Konami has revealed that a once Japan exclusive Bomberman puzzle game, Panic Bomber W, will be joining the Super Bomberman Collection in a free update. Available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2, the update should be live either right now or in the coming hours.
What is Panic Bomber W? Well, during the ’90s, a big craze for developers was taking a classic series and adapting it to puzzle games. We saw it numerous times over with Puyo Puyo, where the English localization of one installment became Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Even Nintendo got in on the craze by transforming Panel de Pon into Tetris Attack. The same happened with the Bomberman series when Hudson Soft released Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber W for the Super Famicom in 1995. It transposed the plucky bomber’s gameplay to a match four puzzle game not dissimilar to Dr. Mario.
Versions of this game have existed in English before, notably back in 1995 when a bizarre port was released for the Virtual Boy. The Turbografx-16 (PC Engine) version was also released on the Wii U eShop in Europe and North America in 2017. The Super Famicom port, however, has only ever been available in Japan until today’s update to the Super Bomberman Collection. It’s unclear if any localization has been done, though publisher Konami did localize the previously Japan exclusives Super Bomberman 4 and 5 for this compilation.
Where can I play Bomberman on a Nintendo platform right now?
You can currently grab the Super Bomberman Collection on your platform of choice. It comes with eight games now, which include Super Bomberman’s 1-5, the Famicom ports of Bomberman 1 and 2, and now the Super Famicom port of Panic Bomber W.
Check out more Bomberman content
Konami announces Super Bomberman Collection for digital release later today
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
