Bomberman Dojo

While arsonists are hardly a sector of society that should be venerated, Hudson’s Bomberman character is unquestionably one of the most popular video game icons of all time.

He’s scorched his way through countless games over the past three decades and shows no sign of slowing down - even if the concept of people blowing each other up with bombs isn’t the most politically correct right now.

Bomberman Dojo is one of Hudson Entertainment’s opening salvos on the relatively new Android platform and has been released alongside fellow retro classic Military Madness. The core concept surely needs no introduction - you plant bombs and blow up all the enemies to finish each level.

The unique spin here is that your character has entered the titular Dojo and must prove himself worthy in the eyes of the sagely Master Bobal. The challenge is to clear all of the Dojo’s levels and reach the rooftop, at which point the Master will award you a ‘Bobal Rank’ which reflects your general level of skill.

Once you’re inside, the familiar Bomberman gameplay becomes apparent. Levels contain enemies which must be dispatched in order to reveal the exit.

Power-ups are available which increase (and decrease) your speed, boost the number of bombs you can lay simultaneously, and award additional hit points (unlike previous Bomberman games, you can be hit more than once).

Other items grant the ability to kick bombs along the floor, set remote bombs, which can be detonated at the touch of a button and boost the blast radius of your bombs, making it easier to take out baddies but increasing the danger that you'll be caught in the explosion.

While the gameplay may seem reassuringly familiar, the fact that once you die you get dumped back to the ground floor of the Dojo gives the game a tension. The disappointment of making a needless mistake is understandably amplified.

Aside from the Dojo mode, there’s also the opportunity to create your own levels and share them online with other players. Naturally it’s a two-way street and you can download other user-generated maps to tackle for yourself.

While this kind of interactivity is welcome, we’d rather Hudson had included a proper multiplayer mode instead. Bomberman Dojo is a resolutely single-player affair and those of you that know and love this series will understand how strange that sounds.

Bomberman’s key appeal has always been the fact that it’s one of the best games to play against others - as much fun as the core gameplay undoubtedly is, it doesn’t take long for the solo gamer to become bored.

Bomberman Dojo’s focus on achieving a high score mitigates this issue slightly, but it’s still not enough to completely rescue the game. While we’ll admit that expecting an all-singing, all dancing online multiplayer mode is probably being a bit optimistic, it’s a real shame that the developer couldn’t have included a local wi-fi link-up option. The technology is there, after all.

As it stands, Bomberman Dojo remains an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, but the lack of human interaction results in a somewhat shallow experience.