Bomb Strike (series)

Bomb Strike (ボンブストライク) is a platform-based run-n-gun video game franchise developed by Multisoft. The original game was published in 1989, during the beginning of Gamesoft, and currently has 31 games released on various platforms, six of which are spinoffs. The series even spawned two cartoons. The franchise became a massive success when it first spawned, resulting in more franchises such as Superstar, Red the Dragon, Cross Serpent, and Delta Cross. It is also one of the few examples of a video game franchise having its own expanded universe, as evident by Super Bomb Strike 3.

Gameplay
The original Bomb Strike started as an arcade platform-shooter game where players are suspended in a box-like stage and face enemies in order to proceed to the next stage, akin to Snow Bros and Bubble Bobble. Starting with Super Bomb Strike, the overall gameplay evolved into an overhead run-and-gun hybrid where players encounter several enemies and bosses. It also became a multiplayer game where players (up to four) face each other in a free-for-all death match using the same type of weapons until one player remains. Gameplay involves the use of weapons (missiles, lasers, bombs, etc.) in order to destroy obstacles and kill enemies and other players. The player can pick up various power-ups, giving them benefits such as larger explosives, the ability to fire more weapons a time, or simply repairing the player's Blitzbomber.

Settings & Plot
Most of the games take place in a galaxy known as the Neo Nebula, usually on Neo-Earth, where the main characters reside. The first Bomb Strike begins with Tommy White, one of the infants raised to pilot the Blitzbombers (giant mechanical beings designed for combat), wanting to escape to see the outside world. Eventually he does succeed and adopts himself to two parents. That plotpoint ended up being retconned as of the Nintendo DS Bomb Strike games.

In earlier appearances, the second Blitzbomber toddler, Barry Black, is an enemy due to a programming error in his Blitzbomber, but since Super Bomb Strike, he and Tommy have forged an alliance. They have joined forces to handle bigger threats, most notably the evil alien Professor Jungler, who is most infamously known as the creator of the Dynamite Gang and several other mechanical mutants. Paths were also crossed with an intergalactic crime organization called the White Hole Bandits (led by Jackson and Sir Doc), as well as a mysterious rival known as Vega. There has been no central series antagonist, but these are the most common foes.

Tommy becomes part of an intergalactic force to help protect the galaxy. This has been elaborated upon in later games, where a friendly figure named Dr. Uno directs Tommy's objectives. There is also the Striker Base, where Tommy and the other Blitzbomber pilots trains daily. After the shapeshifter (if fed) Prism was introduced, Alterions became a part of the gameplay in some later single player games. A Blitzbomber pilot called Fall also became a semi-regular member.

Mega Bomb Strike introduces Planet Turla, a planet that is similar to Earth in all but its continental structures. Since Super Bomb Strike 3, where the Mega Fighters of Turla were introduced, the series began to introduce newer worlds, with their own group of heroes that protect them from any dangers. Most of them were given their own spinoffs portraying these exploits.

Characters
Tommy White – the hero of the series. In the standard games, he is the main protagonist and player-character. He is usually portrayed as the heroic and optimistic type, often saving Earth from disaster. Like all Blitzbomber pilots, he has the ability to pilot a Blitzbomber, a type of giant mecha that is controlled by the pilot's body. His Blitzbomber, in particular, is the White Gryphon. In later games, such as Bomb Strike X and Bomb Strike Story, he is shown to be part of an interplanetary force stationed at Striker Base. He was 4 years old from the original Bomb Strike to Mega Bomb Strike, about 10 years old starting from Super Bomb Strike to Super Bomb Strike 4 and the Nintendo DS reboot series, 12 years old from Bomb Strike Saturn to Burning Bomb Strike, 14 years old from Bomb Strike World to Bomb Strike Y, 17 years old from Bomb Strike: Next Generation to Bomb Strike Blast, and now 20 years old in Super Bomb Strike S.

Barry Black – a major character in the series. A member of the Striker Team, he has the ability to control his Blitzbomber, the Black Phoenix. Back when he was younger, he and Tommy used to be rivals who are often pitted against each other by their superiors. Eventually as they got older, Barry grows to appreciate Tommy, acting almost as his older brother. The Bomb Strike reboot reveals that Barry's family took in Tommy after his family was killed, thus strengthening the fact that they are brothers. He is a little more forceful, mildly frustrated at dealing with Tommy, because he is unable to catch up with his rival's level of skill. He is apparently a year older than Tommy, making him currently 21 in Super Bomb Strike S.

Striker Team – A team of Blitzbomber pilots gathered from around Neo-Earth. Tommy and Barry met most of them in the Blitzbomber Tournament in Super Bomb Strike, where they were not at the best terms at the time. In Super Bomb Strike 2, they were able to rescue Tommy from the clutches of Gravity Striker. In the reboot, the members of the Striker Team, including Tommy and Barry, were gathered by the Epsilon Blitzbomber Facility to form the team. The most prominent members are Natasha Krasnayanova, a tomboy from Neo-Russia who mostly pilots fighter Blitzbombers; Patrick Gelb, a rich boy from Neo-Germany known for piloting comical Blitzbombers; Antonio Azzuro, a lazy yet focused boy from Neo-Italy who can pilot tank Blitzbombers; Dam Hong-Saeg, a girl from Neo-Korea who is the pilot of armed Blitzbombers; Fiona Agua, a young lady from Neo-Mexico known for piloting shape-shifting Blitzbombers; and Lü Feng, the youngest member from Neo-China known for piloting the Emerald General. They all reach adult age in Super Bomb Striker S, with Feng becoming an adolescent at that point.

