🌏 Received: November 16th, 2024 🌏
🌏 Written: May 14th-June 7th, 2026 🌏
Published by: Hudson Soft | [ ⬤ ]
Hello, gamers and readers alike, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it!
Images from MobyGames
Screengrabbed while watching Paul Eales' Mahō Daisakusen 1CC video on YouTube
Raizing's inaugural title would come in the form of the vertically scrolling arcade shoot'em up Mahō Daisakusen, released outside Japan as Sorcer Striker, mere months after its founding published by Able Corporation. This game wound up being the start of a trilogy which would be followed up by the immediate sequel Shippū Mahō Daisakusen Kingdom-Grandprix the next year handled by Eighting which would receive a home console port on the Sega Saturn. For their next game, Raizing would try their hand at something different: the puzzler genre.
Image from GameFAQs
was ready to release Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World for the Super Famicom on March 1st, 1995, less than two full months prior to Super Bomberman 3. Unlike these three games which saw a localization in one form or another this spinoff sadly remained a Japan exclusive, much like the majority of games under the Bomberman: Panic Bomber moniker.
Left: Shiro Bom begins his world travels by heading to Jamaica | Right: Got two combos in a row
In the falling block puzzler Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World you are given a preview of the three-piece blocks or a bomb each time which you can move left and right as it moves down inside the left playing field, speed up the dropping process by holding down and/or the direction you aim for, rotate the current maneuverable piece clockwise by pressing the A or X buttons or counterclockwise with the B or Y buttons (for which you can reverse the controls by alternating it to the Type B control scheme in the options screen if you feel like changing it
Left: Dropping down a big bomb to cause some serious damage to Ballom | Right: You won!
up from the default Type A). The goal is to offset and overwhelm the opposition on the right side by flooding one or both of the middle columns before it happens to you. By connecting three or more pieces matching in color (be it horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or unusually formed so long as it is connected) you'll be able to make them vanish, and depending on how things got set up on your end after the fact you can increase your chances by adding in a combo or two. This would cause the opposition's playing field to become filled up a bit, not
Left: The next opponent is Kurin | Right: One set of three blue Bom heads matched up and taken out
just with regularly colored pieces but by bombs as well. Every now and then you'll be a given a bomb which you can place in any spot that is dormant, and sometimes you'll be given a bomb with a lit up fuse that's on the verge of blowing up any nearby bomb or collection of bombs to amass a lot of damage (unless it falls on or near a bomb with a face on it). Initially the bomb blast radius starts off small, just like in a traditional Bomberman game, but over time as you level up the blast radius will increase in length and potency. Each time a match
Left: Three combos in a row and your gauge is filled up | Right: Let's drop another big bomb as Kurin panics left and right
begins the pieces you're given will drop down at a slow rate with enough control and maneuverability for you to manage, but the longer you withstand it the pieces will drop at a faster rate and become more difficult to control. Once thing you'll notice is a gauge beside each playing field, with each placed puzzle piece and bomb filling it up bit by bit, for the moment it becomes full you'll be given a large bomb to drop down which will blow away any and all pieces it comes into contact with which in turn will free up room for you to maneuver
Left: Time to compete against the first of the World Bombers, Rasta Bomber | Right: His bombs are shaped like maracas 🪇
future pieces and bombs. Each country you visit has got three enemies in it, with the last among them being a World Bomber. By winning against the World Bomber and liberating them from their brainwashing, you will be accorded a simple four-digit password which will take you to the start of the subsequent country should you pick up from your progress at a later point. Should either of the middle two columns be flooded on your end you will lose and be given the option to continue which will start the current match anew.
