Gamertell

In the spirit of Fourth of July fireworks, the Gamertell writers dug into their way-back mental archives to scrounge up remembrances of a few of their favorite, highly explosive videogames.

Joshua Mallory’s pick:  Bangai-O by Treasure released in 2001 for the Dreamcast

In Bangai-O, you drive a mech controlled by two kids around a series of mazes, destroying enemies and beating bosses.  Like any shooter, the bad guys are always firing shots and missiles at you and, as your special attack, you fire a blast that sends shots in all directions. The more bullets and explosions on screen at once (and the closer they are to your mech), the more powerful your special becomes and the more often you can use it.  That means you’re actively trying to cause as much chaos as possible to release a huge attack.  It often looks like fireworks.

Lucy Newman’s pick: Medal of Honor: Vanguard by EA Games for the PS2, released on March 26, 2007.

This patriotic military first person shooter is based on the historic events that surround the 82nd Airborne Divisions mission in Nazi occupied Germany through the eyes of Corporal Frank Keegan. From the moment your aircraft is hit by enemy fire you’re thrown into the air exposed to the enemy firing at you from the beaches of Normandy. Bullets flying past your head to mortar rounds exploding all around you until you flank your parachute and land on the beach. But even the beach was filled with constant barrages of explosions and nonstop enemy fire. A very explosive game from start to finish in my opinion.

PJ Hruschak’s pick: Missile Command by Atari Inc., for arcades and the Atari 2600, released in 1980.

In this arcade and early home console classic you launch missiles from three platforms, creating mid-air explosions to stop oncoming enemy bombs. Miss one or two and they magically split and spread out, making it more difficult to protect your cities from being destroyed. Though there are many modern games with huge explosions and amazing particle effects, Missile Command will always be one of the most explosive videogames. After all, it was all about using explosions to make bigger explosions to stop explosions.

Danielle Riendeau’s pick: Blast Corps by Rareware for the N64 and released in 1997.

Clearing paths through the levels using all manner of destructive vehicles/bombs, etc. was incredibly addictive and oddly rewarding. Getting all of the medals was a welcome challenge, too.

Sam Paul Cotts’s “super-explosive game o’ combustion” is Bomberman64 released in 1997 by HudsonSoft for the Nintendo 64.

It combined abstract character design with powerful explosives, which is always a hoot. The levels were also really well designed, falling just short of Zelda-quality engineering. My favorite aspect was the multiplayer and the ability to “pump-up” the bombs until the resulting explosions would wipe out everything on half the screen. Happy 4th everyone!