But that looks like a different setting from the original game... does this one have several settings?


I like to think that they are Bombermen designed to work at the BomberBase as justice keepers, modeled after Max. But of course that is just me.
Clearly the original idea was that Max was one of them (not the model on which they were based) but that was before the storyline of Tournament came along.


What's that?


Ain version? Is that blue or red? Changes between those two are simply the starring character (blue Shirobom, red Max) and a few levels.


It's the Super GameBoy border.


Is it? I could have sworn I had heard the term in previous games too (like wasn't the nebula mentioned in the manual for SBMan3?)
Anyway, the really interesting thing about GB3, and the reason I had it translated, would be the villain, Evil Bomber.

_________________
Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."

Aw, I don't have Bomberman GB3, I have the other two but I can't seem to get a hold of a copy of GB3. You guys have really caught my attention with this one now.  


Hm.... perhaps after Max got turned into.... Max.... he joined the BomberBase? Why would he leave Phantarion, because of what he became or something? In any case, it seems like he got so good that he decided to challenge Shiro in Bomberman/Max, it's likely that they didn't know each other very well at that point since Max kind of blends in with those other guys.

Neither blue nor red, Ain. According to wikipedia:


I have seen the ROM before, but did not download it. It was on RomHustler, but now they don't put ESA protected games for download anymore. I did play a fraction of it, but the so-called "online emulator" was slow and had no sound. Thus, I prefer a ROM. I also agree without about the weird-ass dudes in the background, hehe.

I don't know about the setting (since it has no text), but the gameplay, stage size and enemies are mostly the same as NES Bomberman.

About the nebula: well, I don't have the SBM3 manual. I've always wanted it, but never could put my hands on since the store I used to buy games didn't have it (at least not with the manual). Thus, to me, it was the first one. Sorry if I was wrong, hehe'. Also, the villain's original name was Devil Bomber. I don't know why it changed to "Evil" in the translation, but both do, I guess.

Thanks for the info on the border, Duke!

Wait.... so then Devil Bomber is the guy that appears in the final, secret world of Bomberman Hero! It must be! Nobody else could figure that out, probably because Bomberman GB3 wasn't released here.

I've never got that far, but I've seen screenshots before and when I tried to find out who he was (since he recognizes Bomberman from before), anywhere he was mentioned it was because other people were trying to determine the same thing.  

Yes, that is certainly the case.


While the two versions are called Blue Champion and Red Challenger (and this only outside of Japan), later games make it evident that Max, not Shirobom, is considered the most skilled veteran at the Bomberbase. In light of this, Max would have been a well known celebrity, and his challenge to Bomberman would be seen as a recognition of Bomberman's skills and merits.
This portrayal may appear rather stupid of Hudson, but not all that surprising. In videogame franchises it is all too typical to not give the main characters the recognition they deserve. Just as Shirobom has saved the world several times (the whole freaking universe in fact) prior to Bomberman Max, so had X prior to Megaman X 5, and yet in that game Capcom made Zero start as a Class S (special) hunter while X was a lowly B.


By settings I did not mean story, I meant stages. In the original Bomberman, the whole game took place in a maze with gray blocks and green floor. Does the cell-phone game only have one setting too? Or several?


No problem. Anyway, persoanlly I always assumed Nebula to be a misused word like Star in Hero (which uses it in lieu of planet), meaning instead solar system. According to BMan GB3, Owen would be its eleventh planet... interestingly, judging by looks alone, Owen would seem to be one of the planets from Bomberman 93.


Well, it's fairly obvious why Hudson changed Devil to Evil in the translation of Bomberman Hero. Can't have the devil (or anything related to it) show up in a game for kids here in the west, can we? Clearly children would start worshipping him, nevermind that the objective in the game is to annihilate him.
As for why we chose to change the name in Bomberman GB3, I insisted on this for the sake of consistency. The reference is obscure enough as it is.


...see? That's what I meant. And why I was so adamant about changing it to Evil in the GB game too. Apparently that still wasn't enough, but I guess that's because hardly anybody bothered to play the GB3 game, let alone with our translation patch.

_________________
Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."

....How is Max so popular though?   He left Phantarion, where he was popular, and they don't know where he is anymore.... oh Hudson Soft, you card.

