Being the Bomberman fanatic I am, I volunteered immediately to cover Bomberman Generation for GameCube. Although I had to hike around to find Majesco’s booth (who are publishing), it was totally worth it to spend some time with this game. The Bomberman series just keeps getting better and better, and Generation stands to be yet another milestone in the franchise. Exclusive to the GameCube, Bomberman Generation is a cel-shaded 3D adventure combined with many multiplayer modes.

The game’s story opens at the Bomberbase with Bomberman polishing a bomb. Suddenly, a call comes in from Professor Ein, who reports that the HIGE HIGE Bandits attempted to steal 6 vital bomb elements and in doing so, spread the elements across the planet Tentacalls. Prof. Ein asks Bomberman to go down to the planet to retrieve the items before the Bandits, and says that he’ll send Bomberman MAX down too.

The single player game plays very similar to Bomberman’s previous outings in 3D. He can lay down bombs, kick them and pick them up. Regular bombs are used for bombing enemies, blowing up vases, knocking over trees or over turning rocks. You can also pick up a bomb and charge it up, causing a devastating explosion. This is especially helpful for destroying large obstacles that block Bomberman’s path. A button lays a bomb and picks it up again to charge it. The L and R buttons control the camera, and it works very well. The ability-granting Charabom creatures are back, though I didn’t encounter any during the time I played.

The cel-shaded graphics are bright and crisp and the look really suits the series well. I really enjoyed the music in Bomberman Tournament, and am happy to report the music in Generation is similarly cute, quirky and enjoyable.

Although the single-player adventure is fun naturally, 4-player multiplayer is the real draw for Bomberman fans. Luckily, this time around there’s a handful of variations on the classic. Alongside Standard Battle, there’s Reversi Battle, Coin Battle, Dodge Battle and Revenge Battle. Here’s a quick break down on each multiplayer mode:

Standard: The Bomberman multiplayer you (should) know and love. Obliterate obstacles, collect power ups and attempt to blow up your opponents. When a player is blown up, he is taken out of the game and can attempt to get revenge from a UFO outside the battlefield by throwing bombs in. All the classic power ups are back, along with a new one: a boxing glove that can swat away a bomb by hitting the X button.

Reversi: Instead of trying to blow up your opponents, the objective is to use bombs to change tiles to your color. Whoever has the most tiles in their color wins. You can die and return to the battlefield, though it seems you lose the last set of tiles you changed to your color when it happens.

Coin: Here the objective is to collect the most coins. Coins appear randomly, when you blow up objects or defeat opponents. Once again, you can die and return, but you lose all of your coins when doing so.

Dodge: In this mode, players cannot lay down bombs and instead must avoid bombs that drop from the sky. Power-ups appear and can be used to move bombs however. Last man standing wins.

Revenge: Here, all players start in the revenge UFOs from the sidelines. In the battlefield, several mole-like creatures in sunglasses pop up from the ground and must be destroyed. Yes folks, it’s Bomberman WHACKAMOLE! Moles will appear in rows, and

though it’s hard to hit some of them from the sides you can bounce bombs off their heads, stunning them momentarily. There’s also a Bomberman icon, which will transport you to the battlefield if you can hit it with one of your bombs for close up mole detonation. Whoever destroys the most moles will emerge victorious.

The winner of the round can play a soccer mini-game for a chance to win a power up, with the other players stand in the goal trying to block the kick & shield the power ups. If the player succeeds in obtaining a power up, they’ll start with it during the next round of battles.

Bomberman multiplayer has always been fun, but all these new modes are great and secure this one’s destiny as a fantastic party game. Bomberman Generation comes out June 5th, so if you’re a fan, don’t hesitate to reserve a copy ASAP!