Bomberman Land review

Contrary to the way most companies handle multi-platform releases, Hudson likes to make sure that every version of Bomberman Land is unique. Unfortunately, that's bad news for PSP owners. This rendition of Bomberman Land is basically just a fleeting collection of single-player minigames packaged together with a multiplayer battle mode that's similar to the one that was included with the PSP's previous Bomberman game.

Other installments of the Bomberman Land lineage have provided a few multiplayer minigames. The PSP version doesn't. Granted, there's a good mix of button thrashers here. You'll shoot at things, you'll drive cars, you'll play minigolf... you'll even attack ninjas. And the 3D visuals sure make the dirt, grass, and water look nice. But, ask yourself this: How many hours can you honestly kill playing minigames alone?

As it is, unlocking minigames is downright painful. There's nothing wrong with the concept of collecting pieces to rebuild a theme park, and watching the bulbous Bomberman characters interact with each other in 3D is nice, but they're too freaking chatty! Some will give you a park piece after spouting a few lines. Some will talk your ear off before telling you to go fetch a specific item. Others will put you through a multiple choice conversation that you have to start over if you make one incorrect guess. Because of all the dialogue, it'll take you a solid 15 minutes before you've unlocked your first minigame and roughly an hour just to earn a dozen of the rest.