Left: BOOM!!! | Right: I absolutely adore the interior playing field image of Shiro Bom swimming with a dolphin, it's so endearing 🐬
The visuals for this game were handled by former Compile staff Kazuyuki Nakashima (who was art director for Musha Aleste/M.U.S.H.A. and did design work for the first two Spriggan games), Kenichi Yokoo (who worked on the logo and visual scene design for Spriggan Mark 2: Re-Terraform Project), and Shinichi Onishi (who worked on the visuals for Riot's Browning, Spriggan Mark 2, and Dennin Aleste: Nobunaga and His Ninja Force/Robo Aleste) who all worked together on the graphics for Raizing's previous game Kingdom Grandprix with artwork provided by Bomberman series contributors Shigeki Fujiwara (who
Left: Next stop is England where you're greeted by Buroru | Right: Jolly good ☕🫖
had been involved with the franchise for about as long as he'd been with Hudson Soft) and Shoji Mizuno (who worked on the art direction for the recent Bomberman '94 and on Bomberman GB's original character designs). I like how each time you're introduced to a new opponent they are backed up by a pre-rendered backdrop representing the respective country that is well-designed: Jamaica has got nice imagery of the beach with palm trees, England's backdrop has a cool night sky with the lights on in its buildings (including the Big Ben), USA has got the Grand Canyon, there's the trees and plains for Kenya's opponent
Left: Nessie | Right: And all the blocks in my playing field go bye-bye
backdrop, and finally Japan's backdrop is snow-filled with the Rokuon-ji/Kinkaku-ji Zen Buddhist temple centerstage. Any time they make themselves present their static image will stretch down becoming less and less translucent until they are the right size and dimension with a full solid color about them. I like how during the game proper the interior playing field of the respective combatants will randomly cycle through different images of Shiro Bom partaking in different activities and embracing the culture of the respective country in question which are all endearingly drawn and lighthearted. While in Jamaica he shows
Left: Pass takes over | Right: Bomb blast up
fascination with a hermit crab crawling beside a beach, leaping out of the water wearing a lifesaver just as a fish is jumping up from it under the rays of the sun, drinking milk from a coconut while sitting down on the sand, and my favorite of the bunch has Shiro Bom swim underwater with a dolphin while wearing goggles and swim fins (it's so adorably charming). England will cycle between him in detective attire carrying a pipe in his hand, wearing gentlemanly clothing with a moustache having tea, looks away in whitecoat scientist garb as the mythical Loch Ness Monster appears in the lake behind him, and donning himself in
Left: Pass is being overwhelmed | Right: With his playing field overfilled, consider yourself the victor
knight's armor with jousting lance on hand with the smoky and fiery imagery of a dragon. USA has him as a gunslinger beside a bagful of money, dressing up and posing as Lady Liberty, dribbling a basketball with a zero-numbered jersey, and standing beside a wagon train. Kenya has him wear a striped black and white shirt with a zebra hanging his head friendly above his, wearing a safari jacket and pith helmet in front of a mountain range, riding on a hippopotamus, and dangling from a branch with a cheeky monkey hanging on top of it. Japan has got Shiro Bom peering from a rooftop underneath the crescent moon sky
Left: And now to face off against England's representative, Metal Bomber | Right: Bomb blasts galore
where 大 ("large") is lit up from the ground, being receptive to the butterflies flying around him while sitting on a cherry tree, dressed for battle as a rōnin while wearing an eyepatch, and innocently flying a kite with Mount Fuji hanging in the back. And lastly when Shiro Bom ventures into space, you get to see the imagery cycle from orbiting around the planet, amicably meeting and greeting an alien, experiencing zero gravity inside the space shuttle, and gleefully riding on a space shuttle that has been given sentience and made to appear
Left: Metal Bomber is temporarily inactive because of the STOP status | Right: Two World Bombers down, three more to go
wide bullets), Animal Bomber appears feral and catlike with his reflexes and tail (his bombs are heavily textured like a rock), and Karaoke Bomber is dressed for the occasion as he's about to belt out to the style of Enka (for this his bombs bear the resemblance of a microphone). There is a neat contrast about them before you engage in the match and after you reign victorious over them, at which point their brainwashing has been done away and appear to have snapped back to normal. During the matches the opponent you face appears
Left: Leaving England to head to the USA, where the first opponent you meet there is Funya | Right: Look at all those bomb blasts
in a very small window in the middle and are designed endearingly, their tune will chance once things begin to get hectic and challenging for they will gloat and become overconfident upon you becoming overwhelmed (or you lose) or the opposition may panic should they become overwhelmed (to the point that they react incredulously upon having lost, or in the case of the World Bombers react dramatically--like viewing Metal Bomber from the ground perspective as lightning strikes around him, Bom Gunman riding off into the sunset, or
Left: Funya shaking things up by dropping a big bomb in its playing field | Right: And just like that, Funya is out for the count
Animal Bomber cowering in fear). The pieces themselves are decently designed like a Bomberman head as they come in a variation of five colors for the individual pieces might react different given a circumstance (some might nod off to sleep while others might look around, it's an adorable touch), for regardless who wins the remaining pieces in the playing field will cheer and should a large bomb be in the midst of being dropped they will animate in a fidgety quick manner knowing the inevitability for what is to come (as if in a panic).
