Super Bomberman 3 is a 1995 platform action video game and the third game in the series. It is such a good game and a great addition to the series.
The gameplay once again consists of normal and battle mode. Let’s talk about the former first. There are five worlds here, each with four levels. The first world is the weakest and most forgettable one, but the second one is such a great world with the mining setting wonderfully put to use with some excellent level design and of course great enemies and excellent difficulty level.
The aqua levels in the third world are not as memorable, but are still so much fun, albeit the boss is somewhat stupid. The fifth world is the first one which is truly great. Not only is its Egyptian setting beautiful to behold with some great character design, but it is very difficult and sometimes frustratingly so which makes it wonderful.
The fifth world is excellent as well. The icy levels are a blast to play but it is the enemies that are the highlights here with some clever movements and quite stupendous difficulty. And of course all of them don’t matter in comparison to the final, sixth world. It is the last world but the one which, unlike the others, cannot be accessed by cheats and has to be beaten all at once. That makes it difficult naturally, but it is the opponents that make it frustrating! They are so well made and it is interesting how many of them have to be bombed at least twice to be destroyed and that was super hard. But the level design is great and also not easy. It is most certainly the hardest and the most entertaining world in Super Bomberman 3.
But the last boss is excruciatingly hard! It was maddening to me. It has to be beaten once which is difficult, but then you get another fight when it comes into a robot and that robot is so frustrating with its many missiles and weapons. It isn’t quite as difficult as the last boss in ‘Super Bomberman 2‘, but it is definitely near that level as he is so hard and it took me hours to beat him! Not to mention the fact that the whole world has to be played just to get to him as there are no cheats.
Once again, the previous bosses fail in comparison to the last one. Not only are they much weaker, but also much less memorable. But the character design is great, the enemies are excellent and the levels are really well imagined and the worlds are diverse. The score is really good as are the sound effects. As for the graphics, it is an interesting experiment. It is a throwback to the previous Bomberman games, especially ‘Mega Bomberman’ and that differentiates it from other entries in this franchise. And although that choice was weird, I appreciated it in the end as I liked that old-fashioned graphics in the first place. It is colorful and really pleasant to watch. It is technically a solid game.
As for battle mode, this is where it shines. Not only is normal mode great, but the battle mode is also really good. Most are great. The first, fourth and eighth zones respectively are lacking, but others are excellent with the second one being really inventive, the fourth one being very entertaining and the ninth one being so interesting and different from the rest. But the tenth zone named Swamp Boogie is without a doubt the standout as it is incredibly demanding. It took me hours to beat it! And although the rest are pretty easy, that one is so hard not only for its annoyingly difficult design, but also because the opponents are so good. Yes, interestingly enough, the A.I. in Super Bomberman 3 is really good. It is of course not as good as when you play with real people, but it sometimes comes close as they can be a nuisance and they can make some really clever movements and decisions. And that really took me by surprise.
When comparing it to the previous games, Superb Bomberman 3 just might be the best one yet because it has the modes which are both great. It is better than ‘Super Bomberman’ even in the Battle Zone and it is overall even better than ‘Super Bomberman 2′ as it is more diverse and at times more difficult. It is such a great entry in the series and I really hope the next two are going to be the same.
Super Bomberman 3 is nice to look at, really addictive and so fun. Both modes are well crafted, the opponents are great and the boss is superb which are all the reasons why it just might me the best entry in the series yet. Such a fun and demanding experience.
