Oh yeah, and as I mentioned earlier in this topic, the whip-wielding Shiro is named "Indy Bomber" in the character guide. I haven't translated his bio yet though.
EDIT: 7 pages?! 600 posts?! I guess that's an indicator as to how much time I spend here...
lol I have no regrets! I still think another time machine bomberman game would be great to see. I have played 4 far less than most of the titles on the emulator and have not bought it yet, so I feign ignorance. Though I do recall certain time aspects here and there in the series vaguely, I just have different pictures in my head of the new possibilities. The ideas take over like a movie strip running a loop.
Still though, I always have big ideas of what would be sweet to see in visual form even if it isn't practical, will never happen in real life, or is outright impossible. Big dreams for the little bomber.
Indy Bomber. Now, that doesn't seem to be based on anyone else whatsoever. I love the little popular culture references in characters here and there. So much life in them, as when you see them they almost evoke something else even subconsciously. I would love to hear/read interviews from some of the character design people behind these choices, if nothing else to hear their stories. Loaded on sake they might confess "I based Pretty Bomber on a gal I could never get a date with" or "There was going to be a Jack the Ripper Bomber but then we thought it would hurt sales" and other such banter.
Finally scanned the character guide book! And it's only now I discovered it's got some brief gameplay sections at the end. I don't check these books very thoroughly before scanning.
I haven't finished "formatting" the scans, cropping them properly and changing the size; the ones with brackets in their filenames are still as-is for the most part besides some cropping, but I'll probably shrink them all for when they go on the site. Don't worry, I've still got the original full-size 400dpi character artwork saved, I wouldn't shrink those!
Hey, sweet! You know me, first things first... enemy names.
Super Bomberman 3
プラントマン - Plantman
リザ-ドマン - Lizardman (!!! This guy appeared in Bomberman Wars as well !!!)
トレント - Trent
グェ-ル - Gueru (frog monster, I've given this some more thought and perhaps it's a deviation from "gero", or "ribbit")
バスタ-スライム - Basuta Slime (Buster Slime? Bastard Slime? Who knows)
ドラゴンフライ - Dragonfly
コアメカウォ-カ-1 - Core Mecha Walker 1
ロックン - Rockun
ボ-ボ - Bobo ("bo" is the sound of a fire; fire-wheel enemy)
ホークマン - Hawkman (this... this is a bat...)
グレイン - Crimson
カメ-スト-ン - Stone Chameleon
ガーシン - Gashin Crash (bomb eater) 4/11/11
コアメカウォ-カ-2 - Core Mecha Walker 2
シ-バル-ン - Sea Balloon
クラゲダ-ル - Jellyfish [Daru] (ダ-ル is what I'm having trouble on)
ゴーガ - Goga (Unknown; blue creature with cone shell)
イソギンチャック - Sea Anemone
ビイローン - Biiroon (Unknown; gel enemy)
フィッシャ-マン - Fishman
コアメカウォ-カ-3 - Core Mecha Walker 3
ピグミン - Pygmy
コロボックル - Bokkuru Roller (Unsure about "ボックル"; bouncing ball monster)Korobokkuru (little guy that jumps over blocks) 4/11/11
アイスタワ - Ice Tower
アイスタワ-Jr. - Ice Tower Jr. (Wow! They even have an entry for the little guys that break off...)
スノーマン - Snow Man (Yeti)
トドラ - Sea Lion Todora ("todo" means sea lion) 4/11/11
ペンゴ - Pengo (penguin)
コアメカウォ-カ-5- Core Mecha Walker 5
グル-ン - Gurun (Unknown; razor flying, missile shooting robot)
ダッシュ - Dash (rocket thing, actually it's not a shoe)
マシンダ- - Machinda (centipede robots)
ロボイド - Roboido (big punching robot)
ボーン - Bo-n (firey spring robot, name probably has to do with "bo" again)
メガドン - Megadon ("do-n" meaning "impact"; bomb enemy)
We'll continue later.
Last edited by Plasma Bomber on Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:33 pm
I just have to reiterate how much I love these bomberman character names. It brings tears to my eyes. hehe Thank you so much for the continuing work, everyone! I will check those scans later this weekend, Ragey. I imagine they are pretty awesome. :idea:
Do you guys figure Indy Bomber is actually a separate individual or is it Shiro getting in character for ruins exploration?
Anyone else noticed how thin Freezer Venus is in the artwork compared to her in-game sprite?
Zaphe, you told me the name of the alien boss in SBMan2... what of the machine it hides in?
Also I'd like to know the name of the boss in SBMan1 that you have to push into the electrified barriers with bombs. Did you guys notice he has some features in common with bombermen?
And so does that guy in the middle of page 96 (file 49).
Another name I'd like to know, is that of the final boss of Bomberman GB.
Voltron - 2 x Bomberman = Awesome
Speaking of which, I hear you guys got the story of that one. I always wondered whether it was a prequel or if it gives a sensible reason for Kuro to be the enemy again (if it is actually him).
Lastly I see that they are making a mystery out of the final boss for Bomberman GB2... as if it was such a big deal *lol*
_________________ Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."
The SB1 boss in question's name is Mecha Onita. Here's Ragey's page. I used to think he looks like Bigoran, like an improved version.
