YMMV / Super Bomberman

• Awesome Music:
  • The boss theme from the first Super Bomberman is surprisingly epic, and gives a vibe like "This is for the city!", which fits that game's setting on Earth instead of across different planets out in space. In particular, Area 6.
  • Great Gattaida/Ultimate Buggler's final boss themes in Super Bomberman R are spectacular. First phase is incredibly rocking, second phase is incredibly climactic.
  • Hero, the credits theme for Super Bomberman R.
• Broken Base:
  • After the initial buzz about Bomberman's big return, Super Bomberman R fell into this. A good number of fans are still excited to know that Konami still cares about Bomberman and that the game is looking good, especially since former Bomberman devs are working on it. However, others think that everything that the fanbase doesn't like about Konami will still rear its ugly head and ultimately ruin the game and possibly kill the franchise for good. Rinse and repeat for Super Bomberman R2
  • After a release of the opening cinematic for R, the dubbed voice acting of the game has become polarizing. A handful of fans see it as grating and annoying, while another camp sees it as charming and welcome unique voice actors for each of the bombers. Some Take a Third Option and say that while it does sound cheesy, it helps hammer in the game's vibe of being something like a Saturday morning cartoon or badly dubbed 50's anime.
  • While Pyramid Head, Vic Viper, and Belmont Bomber were more greeted with surprise than anything, the second wave of DLC bombers being Reiko Hinomoto along with Anubis and Jehuty has issued a divisive split in the fanbase. Either crossing over with Konami's other IPs is still a bad idea and Konami needs to focus on bringing in bombers from the previous games, or it's completely fine and they can hope for returning bombers after a few more waves.
  • Fans are split over the best game of the series. Most of them either choose Super Bomberman 3 or Super Bomberman 4, but there is no consensus.
• Complacent Gaming Syndrome: For about the lifetime of Super Bomberman R Online after the initial release, many players pick White Bomber over any other bombers. While White is essentially a Magikarp Power character who starts with the lowest stats, he has the maximum power, bomb and speed caps, not to mention that he can get all of the special power-ups (even if he doesn't start with any one of them) that are Boxing Glove, Bomb Kick, Marble Bomb, Pierce Bomb and Power Glove ^note Marble Bomb and Pierce Bomb are mutually exclusive, whichever is obtained the latest will override the previous power-up. What he lacks in skills he makes up with the capability of using all powerups to the fullest, a form of Boring, but Practical ability that makes a player with White Bomber very difficult to deal with if fully powered-up, essentially making him a Master of All in late-game phase. It got to the point that some players actually get frustated or complain about how overpowered White is, compared to other characters.
• Contested Sequel:
  • Super Bomberman 2 is this to the original, due to the lack of co-op and a more "adventure-like" approach that would eventually be dropped in subsequent games.
  • Super Bomberman 5. Most of the game reuses assets from previous games (stage sprites) and most of the stages are completely static with no animation. Most of the fandom considers it a good Bomberman, but with some shortcomings, which put it behind the other games (especially 3 and 4).
• Demonic Spiders:
  • The first game had those floating knight armors (Yoroisu) in the final world. They can be hurt only from behind and had much more HP than any other enemy in the game. It's to the point that one can treat them as an example of Boss in Mook Clothing since the game is merciful enough to pit you against just two of those in total.
  • Kinkaru, the little gold coins in the circus world that resemble the dreaded Pontans from the original Bomberman, are among the fastest enemies in the game, will follow and corner you and can bypass soft blocks. They were so annoying that Super Bomberman 5 Nerfed them to hell and back by making them slower and unable to get through obstacles.
• Even Better Sequel: Super Bomberman 3 is widely considered a better game than Super Bomberman 2, especially for the return of co-op normal mode and the creative levels.
• Evil Is Cool: The Five Dastardly Bombers (2, 3, R), the Four Bomber Kings and Bomber Great (4), and the Fiendish Bombers (5), specially in multiplayer, where their powers make them more fun to play than just plain Bomberman.
• Game-Breaker:
  • In all five games, the remote control bombs make the game much easier, especially the boss battles. This may explain why they don't show up in R.
  • The first Super Bomberman lets you have both the piercing bombs and the remote bombs at the same time, making it very easy to clear levels quickly. Every level also starts with a ridiculous amount of Mercy Invincibility, so it's very easy to clear out most of the enemies in a stage before you can even take a hit. The addition of Passwall and Bombpass (that is, passing through destructible blocks and your own bombs) makes it even easier. Woe unto you if you fall to your own hubris and lose all those cool toys, though...
  • The brown Louie in Super Bomberman 3. He has the line bomb power up, which sends all your bombs in a line. Combine him with remote control bombs and all boss battles become a piece of cake.
  • Despite being largely useless in normal mode, the yellow Louie in Super Bomberman 3 and Super Bomberman 5 is this in battle mode, since it can easily trap opponents with no way out, making for an easy kill once the arena starts closing. Unfortunately, this can be boring if there's a lot of time left on the clock.
  • Most of the mechanical eggs in Super Bomberman 4, especially Pakkunga (line bomb), Dancing Clown (stun enemies), Bomb Tank (slowdown enemies), and the Fly Turtle (a powerful suicide attack). Also the Four Bomber Kings and the Great Bomber in the battle mode for their super attacks.
  • As of the free character update, Pyramid Head Bomber in R can easily be considered this. His special ability allows him to gain Collision Damage at the cost of moving at a snail's pace. In single-player, this renders him borderline invincible to all but a handful of enemies. Sadly, he has been nerfed in the Tournament Mode update, as his ability requires a cooldown before it can be used again.