Left: Now it's the penguin Peggi's turn | Right: I don't like those shifty eyes of his as your playing field becomes overwhelmed...
The music to Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World was composed by veteran series composer Jun Chikuma (who had also just composed music for Bomberman: Panic Bomber months prior) in her glorious Nintendo 16-bit return after having felt her absence in Super Bomberman 2, this time around she is joined by Kenichi Koyano and Hitoshi Sakimoto. Koyano previously composed music for Fujicom's Shin Nihon Pro-Wrestling '94: Battlefield in Tokyo Dome and Cardangels and would provide music for Raizing's Bloody Roar games within the next few years. Sakimoto composed the music to Raizing's Kingdom Grandprix and would also contribute to the music of the aforementioned Bloody Roar games, but before those games he was a composer for Opera House's Sega 16-bit port of Data East's Midnight Resistance, Jorudan's Gdleen, Quest's Magical Chase and Densetsu no Ogre Battle/Ogre Battle, Capcom's Game Boy adaptation of Disney's The Little Mermaid, Aisystem Tokyo's
Left: Peggi is overjoyed at winning against you | Right: Only to lose on a rematch
Sega 16-bit port of Genki's Devilish/Bad Omen, and Daft's Super Back to the Future II, et al. Outside of having slightly newer interpretations of the themes introduced in the earlier Bomberman: Panic Bomber, the new material specifically created for this Super Famicom edition also sounds fantastic especially with the dialed-up sound quality. The Jamaica theme is an irresistibly bouncy interpretation of the Bomberman series' iconic battle theme, the England theme is a suitably rocking take on the iconic main theme with the slap bass and head-bopping rhythm, the USA theme has such an endearingly elevating theme going for it that sounds so empowering and engaging (the latter part before it loops itself makes me think of the credits music for Micro Cabin's Xak: The Art of Visual Stage), the Kenya theme sounds rhythmically catchy, and the Japan theme initially starts off as a reinterpretation of the gained powerup theme from 1985 Bomberman before being followed up on by an expanded
Left: It's time to confront Bom Gunman | Right: Oh no, he pulled a fiver combo!
melody. When playing battle mode it will cycle through a different theme with each new round to spice up the variety. Each and every World Bomber has got a very distinctive theme that suits their style and sense of culture: Rasta Bomber's theme sounds invitingly laidback, Metal Bomber's theme has got a relentlessly and impossibly fast-paced heavy metal vibe, Bom Gunman's theme has got an endearingly bouncy Western flair, Animal Bomber's theme sounds menacing with the primordial drums, and Karaoke Bomber's theme is backed up by the Enka musical genre (where you can picture the parts of the melody where the lyrics would come into play). The standout piece of music for me is Bagulor's theme once Shiro Bom ventures into space, it just sounds so operatic and grandiose with its do or die element to it for that is where the sound quality truly shines. For that it's my favorite theme from Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World. Space Bomber's theme upon playing on the normal
Left: It doesn't help that your playing field is already on the verge of filling up and Bom Gunman is fluidly wagging his finger at you, but the Shiro Bom bubbles are hovering over and covering things up on your end too | Right: Walking off into the sunset
through hardest difficulty settings sounds impending and hectic as you end up fighting for the fate of the world, the ending theme upon Space Bomber's theme sounds rewarding and satisfying to listen to especially with the final notes being an excellent payoff, and the credits music serves as a nice suite of the overall soundtrack as it cycles through snippets of the individual World Bomber theme until it eventually caps off with a brief motif of the classic main theme that concludes on a well-orchestrated finish. For the bomb sound effects, be it a singular instance or a chain reaction or by a large bomb placed in a spot, it relies on the stock anime explosion sound effects heard in other media at the time (including Tamsoft's SteamGear Mash)* that sounds suitable and fitting given the puzzler genre that it pertains to. Both Bomberman: Panic Bomber and Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World marked the first time in the series to receive proper voice acting for a Bomberman game. Technically* Okay, I might have been generalizing by referring to the NEC Bomberman: Panic Bomber incarnation with the explosion sound effect, but in the case of this game it sounds close enough
Who the hell is that in the upper right corner among the Bom conference? That's not Aka Bom--his spherical antenna, hands, and feet aren't green...
