Putting the word bombastic in the name of your game is always going to be brave. There's a lot to live up to in those three syllables, and if the game doesn't manage it you're going to be in trouble. Luckily, for the most part, Bombastic Brothers just about lives up to its name.
There are a few niggles here and there, and some soft paywalls that require you to cough up or just put the game down, especially when you're deeper into the experience. But the action here is some of the best I've seen in a mobile shooter for a good long time.
Shades of Metal Slug cover everything, and in my humble opinion that's never a bad thing. It doesn't have the arcade perfection of SNK's classic blaster, but there's enough fun here that you're still going to enjoy your time with Bombastic Brothers.
Bombing along
The game is an action platformer that sees you playing one of a number of gun-toting characters. There are different classes, and you'll unlock more as you play along. Whoever you're playing as though, the idea is the same - shoot everything and don't get shot.There are a number of different challenges on offer here - a story mode sees you working your way through steadily harder levels, peppered with huge boss fights, rocket-riding sections, and more. Daily missions give you single-screen, wave-based battles to try and complete.
You get crates when you complete missions, and inside of those you'll find new gear. Stick it on your team and they'll get tougher, getting them ready for the difficulties ahead. You'll need to upgrade them as well, using dog tags that you're rewarded as you fight.
There's also a PvP mode, although it's not the most exciting. Two teams of three face off across a small arena, but you don't have any control - the game essentially decides who wins based on the stats of the fighters involved. It's a good way to get decent gear, but it's also a bit drab after the first fight.
It's a shame, because the rest of the experience explodes with primary colours in the best kind of way. Dodging bullets with a double jump before dropping a special move, popping on a shield, and then taking out everything that's still moving on the screen is an exhilarating mixture of skill and luck.
Different enemies have different patterns of attack, which is great when you're fighting them one on one, but once there's more than a few on the screen you're going to be jumping and running your way through storms of bullets from every angle.
Do you even bomb bro?
No, the game doesn't reach the heights of its inspirations, but it manages to do them justice for the most part. It's not going to replace any of them in your estimations, but there's a good chance that it's going to stick around on your homescreen for a decent long while. Click here to check out all the mobile and Switch reviews in our reviews sectionBombastic Brothers review - "A bright and brutal cartoon shooter"
A bright and noisy action platformer that, apart from a few little problems, is really, really good
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.