Super Bomberman R

Super Bomberman R was one of the first games available on Switch and marked the return of a franchise that had essentially been dormant for several years. The principle hasn't changed since the eighties: the player moves across a grid, plants bombs that explode into a cross shape after a moment, and tries to catch opponents in the blast before ending up caught in their own trap. Destroying blocks unlocks upgrades, meaning more bombs at once, longer blast range, faster movement speed, or the ability to kick and throw bombs, and gathering that loadout from every match creates an escalating race for the advantage.

The core of the game is battles for up to eight players, playable both locally and online, and this is where the game truly shines. The arenas have their own obstacles, conveyor belts, or teleporters, a round lasts roughly a minute, and once eliminated a player becomes a ghost who can still shoot into the field and return to the game, so nobody just stares at the screen for nothing. Alongside that there's a story campaign with its own bosses and voiced cutscenes, playable in two-player co-op as well, though its difficulty was a frequent target of criticism at launch. Single Joy-Con controls mean that all it takes for a group game is one console and a handful of controllers, which is exactly the scenario Bomberman suits best.

The visuals are clean and colorful, with three-dimensional arenas viewed from above, while the music leans on upbeat, fast-paced tunes including rearranged classic themes from the series. Reception at launch was mixed, with reviewers criticizing the price, the unpolished online mode, and a dull campaign, but Konami kept patching the game long after release and adding characters and modes for free, which noticeably raised its standing. Today Super Bomberman R is a simple but reliable pick when a group gets together and nobody wants to read rules. It also remains one of the few games on the platform where eight people can gather around a single console, and that quality keeps it in the library to this day.