Another blow to consistency, as it is clearly evident that Bomberman was around beating up Kurobon and saving the world long before the Five Bad Bombers were even brought together, and then of course Shiro defeated them twice leaving them floating in space for an undetermined amount of time. Then they would have had to be revived a third time (how, we don't know), not to mention travel to Phantarion and start trouble, then Max would drive them off and become Bomber-ized, then he'd have to retreat in agony of himself for another undetermined amount of time before deciding to even join the Bomberbase. Shiro has many, many years of Bomber-style experience over Max, even if Max was a soldier longer than Shiro was a.... galactic peace-keeper.

Then think about this - Shirobon defeated the Five Bad Bombers three times, and emerged healthy and victorious. Defeated them, leaving them unconcious the first two times and the third time apparantly causing them to retreat. Max was barely able to drive them off of his planet with his life, then years later when they returned and he tried to fight them again, he got wiped out clean. Let me explain the series of events for poor Max in the beginning of Bomberman Story:
Max hears about the FBB returning to Phantarion. Probably angry, he goes down there and talks to some of the people, who don't recognize him. I can't remember all of the text, but it never clearly states if he faced Magnet or Pretty Bomber, but he gets to Plasma Bomber and is knocked out with one single blow, then taken to Brain Bomber and possessed.

Shiro then has to go stop the Five Bad Bombers, which he succeeds in doing so, of course. By the time Shiro gets to Fantasy, the entranced Max has been diligently constructed a huge frickin death machine for Brain Bomber to pilot, and would have been completely finished if Bomberman had gotten there just a few hours later. Then he has to be saved by Shiro.

I know you know all of this, I'm just laying it all out to see how much more powerful and skilled Bomberman is than Max. Max is like the ancient hero who succeeded in driving off some demon from the village while sacrficing himself, while Bomberman is the guy who lives there a couple centuries later when the demon returns and slays that thing.

Surely Hudson Soft must at least realize this by the time they had released Bomberman Story....
Most likely, they didn't.  


Ohh, I understand now.

Devil Bomber seems to have some kind of connection to Bagular, since he watches him get beaten by Bomberman and knows his name. Maybe that web site Shiro mentioned took that information from the original manual? Who knows.

Where did he get those wings though?   Oh well, I guess for a guy who can get really frickin huge, anything is possible.

Max is popular among the people at the BomberBase, who do not know about his past life as a human knight in Phantarion. I would assume he joined the BomberBase before Bomberman did, which would help explain why he is considered "top ranking" so to speak.


Ah but we don't know that: we can't tell if the five of them were cybered up by Bagular just prior to SBMan2. They could have been around a long time before clashing with Shirobom. Playing Tournament it did seem to me like the people talking about Knight Max were speaking of a long time ago.


I'd like to agree, but again we don't know. In most games Shirobom acts on his own (just consider what is probably his most epic adventure, BMan 64 2nd attack. He saved the universe but it all occurred within a black hole. Who do you think would give him recognition for it?), and we never get to freely wander around the Bomberbase and meet everyone in it. So far all we know, Max could have been there all along since before Bomberman 93.


Yeah I know. I would say Max most likely acknowledges this too (especially after Tournament). It's just the rest of the guys at the Bomberbase that don't know any better *lol*


Yeah, it seems Evil Bomber was the one that brainwashed Nitros into reviving Bagular (couldn't be Bagular since he, uh, needed reviving) and he was planning to exploit the chaos this would unleash to his own ends.
What website, anyway?

_________________
Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."

Cahem, I'm back.

I agree with Duke Serkol in regards to the Five Dastardly Bombers being "cybered up" long before they were beaten by Shirobon. Because you see, to me they look like galactic conquerors with that freaking huge spaceship that even has Disneyland on it.

However, I do not agree with the theory that Max may be at it longer than Shirobon or may be more famous than him (although this one is possible). When Shirobon defeats the Five Dastardly Bombers for the first time, he achieves recognition (at least from other bombers) when he goes back to Earth. On SBM3, he leaves the Bomber Base in order to solve the problem in those planets that Bagular took over. Problem solved, he goes back to the base and is praised there (as clearly shown in the ending). I do agree that main characters usually don't get the recognition they deserve (although Zero in one of my favorite characters in Megaman, surpassing the blue hero himself), but I'd say that is a little forced there. You are right that Bomberman sometimes acts alone in places that no one would never even heard of, but he doesn't in, for instance, most of the SNES series (except for 4). Also, in all games that includes Max, Bomberman is sent on the same mission as him, and I understand that as a proof that they are on the same level (although personally I find that someone as Max, who can't even beat Brain Bomber, being on the same level as the Bomberman we played for so long, saving the universe while eating cheetos and drinking coke, isn't really right). Max, as Zaphe pointed, is kinda useless, anyway. He may have been good with a sword, one day in a distant past while being Knight Max of Phantarion, but with a bomb, he clearly sucks. The battle against him was even easier than SBM2's Brain Bomber's battle! One would think he's famous because of... His cool looks, maybe? Lol! Okay, okay, I'll stop messing with him. I think Max had his moments but passed of as a not-so-strong (in reality, really weak) character in Bomberman Tournament, but in fact the Five Dastardly Bombers are indeed very strong in a way Max can't possibily beat them (despite Bomberman doing it twice before unscathed). Maybe Shirobon is just too strong, haha.

