Game: Bomberman '93 (Wii/TurboGrafx-16)

My first Virtual Console game on the Wii, and it's a cracker. For those you don't know, Bomberman has been around for a while, allowing multiple players to battle it out by blowing each other up in an arena viewed from above. Despite its simplicity I'm obviously finding it difficult to explain the game; just take my word for it that it's one of the best multiplayer games ever.

Which is probably why Bomberman has always been a victim of its own success. When Hudson created it back in the nineties they did indeed manage to create a near perfect multiplayer game, which although good in theory makes it very difficult to improve upon.

And that's why I've never really taken to any of the new versions. The additions made had adversely diluted the gameplay, enough to make it unplayable for those who had been brought up on the earlier versions. The closest I've come to the original gameplay is via Bomberman Land Touch on the DS, but even that manages to spoil things by insisting, in the main part, on an arena two screens tall.

So it was with great expectation that downloaded Bomberman '93, one of the pinnacle versions originally relased on the TurboGrafix. And it's great. No bells, no whistles, just pure original gameplay. Better still is that the Wii conveniently allows you to play with up to four other players.

I'm not usually into nostalgia when it comes to games, but Bomberman '93 just goes to prove that sometimes it's the oldies that are most fun to play.