Explosive Bomberman Tips

Bomberman Act: Zero is built on a simple premise, but learning the subtleties of its strategies can be challenging. It can be especially frustrating to immediately head online, only to have your ass handed to you time and time again. Begin with the following tips and you'll build a strong foundation of strategy to start from.

Power-Up Priorities
Though blowing up the soft blocks around the map will certainly make it easier for you to get around, the primary purpose of destroying them should always be to uncover hidden power-ups. Getting to the initial power-ups should be your first priority as it will immediately give you the upper hand over your competition.

In addition, memorize the power-up icons quickly, so you can run to retrieve the best one available. You don't want to snag Speed Up when you could just have easily grabbed the more powerful Penetrate power-up. With the speed of this game and the skill of the online community, those little mistakes will add up to your defeat in a hurry.

Timing Kills
The first kill strategy you will need to master is learning to properly time your bomb blasts. More than any other basic skill, the most important is understanding the time limit between setting the bomb and the resulting explosion.

In that same vein, keep a careful eye out for an opponent's bombs and you should be able to tell what sort of power-ups they're sporting. For example, if a bomb is laid and continues to be dormant, you know that your opponent has remote control bombs, and he's just waiting to hit the button.

Understanding Radius
The maps in Bomberman Act: Zero are laid out on a grid, with each box equaling one measurement unit. Think of the blast radius in terms of units (standard bomb damage extends three units in all four directions) and you'll be able to better recognize a threatening situation.

At the same time, it's vital to pay attention to the blast radius of your opponent's bombs so that you can spot if they have scored a power-up.

Defensive Play
Typically in online play it is to your advantage to mind your own business at the beginning of a match. Try, if possible, to let the other players knock each other around for a while before you concentrate on making holes and grabbing power-ups. Then, when you're upgraded and ready to roll, you can advance your offense with a distinct advantage.

Pinning Opponents
After mastering the timing of a bomb blast, your next major kill strategy is learning to pin an opponent. Once you have the Bomb Up power, you can place two bombs at a time. Look for enemies near the corner of a map, and when you find them, place one bomb on one side of the corner and another on the other side, essentially pinning them in. If you time it right, they'll be driven by one bomb blast right into the other!

Enemy Suicide
Another classic kill strategy is driving an opponent back into the path of his own bomb. Careless opponents will think only look for kills and not for situations when they might trap themselves. Look for these opportunities, and you can often use a variation of the pin strategy to use your opponent's bomb against them.

In online multiplayer games, it's always a good idea to get comfortable with gameplay before you venture online. With the endless strategy variations in Bomberman Act: Zero, though, it becomes essential.

Article by Ryan Treit