And... I see. I think I understand about Devil Bomber now. Also, I didn't know it was you guys that made the translation! That's a nice thing, you know. The site was Hudson's official GameNavi about Bomberman GB 3, seen here. I must reiterate that my japanese is basic, so I may have said something stupid based on my translations there. Sorry, sorry!

[EDIT]: May I ask a favor? Could you clarify what happens in Bomberman Hero, please? I'm not much of a fan of this game since it differs in gameplay from the rest of the series, and thus I finished it only once, a long, long time ago, and don't really want to do it again. While I do remember the overall plot and what happened in the end, I'm not exactly sure and thus may fail on arguments over this matter. Thanks!

In regards to the cellphone game: it has various stages. I've heard it was a port of NES Bomberman and despite the graphical differences, I still think that is what it is, but now that you said that, I'd need to check. Since the cell isn't mine, it may take a while, so I hope you don't mind.

A spaceship that suspiciously resembles Altair's in design, don't you think?
But one has to wonder about the giant floating eye alien mastermind... an associate of Bagular perhaps?


You mean because Kurobom and his subordinates are waiting to stop his fall? He befriended them in SBMan1.


Yep. No arguing that. I said he works on his own most of the time, not all of the time.


But in Tournament Max is sent first. Shirobom is only involved when contact is lost with Max. Kind of like Super Joe and Rad Spencer in Bionic Commando.
On a side note, why the heck was the game called Bomberman Story since it gives Max's story? It should have been "Bomberman - Max Story" *lol*


And I agree. But that doesn't change Hudon's potrayal of him. It annoys me too, but (probably because of Bomberman's more loose continuity) not as much as Capcom's veneration for Zero. I used to be a fan of Zero until X4 when they took away his buster and made him the starring character (he IS. X's plot is contained within Zero's...).
With Max, Hudson seems to have done the same thing: "let's forget that the starring character has saved the world countless times and introduce a previously unseen figure he can look at as a older more experienced version of himself to inspire players in striving to make Bomberman as cool as him!"
No, I'm not a big fan of Max either, but hey, we're not the ones making the games, Hudson is, so what they say goes.


You're welcome  


Ah yes. Nice artworks uh?  


Ok, Bomberman Hero...
Another artificial planet shows up. It belongs to the "Garaden Empire" and launches an attack on most Planets in the Bomber Nebula (wisely omitting Planet Bomber). Queen Millian tries to escape from her planet, Primus, in order to request help, but she is captured.
Meanwhile Bomberman is training at the Bomberbase, and Kurobom is being a douche as usual (kidding, but it annoys me that he flies off without saying anything only to show up in the end). Bomberman is then ordered to investigate a crash and find Millian's robot servant who goes R2D2 on our Luke Skywalker. Bomberman departs for Primus intent on finding Millian to save her, and recover the hidden mysterious disks she has been apparewntly kidnapped for. The disks are located on various planets in the system and competing with Bomberman to find them is Nitros, an enemy Bomber with the power to whisk Bomberman into another dimension called Adok. Speaking of which, Bomberman also finds strange "adok bombs" scattered all over the game (even in the Bomber Base :o)
Eventually Nitros manages to trick Bomberman and steal the disks. Bomberman chases him to the Garaden artificial planet, but can't stop him from using the disks to revive Bagular (maybe the alien from SBMan2 was a representative of the Garaden Empire?). When Nitros is defeated, he turns out to have been a newbie from Bomberbase that had been brainwashed. Finally Bomberman confronts Bagular and defeats him in an epic battle, but Bagular makes the whole place explode... not really accomplishing anything since Bomberman escapes unharmed.
At this point, with Millian saved and Begular dealt with, everything seems resolved but if all Adok bombs were collected, Evil Bomber reveals himself as the mastermind of this evil plot, and a bunch of asteroids named Gossick appear on the farthest edge of the solar system. Bomberman heads there and Evil Bomber whines to him about the removal of his precious Adok bombs (which supposedly helps linking him with the Adok empowered Nitros). They fight, Bomberman wins, everybody's happy.