You know, there's a funny thing... I could have sworn that there was a second, stronger Bigoran-type boss in the game, that was fought in an arena with transparent flooring that you could see clouds passing by, as if you were in an elevator. I still to this day have no idea where that memory came from. Probably from the same place that the other guy got the idea that there was a secret boss in Neo Bomberman.
As for Freezer Venus, well, look at Bakeron. He's a lot thinner in the art too. Also look at how much rounder Bomberman's head is in the sprites. There are two different sprite styles for Pretty Bomber in the game, and both are used. Plus the Fiendish Bombers' colors are not all as they are in the manual.
The last boss in GB2 was that big voodoo head thing, right? If so, I believe it's:
ジャングルヘッド - Jungle Head
Page 113, image 58
Unless I'm mistaken. I think I played through the game once, because the last boss was actually difficult for once.
EDIT: Indy Bomber is a different character, as I had thought (by his appearing in a separate entry). Here's the bio:
The new hero in GB2, Indy. He sets out on a long journey, searching for the secret jewel that makes all wishes come true. However, various enemy characters hinder him, and progressing forward will be difficult!
I have a feeling that GB2 is supposed to be like a movie, especially with the audience appearing on the screen border.
Assume that until proof of the contrary
Did I also miss stuff about the first BMan GB?
So, any clue as to why the name onita? I mean, he's a mecha... what?
No definitely not the jungle head. The last boss was fought indoors.
At the bottom of image 58, after the other bosses, they have a question mark... I suspect that may be pertinent to the final boss.
I do believe you may be on to something with the movie thing. If anything because that ring would solve any future crisis on Planet Bomber
_________________ Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."
I don't know what "onita" means; Ragey actually did the names on this one and I haven't payed much attention to it. "Oni" is an ogre or demon, though, and "Onita" is the name of a Japanese wrestler. Not sure if any of that matters.
Was the last boss of GB2 a machine or something? Can't remember, I'm playing through it again to find out. GB2 was actually a good Bomberman game - it gets difficult! Another thing they got right - resetting the powerups when you reach a new "world" or "area".
As for the ring: actually it's more like a jewel: 玉
Not sure why the translators called it a ring. Maybe they liked Tolkein.
EDIT: Okay, I got to the last boss. Now I remember... it does kind of remind me of the Jungle Head though, with the mask and all.
Ah, too bad. But I did find the name of BManGB1's last boss on Ragey's site: Death Bomber (ZOMG!)
A wrestler, uh? Makes sense since the stage you fight in looks like a wrestling ring with the cords electrified (and you have to shove him into them).
Would you believe I once read a review (on a magazine, not from some random guy on the net) claiming that BMan GB2 was actually too difficult... and attributing that to the time limit?
_________________ Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."
Yeah, I already knew about the GB1 bosses. I never posted a translation because I was unsure of some of them.
...Good grief, with people like that, no wonder Hudson doesn't make very many difficult Bomberman games. The time limit isn't even a problem! I've never run out of time on that game. There are only a few minor complaints I have about the game (because nothing is perfect), but I'll talk about that some other time.
I admit the few translations I've done I just go for straight romanizations; I think I tried to translate the names for the Super Bomberman 4 enemies at first, making the puns work in English and all that, but I decided to stick with what's official rather than just crafting up fanon.
I just noticed that Panic Bomber PCE has a "don't play this in a CD player or it'll totally whack up your speakers" track at the beginning, consisting of banter between Shiro, Baguro and a female voice. I don't know if the track is cut off or not, I'll check with my actual disc at some point (I just converted this from the .mpc file I got with the downloaded version). It's not like we're short of stuff to translate, but if someone's capable of translating audio, here's something to tide you over!
Why do I get music in my head like some gameshow or wrestling main event when I read these character names? It's a pity Hudson never made a card game system like MTG or the Harry Potter line using all these awesome characters from the series of games, available in America. Yes, I have some of the Japanese trading cards (scanned my set on Flickr if you recall). Now that would be a fantastic Flash game. lol That or some manner of bomberman wrestling/fighting game. A fighting brawler with a wrestling board amongst others, plus battle mode of course, and story as well. My mind goes all over the place when I see the staggering array of characters available for such a thing. It's a pity more enemies were never given life as available battle mode characters though. Some of them would have been abusive foes.
Yeah, seems like any non-video-game-merchandise for Bomberman only shows up in Japan, and there's not a lot of documentation on Bomberman enemies, whereas series like Zelda and Megaman even have Wiki pages for the most insignificant enemies.
I'm starting to wonder about the whole "Mami" issue though, since this is the second mummy character we've seen with that name. Maybe it really is supposed to be "mummy" instead of "deceiving spirit".
I can see what you mean. Especially given the way the syllable mu VS ma would be said by a Japanese speaker. Mami being the closet thing to the English sound of the way we say mummy anyways. Lots of fun in translation world. Never a dull moment, eh?
It probably is mummy, even after all I said to the contrary. "Mumi" would be pronounced more like "moomi", whereas in English it would be more like "muh-mi". "Mami" would be close to that... Yeah, I revoke what I said before about both characters.
Well, if given the choice of using mami or mumi to get across the Roman sound (from the perspective of a Japanese speaker), I would have chosen mami too as the Japanese pronounced syllables of "moomi" is close but "maami" is closer. So, it makes more sense the way they did it in these two examples. The ah sound being closer to our u than the oo sound. Too easily confused as something to do with either cows or the moon if it was katakana and without a picture to go along with it. lol