speaking Shiro Bom was provided a voice before in the opening sequence of Inter State and Kaneko's Star Parodier back in 1992, albeit very different sounding compared to the voice he would be given after the fact. Supplying the voice to Shiro Bom come the end of 1994 would be Kazuko Sugiyama, who has been in the voice acting business for sixty years since 1966. Sugiyama lent her voice to the titular character in Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji/Heidi, Girl of the Alps, Françoise Arnoul/003 in Cyborg 009, Ten in Urusei Yatsura, and Akane Kimidori in Dr. Slump, et al. She would continue providing her voice for Shiro Bom (and on occasion Kuro Bom as well) for the games up until 1998 (with Metro Corporation's PlayStation Bomberman game, subtitled Party Edition outside Japan, serving as the last time she voiced the title character, though she would voice the Hudson Soft logo for Bomberman Land two
Left: Welcome to Kenya, Asshī will be the first to play against you here 🦭 | Right: Don't let that unwavering smile fool you, this seal is a menace
years later). Other voice actors for this Super Famicom puzzler comprised of the late Tarako (who voiced the title characters of Chibi Maruko-chan and Magical Tarurūto Kun, she sadly passed away in 2024 at the age of 63, RIP), Hiroya Ishimaru (who retired in 2023 after 43 years in the voice acting business), Naoki Tatsuta, Junko Noda, Mizue Ohtsuka, and Junko Hagimori. The sound quality of the voices generally sound good for when it's announced how many combos you got in successful fashion, when a large bomb is about to be thrown into the mix, when the opposition is either panicking when they're becoming overwhelmed or sound excited when you become overwhelmed, when you lose, or when you emerge victorious. There is a sound test where you can listen to the music, sounds, and voices after having entered 3445 in the password screen while keeping both shoulder buttons held down.
You've not seen the last of this password for a while yet
Just like the four-digit passwords have come back, so too has the popularized 5656 password that has been used since the first Super Bomberman. In the first game inputting that password reduced all Bombermen to bite-sized stature, in the second game it enabled Sudden Death Vs. mode which was exclusively seen in battle mode, but by entering it in this game
Or, more specifically, certain Ballom occasionally morph into Pass and back
you will change the non-bomb falling blocks into Ballom and Pass, two of the oldest enemies
His hat comes in white, black, red, blue, and green
One other password option is 8111 where the normal pieces get alternated to Takahashi Meijin from another of Hudson Soft's IPs (renamed Master Higgins and Adventure Island outside Japan), and for once you get to see him wear a white hat in a Super Famicom game.
Left: I like the imagery of Shiro Bom riding on a hippo | Right: Asshī lost
Months after this Super Famicom take came out Hudson Soft would release Tobidase! Panibon on the Virtual Boy in Japan, which was also developed by Raizing, which gave the option of choosing what the pieces looked like as well as featured the monster-based Midnight Bombers which culminated in a true final boss fight against Pretty Bomber under certain conditions being met. Over the following decade there would other incarnations of
Left: "Hey, dum-dum, you give me gum-gum!" | Right: Mr. Moai's right side of his playing field is stacked
the Bomberman: Panic Bomber falling block puzzler formula with it being given an edition for the mobile phone, appeared as a game mode in Racjin's Bomberman 64 and Bomberman Land 2, and was even given a treatment for the PlayStation Portable in 2005. Alas, the majority of them were exclusively released in Japan at the time, all except for the Virtual Boy
Left: Panicking | Right: Overconfident smile
mixed to positive reviews, where depending on the incarnation in question the reception varied: Famitsu gave the original Bomberman: Panic Bomber a 26 out of 40, Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World was given a 22 out of 40, while Tobidase! Panibon was given the verdict of 20 out of 40. There was an adaptation catered to the Neo Geo CD format which was showcased and covered at the time but ultimately wound up not being released.