No prob.

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Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."

I see. A young Padawan, Shirobon is not. May the Force be with you, lol! Thanks for that.

Yes, nice artworks indeed. Speaking of artworks, if you find any (specially if they contain the Five Dastardly Bombers), would you bother to send them to me? You see, I'm a collector, but Bomberman has an amazingly short supply of official artwork (of course, there are the manuals, but I don't have most of them) or even fanarts (I have only found one site that had good Bomberman fanart, a japanese one, and while it wasn't -that- good, the guy was a little crazy on his knees). I'd thank you a lot if you did.

And... Hey, I had never thought about that! Although the Five Dastardly Bombers' base is more of a cybernetic one, they indeed are similar, but I think that's just a coincidence or perhaps a lack of ideas by Hudson. About the giant floating eye... I think that was a subordinate of Bagular, since it was proven by the "B" on Golem Bomber's belt that Bagular indeed created them. He must have had someone on watch in case his all-powerful cyborgs rebelled (if the "kidnapped humans" theory is taken valid, maybe he thought they could regain their feelings, memories or something like that and then side with Bomberman).

Hm, maybe (just maybe) Max was sent first because Phantarion is his home planet? I was thinking that, if you wanted to join the Bomber Base, you'd have to tell people there where did you come from and such, right? I mean, what kind of stupid base would let unknown people join? About the title... Agreed! But it may be based on the fact that Bomberman is participating a story, y'know?

Well, the SB2 manual clearly states that the Five Bad Bombers were "created" to capture the original Bomberman. Meaning their main goal was to capture Shiro, thus the need for that huge ship since Bagular obviously knew that Shiro was a tenacious one by his previous encounter in Bomberman '94. The events on Phantarion are Brain Bomber's maniacal plot, seemingly.

However, you may be right about Max joining the Bomberbase before Shiro, as we don't see Dr. Ein commanding Bomberman until Bomberman Max, so it's possible that he worked for other organizations beforehand. However, Max couldn't have been working for Bomberbase before SB3.


It's possible that Max was sent to Phantarion in Bomberman Story because that's his home planet, but I doubt it. Also, if you've seen Bomberman Jetterz, Max is a villain who is hired by Bagular, and Bagular doesn't really know anything about him except that he's allegedly a bounty hunter.

But Bagular is remarkably different than a "good" organization like the Bomber Base, don't you agree? I mean, villains will hire even mutant poop if they promise to eliminate the target! Plus, I don't think Jetters is canon with the games (since Max obviously isn't a villain).

Ooooh, I want those manuals! ;___; So much valuable information...!

Admittedly that is probably the msot likely explanation. But I still like to think that they pilfered the same shipyard  


Subordinate, associate... what I'd like to know is where it is that this guy has come from *lol*


No, in the game it comes to the player (and therefore, we should assume, to Bomberman) as a revelation that Max was originally from Phantarion so that clearly was not known previously. It is conceivable that Ein knew and did not tell Bomberman, but that seems out of character I think.


The Maverick Hunters Headquarters? (Sigma: "I have recovered this mysterious red maverick for studying" Cain: "Let's enlist him as a hunter!" Sigma:  )
Alas, that is the way of Japanese games and anime.


I think Bomberman received instructions from Ein in Saturn Bomberman. Also Ein may be the scientist in 93 (allegedly Bomberman's creator) but in that occasion it seemed more of a personal business thing anyway (with Kurobom kidnapping... his niece?)
For the records, Bomberman Hero was (afaik) the first time we heard of a Bomber Base, but the third GB game was the first in which Bomberman was said to hold some rank.
Oh and I forgot to mention Gossick is most likely the lower part of Owen, where Evil Bomber lives in GB3 and which crumbles away after his defeat.


And why would that be the case?


Eh, I was trying to avoid bringing Jetters into this because of how controversial that series is, with most people considering it a separate continuity. I still have not seen the whole series (and would like to avoid spoilers), so I can't give an honest opinion on that.

