Format: PlayStation 2
Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment International
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Puzzle
Players: One to Four

Bombastic is a game with more potential than quality. The concept aims high, but ultimately the high level of difficulty and the inconsistent quality of the various game modes limit its appeal to the same narrow group that enjoyed its prequel, Devil Dice. It does a good job of appealing to truly hardcore puzzle fans (and includes all the modes of the original game as unlockable extras), but people who have never felt the need to explain why Tetris Attack was better than Tetris will probably want to find something more friendly.

Previously a bit of a fan favorite among importers under its Japanese name of Devil Dice 2, Bombastic turned a few heads when Capcom quietly announced at E3 2003 that they had picked it up for US publishing. Considering the very limited success of the original Devil Dice (only 50,000 copies shipped, when THQ published it in the US), this came as a bit of a surprise.

With puzzle games, the gameplay is the thing, and Bombastic is devilishly complex. Dice have to be rolled around the play field so that dice with the same value on the top face are adjacent. Once you have the same number of dice together as the value (for example, five dice with a % on top, all next to each other) the dice start burning. After a certain amount of time has passed (depending on the value of the die, longer for high values), burning dice explode, tossing flames a distance equal to the value of the current top face, igniting any dice with values equal to or one less than the value of the top face of the exploding die. Dice are moved by the little baby demon critter protagonist, who walks around on top of the dice and rotates them as it moves. Every time a die moves, it turns, changing the value of the top face of the die. It's possible to move burning dice just like non-burning dice, but if the little cute critter is on them when they explode, it's all over. It's a little easier to learn than it is to describe, but not by a lot.

As a straight puzzle game, in the trial mode, Bombastic manages to deliver, despite the complexity. Setting up combos, where exploding dice ignite other dice, which explode and ignite other dice, and so on, makes for an entertaining challenge in and of itself; keeping the chain going by hopping quickly onto burning dice, positioning them, and getting away is a rather exciting challenge. Unfortunately, actually setting dice up to burn in the first place is quite a chore; players tend up to get exceedingly high scores by lucking into getting the dice burning, or just get blown up in the first minute or so. Late in the game, it's especially easy for the board to fill to the point where it's practically impossible to do anything a long time before the board actually fills up completely, ending the game.

Bombastic's Quest Mode is a change of pace, going from Tetris-style abstract puzzle gaming to trial-and-error Adventure of Lolo-style puzzle gaming. It is an unqualified disaster. All of the stages, save for the widely-spaced boss stages, require no skill and much patience, as almost all of them are solved by blundering into traps, starting over, and not blundering into those traps a second time. The inane story and anemic challenge do little to thrill.

The various extra modes, unlockable by getting high scores in the other mode, add a bit of variety without really changing things. One mode is even the main puzzle mode of the original Devil Dice, where the stakes are a bit lower. Instead of getting blown up in this mode, standing on an exploding die will only strand the little baby devil thing on the ground, where it can be lifted up again by the dice as they rise onto the field. There is a pair of bonus modes as well, but they aren't quite as good as the "Classic" and "Puzzle" modes.

Graphically and aurally, Bombastic doesn't impress, but it is memorable. While the graphics aren't anything amazing, the dice are clear and easy to identify and the Quest Mode stages have a childish charm. The character models are the biggest high point, as the enemies and baby demons are irresistibly likeable. Likewise, the music won't win any awards, but does reinforce the cute air about the game that’s hard to hate. The saccharine atmosphere may alienate some players, but Bombastic never reaches the point of sugar-shock.

In the end, Bombastic limits itself and never escapes those limits. It's complex, it's fiendishly hard, and it's mildly cute, and most players won't get addicted to it because of those qualities. For anyone who takes pride in the fact that they know that Pokemon Puzzle Challenge is the best version of Panel De Pon in the US, or has argued the relative merits of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo compared to Puyo Pop, this may be the challenge they've been craving. But Bombtastic is just for the hardcore puzzlers.


SCORES:

Visual: 8.0 - Attractively minimalist, with occasional cel-shading.

Audio: 5.0 - Strictly functional and little else.

Gameplay: 8.5 - A lifetime to learn, a lifetime to master. If you want a game that takes time to get into, Bombtastic is for you.

Value: 6.5 - There are unlockable modes, but most are worthless.

Final Score: 6 - At the end of the day, the complex gameplay remains only for the hardcore puzzlers. Enter at your own risk.