Left: Its Kenya's representative World Bomber Animal Bomber, my favorite of the five | Right: He gloats as your playing field gets less and less space to maneuver your pieces inside over time
I first learned of the Panic Bomber spinoff as a teenager from finding out about on the internet roughly two decades ago (I learned of the Virtual Boy take when I was younger not realizing it was Bomberman-affiliated initially due to just simply being called Panic Bomber,
Left: Animal Bomber reigns supreme victory over you | Right: Aww, kitty!
but also because my experience with Bomberman as a child and teen was limited), it was interesting to learn how they carried over the bomb element from the traditional action maze games into the puzzler formula. Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World specifically I learned about through the RVGFanatic website, and visually it did look interesting. I had no
Left: Last world stop takes place in Japan, how apropos as that's where the Bomberman series hailed from, where the first course of action is to battle against Onil | Right: Watch as the interior playing field artwork occasionally alternates to different imagery, like Shiro Bom gazing up at the butterflies
gotten a taste for the series' stab at the arcade puzzler formula it was certainly a fascinating (albeit challengingly difficult) game. Several years later I would decide to check out Raizing's Super Famicom take Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World in 2024, which I would receive that mid-November (almost to the day that I caught up with Produce's first two Super Bomberman games and Hudson Soft's Saturn Bomberman the year prior). I found this
Left: Don't give Onil satisfaction | Right: He can't take the heat
game to be very likable and endearing through and through, I liked that it gave you a choice of one of five difficulty settings to choose from, I enjoyed the globetrotting aspect as Shiro Bom travels the world, and it can be very challenging. Not what I would call easy as it can prove to be a challenge, even on the easiest difficulty setting, but it is manageable when you
Left: BakeBake making his ghostly presence | Right: He's got the upper hand
stick to it and far more lenient in terms of difficulty compared the NEC PC Engine original. In my opinion there's also a lot of replay value given the aforementioned qualities I've mentioned thus far and more. It's nice that you get to compete against opponents who comprise of enemies Shiro Bom has dealt with the years who made their respective debuts
Left: "Baka!!" | Right: BakeBake will haunt no longer
from 1983 Bomber Man (Ballom, naturally the first enemy here just like in the traditional action maze games he's appeared in) to 1985 Bomberman (Pass and Onil) to 1990 Bomberman (Kurin, Buroru, Peggi, and BakeBake) to Bomberman '93 (Funya and Asshī) to
Left: Turn the Enka music on, Karaoke Bomber is about to sing (he doesn't vocally sing in the game, you can just envision lyrics he could be singing to the accompaniment of the music) | Right: Soft blocks generated on Shiro Bom's end
Super Bomberman 2 (Mr. Moai). That's quite the assortment of enemies right there. The World Bombers have got their own distinct charm and personality, and the difference is night and day regarding their attitude and disposition before you compete with them and after you reign victorious which cures them of their brainwashing. None of these five boss characters were evil, they were just manipulated into doing bad deeds, for the mastermind behind this
flamenco music and dojo music respectively). Depending on the difficulty setting you're playing or other given circumstances they will intercept and take over a predestined battle against a normal enemy or a World Bomber whom you will know is ready to battle you once the music abruptly stops and you see a brief red flash. Pretty Bomber is out to avenge her
profiles pop up in the ending screen, with the bad ending including the question mark by the end message. And don't think that just because your originally intended battle got interrupted by either party that you're off the hook because you will still have to compete against them after defeating Pretty Bomber or Kuro (Shadow) Bomber in order to move forward. Adding to the exhilaration and excitement factor is the inclusion of Dokuro mode,
Left: Singing through his tears shaking his fist rapidly as Shiro Bom is overwhelmed | Right: Karaoke Bomber has sung his last tune
something reserved for boss characters (and battle mode as an alternative to normal mode), is by default is enabled in the options screen (though you could always choose to disable it if you didn't feel like having that extra challenge) which is utilized after a large amount of bombs explode which will cause the effect to either act as a handicap or a benefit to either you or your opponent. The effects in question are as follows: automatically producing a big bomb