_________________
Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."

I, too, would like to keep avoiding to bring Jetters into this discussion. Thanks.

While I concur that it was most likely the first time Bomberman heard Max was from Phantarion, I find very possible that his superiors (namely Ein or someone else) knew about his past. It would give him the right reasons to join the Bomber Base ("to defeat the Five Dastardly Bombers who invaded my planet and turned me into this") and I think Ein could understand that little. It would also explain his lack of interest depicted in some games. After all, following the way of Japanese games and anime, there is always someone who knows everything but keeps quiet about it, hehe! And yes, Dr. Ein appears in Saturn Bomberman.

[EDIT]: Oh, I was playing through Bomberman Tournament again, and... I wish there was a soundtrack somewhere. The music that plays when you face Brain Bomber is amazing! I had forgotten about it, lol.

Gr, I hate it when I'm misinterpreted!  

I said Bagular hired Max in the Jetters series because it was an example of a base hiring an unknown person. It had nothing to do with canonicity, which Jetters is clearly in its own timeline.

The alien from the end of SB2 is, I believe, just some kind of monster that powers Plasma Bomber's machine, the machine itself being likened to some kind of tricked out saddle. I really don't think it has any other purpose, other than possibly being sent by Bagular to keep watch over the FBB in case they rebelled. Therefore, it could be the culprit of the assassination attempt on Plasma Bomber, but probably under orders. Or, Bagular could have remotely controlled the arrow from afar, who knows, the guy can do almost anything except fly through the air... oh wait, he can do that too.  


As I said, the FBB were brought together specifically for the purpose of kidnapping Bomberman and bringing him back to Bagular, therefore they would have no reason to be out exploring the galaxy.... it's in the SB2 manual. As soon as they're back to life again in SB3, they have no time to rest before they're sent out to that ring of planets.


Yeah, I wondered about that.... silly Shirobon, he let it crumble away the first time, D/Evil Bomber survived, then when he defeats him again he just flies off. Should have blown the frickin things into stardust! Now he'll just be back again, and since the first time he was tall, the second he was short and skinny, next time he'll be big and fat.

Altair's ship was just his own fortress (or one he stole, who knows) with chunks of the planets he drained attached by chains, and those were just for defense to keep the shield up. He actually had a pretty good idea going there, unfortunately he only had four planet chunks by the time he reached Bomber Planet and he didn't even have anybody to guard Green Garden. Figures.

Bomberman Story music is floating around the internet, I had some of them on my old hard drive... by the way my computer is screwy now.  

But that's kind of lame for a final boss  


According to the manual, they claim to have been built by aliens with the purpose of conquering the universe and to have come to Planet Bomber to capture Bomberman. So their mission to Phantarion (and possibly others) could have been early attempts to extend dominion over the universe, before going to fetch BMan.


Nonethelss it is similar in concept.

_________________
Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."

Sorry for the off-topic.
Okay, this topic already went off-topic.
You guys have a whole Forum to discuss about Bomberman in general, but disorganizedly stick into one topic!
Come off it!

...It's not like we have been causing any harm, we are actually helping to keep this place alive, and it was the one who made this topic that renamed it because he was happy with the way it has taken.

But hey, if Shiro wants to split/create new topics, I'll be just as happy to respond to those.

_________________
Metroid: Other M - As in "There's the good Metroid games... we chose to do one of some Other Make altogether."

Yeah, I can see how active this place is getting.
But "Bomberman discussion" is not a good subject for a whole Forum.
It looks more like a "Video-games in general Forum" subject, not a Bomberman Board subject, as it was supposed to be discussed on the way of other threads.

Ehh.... have you read the whole topic?

We're basically trying to establish links between all the Bomberman games, because as many have said before, the Bomberman series is very disjointed at parts.

So this really is a topic in its own. >_>

Anyway....


Yeah, lol.



I guess it's possible, but I really, really doubt it. I think that Bagular gave up on the FBB, I mean, the only other time he interacts with them is when he tries to get Pretty Bomber back, so clearly at least one of them has betrayed their own master. So, I think the Phantarion mission was Brain Bomber's idea, think about it - Plasma Bomber was most likely picked by Bagular as their leader. After being seperated from Bagular, Brain Bomber, as the genius, would find a way to edge his way into that role. This would make sense as to why he's the chief villain in Bomberman Story.


This is true. I made that connection when I saw it in one of Sora's drawings, and natural reaction told me it was the FBB ship but then I realized it was Altair's.