Bomberman Live: Battlefest

It’s official: Bomberman: Act Zero is never to be spoken of again. 2007’s Bomberman Live on Arcade buried it, selling gangbusters while returning the series to its simple roots: walk around the grid from a top-down perspective, press A to lay bombs, and nuke your foes.

It’s a safe, proven formula that’s being employed again for Bomberman Live: Battlefest. Hudson isn’t shy about admitting that this is largely more of the same, but they’re also quick to point out that it’s packed with new stuff. For starters? A ton o’ new costumes, plus all of the crazy combinations from Live. They’re also adding around 18 to 20 new arenas, including one called “MultiMaze,” in which the solid blocks actually move. And yes, that’s as insane as you’d imagine it to be.

We also tried some of the new game modes. Capture the Flag is a hoot here, particularly because your flag must be at home to score. In VIP, the anointed player has no bombs, and it’s up to his teammates to protect him. Bankroll, meanwhile, is Counter-Strike–ish in that you earn money from kills and buy your powerups before each round, including new items like Rocketbomb (shoots across the map), Barrier Drop (creates a soft wall), and Clusterbomb (explodes into three more bombs).

All told, the emphasis on team-based modes adds a nice new wrinkle to the madness, introducing a welcome bit of co-op flavor. And Hudson says the game should list for the expected — and reasonable — 800 Microsoft Points ($10).