Konami has a habit of sneaking in surprise announcements during Nintendo Directs, and the February 2026 presentation was no exception. The company has actually been doing a solid job preserving its huge and pristine library of retro games, but Bomberman has always felt a bit left behind. Honestly, I never expected Yu-Gi-Oh or even freaking Ninja Five-O to jump the line and get remasters first. Still, it looks like Konami finally realized there was a gap that needed filling with a proper retro collection starring Hudson Soft’s mascot. Super Bomberman Collection is finally here, and with it comes classic Bomberman chaos on modern systems. Long overdue, may I add.

A gameplay loop that still feels fresh after all these years.

That said, it’s worth pointing out that Super Bomberman Collection is very much focused on a specific chapter of the franchise’s history. This compilation sticks strictly to the Super Nintendo era, covering the games released between 1993 and 1997. If you’re hoping to see Saturn Bomberman (arguably the best entry in the entire series), any of the PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 titles, or even hidden gems like Atomic Punk (my personal pick), you might walk away a little disappointed. Still, that doesn’t mean the SNES-era games are weak by any stretch, or that this collection feels cheap or incomplete. The games themselves hold up remarkably well, and the compilation comes packed with solid quality of life improvements and extra features that make revisiting them genuinely enjoyable rather than a barebones nostalgia trip.

There’s no denying that the Bomberman gameplay loop, while extremely simple, is insanely addictive. Every game in this collection sticks to a single button and the directional pad, which is a great example of the developers nailing the controls and overall formula right from the start. It’s hard to mess with something that already works this well. What really sets each entry in the Super Bomberman Collection apart are mostly visual tweaks and gradual design improvements. These weren’t the first games to introduce the Louies, the kangaroo-like companions you can hop on and ride, nor were they the origin of multitap-based multiplayer. If you want to be cynical about it, sure, you could call them derivative. But at the end of the day, what actually matters is that every single one of these games is fun as hell, no exceptions.

It goes without saying, but this collection is a perfect fit for the Steam Deck or ROG Ally.

All of the games have received a resolution boost, rewind support, and a boss rush mode, with the latter offering multiple difficulty settings. On top of that, the developers at Red Art Games went the extra mile by recreating exact digital replicas of each game’s original box. You can actually unbox them, which makes it easier to appreciate each cartridge and its manual in a more tangible way.

Regional variants for every title are also included, and that’s a pretty big deal. Super Bomberman 3 had never been released in the USA before this collection, while Super Bomberman 4 and 5 were Japan-exclusive titles up until now. If you want to see this collection as a way of preserving some genuinely rare gems from the 90s, it absolutely delivers. As a bonus, the original NES Bomberman and its sequel are also included, though they’re presented in a noticeably less polished state compared to the SNES entries. I can’t tell if they’re just being emulated or not, but they don’t feature a boss rush mode, for instance.

I won’t say that the original Bomberman hasn’t aged. But there’s still something about it that makes it incredibly enjoyable, despite its limitations.

It’s a well-put and really entertaining compilation of games, but I have to point out that Super Bomberman Collection suffers from a bizarre bug that messes up with its sound synchronization when you play it at any framerate above 60fps. In some cases, such as the NES Bomberman, the gameplay is seemingly tied to the framerate, making it nigh impossible to play at increased speeds. That would have been a disaster for the collection as a whole if it wasn’t for a simple solution: turing Vsync off fixed these problems immediately, limiting the framerate to 60, thus ensuring graphics, sound and gameplay all worked as intended. It’s still worth pointing out, however, and I hope a patch is being planned at this moment.

Oh my god, it’s like I have that cardboard box right in front of me!

Super Bomberman Collection may only cover a very specific slice of the franchise’s more than forty-game history, but it works perfectly as a reminder of why Bomberman became such a beloved series in the first place. Every single title included here is a blast to play, no pun intended. The visuals are charming, the music os fantastic, and the core gameplay loop is just THAT good. If you’re playing on PC, just make sure to lock the framerate and you should be good to go. Beyond that small caveat, this is a box full of pure fun. Enjoy it for what it is, and hopefully it won’t be too long before we get another collection that shines a spotlight on even more Bomberman classics.

Super Bomberman Collection is available now on PC, Switch and Switch 2.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB and Asus ROG Ally.

A copy of Super Bomberman Collection was provided by the publisher.