Left: Time to venture off into space to confront the mastermind behind the World Bombers being brainwashed, Bagulor | Right: His aura is menacing, and his theme breathtakingly operatic
through the Big Bomb icon, causing all onscreen bombs to explode for the respective playing field, changing all red blocks to white, making every block disappear, adding a soft block layer to the fray, transforming all soft blocks into bombs, alternating all bombs into indestructible stone, adding an assortment of stone blocks, adding a layer of stone, pausing all the action for either you or your opponent until the "STOP" bubble disappears, momentarily reversing the left and right controls, Shiro Bom bubbles that come in either a
Left: Bagulor not only leveled up but he became number one | Right: But keep trying and you will succeed against him and his bombs that share his bushy brows and face
set of two or three which briefly hover over the targeted playing field thereby obfuscating visibility, augmenting a bomb layer by one, momentarily rendering the bomb blast radius to its lowest capacity, and making every bomb disappear from the targeted playing field. Some of these things happen at such a frequent rate that it makes things quite intense at points. The idea is to tip the scale in your favor against your opponent, which might take a lot of continues for the later opponents regardless of the difficulty setting you chose to play as, and sometimes you can be so engrossed in the action happening within the space of your playing
Left: The time has come to face this game's true villain, Space Bomber | Right: If you don't defeat this alien he'll gladly feast on Shiro Bom's home planet
field that before you even know it you won and became victorious. There's even a couple secret passwords (while holding both shoulder buttons down) that will affect the challenge of the proceedings: if you want to make things more difficult you can make it so that up to four pieces or more are needed to clear them up as opposed to three simply input 4404 in the password screen or if you want the bombs to explode instantly without waiting for the lit up bomb to show up you can put in 2200 instead. This marked the first time more than one
Left: Bad end | Right: Good end
If you own a Super Famicom console and enjoy arcade-style falling block puzzlers, I recommend checking this game out. Whether you're a fan of the Bomberman franchise or not I think it's a fun time at thirty to forty minutes or more depending on how the difficulty treats you or depending on how you play, especially when the big explosions shake up the whole screen. And even if you don't feel you can play it through in one sitting, the inclusion of passwords is a welcome one to pick up your progress. In my opinion, it's a blast to play.
My Personal Score: 8.0/10
● From Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World alone I took a total of 510 screenshots on May 13th to 14th, 2026, of which I had to determine which ones to use for this review and which ones to reserve for when I visually reference this game in the future (so long as I still have enough spare screenshots).
● An interesting thing about Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World is that it is the one game bearing the Bomberman moniker on the Super Famicom that uses an enhancement chip (in this case, the SA-1, which basically means there's faster RAM, memory mapping capabilities, a bit of compression and data mapping, bitmap to bit plane transfer, and arithmetic functionality, et al). None of the five traditional Super Bomberman action maze games nor A.I's Bomberman B-Daman utilize an enhancement chip.
● This marks the first game titled Super Bomberman that has got a password which will allow you to watch the ending, by inputting 5963 while holding both shoulder buttons down.
● I did take several screenshots of Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World back when I still had the Insignia flatscreen TV which I had initially reserved to visually reference for another review, but I've just decided to keep one for comparison compared to how it looks on my Samsung smart TV:
Left: 2009 Insignia flatscreen TV | Right: 2025 Samsung smart TV
Though a smidge of the top and bottom is cut off (and sometimes the checker pattern in the green background is not quite as pronounced), fortunately everything pertinent like the playing field, falling blocks, and numbers is still accounted for. For context, I got the screenshots for Bomberman: Panic Bomber, the Super Bomberman games (including Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber World), Ys Book I & II, Star Parodier, and Bomberman '93 while playing on my Samsung TV while the rest of the games I got the screenshots for back when I still had my Insignia TV in my room.Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW is allowed); hope you have a great day, be a kind human, and take care! 😃
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