Fall – as one of the main characters in Bomb Strike X and Bomb Strike Y. He is somewhat competitive and arrogant, as shown in his first appearance that despite the urgency of the mission, he challenges Tommy to a contest to who can gather the most Alterions. Fall wears a light blue outfit with a gray scarf concealing his face. He is also a playable character in the game Bomb Strike Z, where he joins Tommy in the fight against the White Hole Bandits again, and he is an unlockable character for the battle mode of Bomb Strike: Next Generation. He is also unlockable in Bomb Strike Blast. His backstory is greatly expanded upon in Bomb Strike Story, revealing him to be a native of the planet Shadrium who became a cyborg due to injuries sustained during the first invasion attempt of the Dynamite Gang. Fall's Blitzbomber is Type-08D, made from the mechanical remains of a destroyed battleship.

Dr. Uno – an ally of Tommy and a recurring character of the series. He is an eccentric 50 year-old scientist with the appearance of a short and overweight scientist. He has black spiky hair, and glasses with spirals covering the lenses. He appears to be stoic, despite being a friendly figure and a reasonably kind soul. He is one of the head researchers for The Department of the Galactic Nation and the creator of the Minute Rescue 12 robots.

Springies – creatures with spring-like tendrils that Tommy can use to power up his Blitzbomber. Each different colored Springie has their own unique ability, similar to the power ups in the game. Another benefit of a Springie is that if an attack or hazard hits you, the Springie will take the damage and be destroyed, making them act as a secondary health bar. They were first introduced in Mega Bomb Strike. They have appeared in many games ever since, but sometimes are replaced by other symbiotic creatures like Bogs.

Dynamite Gang – a gang of five recurring boss enemies in several games of the series. Gravity Striker sports a scarf-like cape and has a spacial motif on his suit, and uses weapons that draw to his enemies and cancel aerial attacks. Titan Striker is much larger than the others and he utilizes weapons containing oil. Sakura Striker stands out from her male counterparts by her purple ninja outfit and a large pink bow attached to her back. She also appears as a close friend to Tommy in early games, where both Tommy and Barry met her during the Blitzbomber Tournament in Super Bomb Strike. Shadow Striker is the engineer of the group, who wears a cloak and has the symbol of a bat on his suit. He is shorter than the other characters and sometimes floats above the group. Nitro Striker is the leader, who wears a cape and carries an engine attached to his back that can fuel his bombs with stronger explosives.

Jungler (formerly known as Jangula) – the main villain in many of the games. He resembles a brown and green, large, elderly man with a bushy white beard, glasses, and mechanical arms. He first appears as the main villain of Mega Bomb Strike, in which he attempts to run a comet-disguised ship into Planet Turla after throwing it into chaos. Jungler appeared out of the vastness of space, with his history being unknown but his brilliance clear. He is a brilliant (but mad) scientist and a dark magician, having controlled and created many evil creatures such as Striker-Terminators, with the only purpose of conquering the universe. As one of Tommy's more resilient enemies, he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals — it seems that he will always return.

Main Games

 * Bomb Strike (1989; Arcade)
 * Bomb Strike 2 (1991; Arcade, NES, Game Boy)
 * Bomb Strike 3 (1992; PC-Engine/TurboGrafx 16, Sega Genesis)
 * Mega Bomb Strike (1993; Sega Genesis)
 * Super Bomb Strike (1994; SNES)
 * Super Bomb Strike 2 (1995; SNES)
 * Super Bomb Strike 3 (1996; SNES)
 * Bomb Strike Saturn (1996; Sega Saturn)
 * Super Bomb Strike 4 (1997; SNES)
 * Burning Bomb Strike (1998; Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn)
 * Super Bomb Strike 5 (1998; SNES, Sony PlayStation (Bomb Strike Clash))
 * Bomb Strike World (1998; PlayStation)
 * Bomb Strike Adventure (1999; Nintendo 64; Sega Dreamcast)
 * Bomb Strike Anniversary Edition (1999; Arcade, PlayStation)
 * Bomb Strike X: Blue Fighter/Red Warrior (2000; Game Boy Color)
 * Burning Bomb Strike 2 (2000; Sega Dreamcast)
 * Bomb Strike Story (2001; Game Boy Advance)
 * Bomb Strike Y: Blue/Red Advance (2002; Game Boy Advance)
 * Bomb Strike: Next Generation (2003; Nintendo Gamecube)
 * Bomb Strike Z (2004; PlayStation 2, Nintendo Gamecube)
 * Bomb Strike (2006; Nintendo DS)
 * Bomb Strike Legacy (2007; PlayStation Portable)
 * Bomb Strike 2 (2007; Nintendo DS)
 * Bomb Strike Blast (2008; WiiWare)
 * Super Bomb Strike S (2019; Nintendo Switch)

Spinoff Games

 * Mega Fighters (1996; Nintendo 64)
 * Mega Fighters 2 (1997; Nintendo 64)
 * Mega Fighters: Grid Wars (1999; Nintendo 64, PlayStation)
 * Final Edge (2002; Arcade, PlayStation 2, Xbox)
 * Dreadsters: The Nocturnal Warriors (2003; Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)
 * CrossXBomb: Exploding Fight (2009; WiiWare)

Trivia

 * Tommy, Barry, and the rest of the Striker Team are some of the few Multisoft characters known to age throughout each game, starting as children and reappearing as young adults.
 * Two minor characters, Sugar and Yusuke, who appeared in Super Bomb Strike 3, were based on concepts of Multisoft's mascot before settling on Superstar's Billy Scotch.
 * Tommy, Barry, and Sakura Striker appear in the Superstar Racing: Nitro Speed games as playable characters. Tommy, however, will be the only one from his franchise to make a reappearance in the upcoming game, Superstar Racing: Nitro Speed Solar.