I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I could bomb shit while I was on the train. (Japan Rail toilets don’t count.) That’s why I was so pleased to see Anytime Bomberman （いつでもボンバーマン）
in the DSi store. For a mere 500 Nintendo points you can have hot bomb action on your DSi. Problem is, it’s a pretty weak Bomberman.

Anytime Bomberman has solo, ad-hoc wireless, and online multiplayer. In multiplayer modes, up to eight people can get together on boards that can take up both of the DS’s screens. You can do 2-8 players on local multiplayer, but the limit is 4 for online matches. It’s got most of the usual Bomberman power-ups, but not a kangaroo in sight. The online games matched me up rather quickly, and you can choose regional or worldwide player matching. The game was lag-free and rematches loaded quickly. Random matches have a fixed rule set, but matches with friends (that you need friend codes to hook up with) can be customized with lots of options. As a multiplayer experience, it’s a great value for 500 points. And because it’s a DSi game, you can actually connect through WPA.

Bad part is, the solo stuff is boring. There’s no campaign mode. It’s just straight-up bot matches against the CPU, and nothing in-between matches to create a sense of cohesion. I never thought I’d say it, but Bomberman needs a story. Hudson seems to think it’s okay because this is a different kind of Bomberman game. It’s low-cost, and they even say on their site that Anytime Bomberman’s single-player mode if “perfect for practice.” They obviously see people buying this game mostly for multiplayer, and they have a point. The best part of Bomberman has always been the multiplayer games with your friends. But every time I play a Bomberman game that isn’t Bomberman 94 for PC-Engine, I’m just disappointed.

Overall, if you like Bomberman, and especially if you have friends who would buy the game, you could get a lot of gaming for 500 points. However, if you don’t have any Bomberman-fan friends, or if you have no patience for anything less than the highest quality of Bomberman games, Anytime Bomberman might seem like a dud to you.