necromancer: This is the ability of Golem Bomber in this game. He can summon zombies to chase Bomberman, and detonate them if necessary.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In order to access a boss room, Bomberman must fuse together two Karabons into a new Karabon whose power can unlock the door. However, the boss will then proceed to use that Karabon's power to transform themselves into a giant mutant monster for the ensuing battle. (Also qualifies as a bit of a Catch-22 Dilemma, although you don't really have much of a choice in the matter.)
• Oh, Crap!: In the multiplayer mode, even if the characters don't audibly cry out in despair, they have special Oh, Crap! animations.
• Palmtree Panic: The area around Pretty Base.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Invincibility during the Balloon minigame meant the best strategy is to chain bombs and run around like a nutcase, trying to kill as many enemies as possible.
• Plot Coupon: The four medals obtained from the first four bases that open the way to the last dungeon. Many Karabons also function solely as this outside of the Colosseum.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Five Dastardly Bombers.
• Spell My Name With An S: "Charaboms" in Bomberman Max, then "Karabons" in this game, then back to "Charaboms" in Max 2 and Generation.
• Spinning Out of Here: Each Karabon has its own special ability that can help Bomberman when exploring (some are passive, others need to be activated manually). Pommy (your first ally and a Captain Ersatz of Kirby and Pikachu) has the ability to transport Bomberman to any (major) town he's previously visited. Using this power causes Bomberman to spin rapidly before he's launched into the sky and lands in his intended destination.
• Sprint Shoes: Bomberman can acquire two different sets of boots to increase his walking speed (as opposed to collecting Speed Up powerups). Pommy Animal also allows him to dash.

• Warp Whistle: Pommy's ability is this as well as an Escape Rope. Using Pommy inside a dungeon will return you to the entrance, and using him on the overworld will warp you to most towns.

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