  • Plasma Bomber and Karaoke/Pretty Bomber are this in Super Bomberman R, albeit in a Difficult, but Awesome way. Karaoke Bomber's Karaoke Bomb takes an excruciatingly long time to detonate normally, but as soon as an enemy steps into its explosion range, it starts flashing and goes off in less than a second. Plasma Bomber's Plasma Bomb has a variable fuse length based on how long you hold B down, with the default time to explosion being a little over a second. Using either carelessly will result in lots and lots of self-destruction, but they're the closest thing in the game to the traditional Remote Bomb, which says a lot all by itself. Plasma Bomber in particular can basically shred the bosses.
• Goddamned Bats: The first game had several:
  • The worst of them had to be the living bombs (Bakuda/Mechabomb), especially if they were close to the Level Goal portal (since detonating a bomb near those ended in dead enemies being revived, potentially undoing all your work in the level so far).
  • Pakupa, the blue bomb eaters. Not only do they require three hits to defeat, they also render bombs useless by eating them (and they rush towards bombs whenever you set them nearby). If you have no access to remote bombs, your only hope against those things will be an impecable sense of timing.
• Low-Tier Letdown:
  • The yellow Louie in the normal mode of Super Bomberman 3 and Super Bomberman 5. On paper, his power-up looks good for stages (push blocks), but it's impractical since the items vanish from pushed blocks. He's also completely useless for boss battles.
  • The basic Bomberman in the battle mode of Super Bomberman 4 for not having super attacks.
• Narm: "OH I MESSED UP!!" White Bomber sounds more like he got a bad grade on a test than being crushed by something, doesn't he? (Video contains spoilers.)
• Narm Charm: The pre-release cinematic for Super Bomberman R seems to be intentionally going for this with its cartoonish villain, So Bad, It's Good voice acting, and lighthearted tone, and it's a treat.
• Nightmare Fuel: The clown boss from the first game and the sun boss from the second, both for their hyper realistic facial expressions that are the Unintentional Uncanny Valley incarnate.
• That One Boss:
  • The boss of the 4th world in Super Bomberman. You're supposed to push it into the electricity through the force of your explosions. Easy enough if you have max, or at least great, firepower (or perhaps a second player), but extremely difficult if you have anything below. The game also doesn't explain this, meaning it's entirely possible for a player to keep blasting the boss endlessly while unaware that they're not progressing at all.
  • It's not often the first boss in a game is one of these, but Woof Bomber in 5 is almost universally reviled by the fanbase. On paper, it should be a simple boss because it visibly telegraphs where it sets its landmines, and even does a short animation so you have a chance to surround it on both sides with bombs. In practice, this is where the game's Unstable Equilibrium rears its ugly head because this requires you to be able to place two bombs, which you will lose the ability to do if you die even once — and it's very easy to die in this fight because you forgot where Woof Bomber dropped a mine. If the arena's scarce power-ups don't throw you a bone, actually landing a hit on Woof Bomber becomes a massive chore.
  • Most of The Dastardly Bombers in R can be considered this, but Karaoke Bomber in particular has a nasty habit of running up to you and placing her proximity bomb, which is almost always immediately detonated because you're too close. Which can easily kill you while she quickly escapes. Though alternatively, you can easily set her up to be caught in her own blasts within the first few seconds of the fight if you're quick enough and willing to risk losing a life in the process... but then she gets the Elegant Dream out and things only get worse.
  • The Elegant Dream fight from R is a boss that does everything it can to make placing your bombs properly as difficult as possible. You're supposed to land a hit on each of its wings in order to stun it and deal damage, but there are many things going against you. The battle arena is quite big and a large part of the center and the corners are filled with ice blocks^note which means you can't stop or place bombs on them, the mech moves fairly quickly and loves to fake you out while you have limited movement in response, only some of its attacks let you damage to wings, and even when it's stunned you can only barely damage it safely from the opposite side of the arena with max flame (or just take a death and try to damage it faster while you're invincible from respawning). If you get unlucky, you can get stuck in a loop of not being able to hit the wings, then being in the wrong place when it does let you.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Super Bomberman R brings in Pyramid Head, one of the most infamous rapists in gaming history, who originates from what is, on its best day, a Crapsack World. A later update brought in a Bubblehead Nurse to go alongside him.
  • Despite her source game getting a Virtual Console release on the original Wii, it's extremely unlikely that anyone would predict Princess Tomato being added to the roster of R, especially ahead of other, more popular Hudson characters like Milon or Master Higgins.
  • The Jehuty and Anubis ships from Zone of the Enders are also a fairly peculiar choice given their series infamously being overshadowed by Metal Gear Solid 2's demo along with their... questionable cockpit placements.
  • How about Xavier Woods of The New Day showing up?
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: The Bomberman brothers can come off as this in the R duology, since most of them only care about their own interests despite that, you know, the universe is about to be destroyed! White and Red are the notable exceptions to this though, since they are the only ones willing to fight.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: The Green Bomberman in R is fairly easy to mistake for a female character, given his somewhat gender-neutral-sounding voice and his cheek blushes.
• Win Back the Crowd: After the Audience-Alienating Era the series went through in the naughts, especially with Bomberman Act:Zero, Super Bomberman R ended up reigniting interest in the series after it died off post-2010, with many praising it for bringing back a lot of the charm and fun that a lot of the previous games lacked. it helped that it was one of the few launch titles for the Nintendo Switch, whose very large install base helped get it more noticed by the general crowd than it usually would. Despite the Broken Base that was caused after the initial hype, the positive reception was apparently enough for Konami to greenlit Super Bomberman R2

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