Bomberman Online finally playable online again thanks to Dreamcast Live

BOOM! Here comes the BOOM! Ready or not! Here comes the boys from Dreamcast Live with a new update!

The Online part of Bomberman Online is finally truthful once again as Dreamcast Live has restored the online multiplayer modes of this Dreamcast classic. This comes from the familiar Dreamcast Live heroes Shuouma and flyinghead, along with a new face named Farkus. Just like when they restored Outtrigger and Speed Devils: Online Racing, Shuouma had started the process himself years ago only to hit an insurmountable wall. Like those other times, flyinghead would continue his work years later, but this time Farkus gave him some help, too, and the rest is history. Now that the fuse on this candle is lit, you can enjoy some nostalgic online Bomberman action on your Dreamcast after 23 years since its original servers fizzled out.

With that out of the way, come with me past the break and you can hear some more info about this game and how it works online.

Bomberman Online released for the Sega Dreamcast, believe it or not, exclusively in North America in October 2001, and was one of the first Bomberman games with online multiplayer, but not the first. Before Bomberman Online, Saturn Bomberman (1997) could go online with the Saturn Netlink through peer-to-peer networking, while Bomberman Online worked over a dedicated server. A server made connections much more stable and easier to connect with, but that was only while the official servers were still running. Until now, connecting online with Bomberman Online was impossible, while Saturn Bomberman had much easier workarounds as long as you knew a few people who also had Saturn Bomberman and a Netlink and could coordinate with them, and getting 9 other players together and enough multitaps and controllers for that game’s 10-player local multiplayer was a much easier ask.

While Bomberman Online could only support 8 players online versus Saturn Bomberman’s 10, it had far more online modes. Besides the classic survival mode, where the last player to not be blown up wins the round, there was also four extra modes. For example, there was Ring Match Rule mode, where players respawn after getting blown up and the player with the most K.O.s when time runs out wins. There’s also the Panel Paint mode, where explosions flip floor panels to one player’s color and the player with the most flipped panels of their own color after time runs out wins. There are also extras like Bomber Karate, a mini-game the winning player plays in between rounds for a chance at getting an extra helpful item to take with them into the next round. Some of these modes would carry over into future Bomberman games, but while more Bomberman games with online multiplayer would come and go throughout the years, Bomberman Online, like Saturn Bomberman, holds a special place in the hearts of old school Sega fans.

Bomberman Online can connect to Dreamcast Live’s network with a DreamPi over your Dreamcast’s modem. There’s also a new firmware update for DreamPi that coincidentally released shortly before Bomberman Online regained online support, so make sure to update your DreamPi to that version or whatever the latest version may be if you use that. Although it isn’t advertised on Bomberman Online’s box or manual, the Broadband Adapter is also supported, and like many online Dreamcast games, you can type messages to other players while waiting in a lobby using a Dreamcast Keyboard. As per usual, be sure to check Dreamcast Live’s connection guide to figure out how to get started with them and check their game list for their 50 other supported games.

So far, that makes Dreamcast Live’s forth new game to gain their support this year. Previously, they restored online multiplayer modes for Propeller Arena, Power Smash, and Hundred Swords. What game do you think they’ll bring back online next? Let us know what your hopes for Dreamcast Live’s future are in the comments below.

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