That leaves the last few players scrambling to survive, with one player being crowned victor. A timer counts down from 60 seconds, and when it hits zero, play areas are removed one by one. You start out in a traditional four-player Bomberman match, while the other 56 combatants duke it out elsewhere in 16 other rooms simultaneously, much like the Switch’s now-defunct Super Mario 35. (Fortunately there’s crossplay, so there’s no trouble filling games.) It doesn’t jam 64 people on one map – that would be chaos – but rather takes a smarter, more manageable, tournament-style approach. There are tons of ways to play with friends via local or online multiplayer, including the 64-player Battle 64 mode that has you fighting through a knock-down, drag-out battle royale. As a result, you’re always forced to go on the offensive, constantly calculating where your next bomb is going to go, all the while keeping an eye on enemies who are doing the same. When you aren't narrowly escaping an enemy's explosion, you're looking for ways to trick or trap them into walking into yours. True to the format of the top-down, 2D original, the fun of Super Bomberman R 2’s multiplayer modes comes from throwing down explosives to blow up destructible obstacles while avoiding your own blasts and those of everybody else. Of course, Bomberman has always been at its best when played with others, so it's no surprise that's where this feature-rich sequel shines in contrast to its repetitive single-player story mode and largely empty open world. That's how Super Bomberman R 2 manages to keep the hits coming: with some clever modes that put a new spin on things. Just about every one of them has a new gimmick waiting around the corner, whether it’s the spacious areas of action-flavored Bomberman Generation or Bomberman Tournament's Zelda-like Quest Mode. Though there have been dozens of iterations of Hudson Soft's absorbing competitive puzzler, they've all largely adhered to the same principle: blowing things (and people) up in a candy-colored paradise. When it comes to arcade classics like Bomberman, the secret to longevity is keeping it simple.

Super mario 64 box art spine