Bomberman MAX Blue Champion (Nintendo Game Boy Color, 2000)

Bomberman continues his tenure as gaming's poster boy for pyromania with a pair of titles for the Game Boy Color, one dubbed Red Challenger and the other Blue Champion, in a rather unsubtle nod to the success of the Pokemon franchise.

The Bomberman MAX titles are the sixth and seventh installments in the Bomberman series for the Game Boy (if you don't include 1995's Wario Blast), and besides the decision to release two separate versions of the same game, Bomberman MAX brings some new innovations to the table.

Bomberman's insect-like confederate, MAX, takes the helm in Red Challenger in a quest to rescue several endangered critters called Charabombs from the clutches of the insidious supercomputer Brain.

It's no accident that these little guys, hidden among key stages in the game, look uncannily like Pokemon. In fact, these Charabombs are meant to be collected like so many Pokethings, and can even engage in battle with other Charabombs via the infrared link-up. Naturally, some Charabombs present in the Red version of the game are not accessible in the Blue version, and vice versa.

Bomberman MAX makes further use of the Game Boy Color's infrared port. When prompted at the beginning of certain stages, you can unlock secret areas by first aiming at the port any remote control you have lying around, then pressing a button. Depending on the remote or the button you press, you can access a different hidden area every time.

The game also employs a unique "Pitch Area" mode, in which one player can permanently transfer stages on his/her game cartridge to another player's game via infrared (or cable) hookup.

Beyond these additions, there is a full-length, all new Bomberman-style game, filled with the same familiar blasting and running and blasting again that made the series so popular in the first place.