Atomic Bomberman

Atomic Bomberman is a game by Interplay Productions for the PC that was released in 1997. It was the first original Bomberman game to be developed for Windows, and the second game of the series made for the PC, following Dynablaster. The game is relatively unusual in the Bomberman series, as it was officially licensed from Hudson Soft and developed by Interplay Productions, a studio based in the United States. Most titles in the series were developed in Japan. It has a different look and feel compared to other Bomberman titles as a result (despite basic gameplay being unchanged), using pre rendered 3D characters and backgrounds as opposed to hand drawn animated sprites, and extensive use of voice samples during gameplay. The voice clips are by voice actors Charlie Adler and Billy West.

Atomic Bomberman can be played in either "classic" or "enhanced" mode. Ten players maximum can be selected. However, at least one must be controlled by the player, and no more than one player can be controlled by the same keyboard layout on the same computer. This keyboard map rule does not apply to local network games. Unlike previous Bomberman games, Atomic Bomberman has no story or plotline.

The game includes a hidden level editor which allows the player to edit existing maps as well as create new maps. Maps used by the game are in the form of "scheme files" (. sch filename extension). The map editor is a simple interface, showing the map, dotted with different colors (0 to 9) to represent player spawns. A function called DENSITY chooses how "dense" the collection of breakable items is. The Powerup Manager chooses the list of powerups to be included, how often they spawn, whether they can be destroyed and what happens when two conflicting powers are picked (such as Bomb Spooge vs. Power Glove). The editor also sports a basic graphic interface: the player can switch between the "Green Acres" theme and a monochrome, patterned representation.

Atomic Bomberman was built from the code for Super Bomberman 3, which publisher/developer Interplay Productions licensed from Bomberman franchise owner Hudson Soft. Project leader Jeremy Airey commented, "We're trying to make [Bomberman] a little more modern, but we don't need to change the way it plays at all."

Atomic Bomberman garnered mixed or average reviews, holding a 68.40% rating at the review aggregator site GameRankings. PC Gamer US Lisa Renninger praised the game's fast paced action and multiplayer, but criticized the memory amount it took on a hard drive, lack of an advancement system, and "ugly" playfields as drawbacks. PC Jokers Markus Ziegler commented about the game's controls in a positive light but expressed mixed thoughts regarding its audiovisual presentation. PC Players Monika Stoschek pointed out the high difficulty when playing with computer opponents, stating that it could prove frustrating for beginners. Galush of Polish magazine Secret Service was impressed with the graphical quality but was less pleased with its artstyle, internet connectivity, performance on certain machines and lack of single player campaign. Computer Gaming Worlds Kelly Rickards saw the number of maps in multiplayer and power ups as positives. Nevertheless, Rickards wrote that "This game bastardizes the series; much of the appeal and well honed gameplay of the Japanese console games didn't make the boat ride over the Pacific." GameRevolutions Nebojsa Radakovic highlighted the game's multiplayer and sound effects, but panned its basic visuals, simple gameplay with no significant improvement, and level editing tools.