Four was balanced. Five was chaos. They chose chaos.
Four players in Bomberman made sense: two teams of two, or every player for themselves, and the grid had just enough room to breathe. Five broke that. The fifth player made the screen tighter, the explosions faster, and the matches — as one reviewer put it — 『truly wild.』 Hudson had the hardware to do this two years earlier: their Super Multitap came out in 1993. But Super Bomberman 3 in 1995 was the first time the series actually used all five ports. Why wait? Maybe because they knew what they were trading. Perfect balance for one more friend at the table. Predictable strategy for the kind of chaos you can only laugh at. When you think about it that way, the choice wasn't about technology at all. It was about who gets to play. And the answer they gave was: everyone.
About this game
Released in 1995 for the Super Famicom, Super Bomberman 3 was the first game in the series to support five-player simultaneous battle mode. The story follows White Bomber and Black Bomber as they travel across element-themed planets to stop the resurrected Five Dastardly Bombers under the command of Bagular. The game's battle mode became its defining feature, expanding the competitive chaos that made the series a household multiplayer staple in the mid-1990s.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Released on April 28, 1995, Super Bomberman 3 was developed by Hudson Soft under the direction of Shigeki Fujiwara and designed by Tatsumitsu Watanabe. The music was composed by Jun Chikuma and Keita Hoshi. The game marked a technical milestone as the first Bomberman title to support five simultaneous players in battle mode — the previous two Super Bomberman games had been limited to four. Notably, only two staff members were carried over from Bomberman '94: composer Jun Chikuma and art director Shoji Mizuno. The game sold over 612,000 copies in Japan, ranking 12th among the year's top-selling software. While released in Europe in October 1995 through Virgin Interactive Entertainment, it never reached North America, reportedly due to the closure of Hudson Soft USA.
Tricks & Tales
The story centers on the resurrection of the Five Dastardly Bombers, previously defeated in Super Bomberman 2, as they cause havoc across element-themed planets under their creator, Bagular. The graphics were simplified compared to earlier entries and resemble the visual style of the PC Engine Bomberman games. The game uses battery-backed save memory to store progress. Famitsu awarded the game 28 out of 40, while other publications gave higher marks: GamesMaster rated it 93%, Nintendo Magazine System 91/100, and Player One 90%. The Super Multitap peripheral, which enabled the five-player functionality, had been released by Hudson Soft in 1993 — two years before this game became one of the first titles to utilize all five controller ports, as earlier entries only supported four players.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Super Famicom and SNES region differences operate on two separate levels. First, there is a physical incompatibility: a Japanese Super Famicom cartridge and a North American SNES cartridge have different shell shapes. NTSC-J (Super Famicom) carts are narrower and will not seat in a North American SNES slot without the slot's internal tabs removed or bypassed; conversely, the wider NTSC-U carts cannot even be inserted into a Super Famicom. Second, even where cartridges physically fit — PAL carts share a shell shape closer to Super Famicom and will insert — a lockout chip on the motherboard (F411 for NTSC, F413 for PAL) will prevent the game from booting on a mismatched console. Running a Super Famicom cartridge on a Super Famicom purchased in Japan is of course straightforward; playing it on a foreign console requires either a mod or an adapter that addresses both the physical and the chip-level lock.
Maintenance Tips
The 72-pin cartridge connector is the most common maintenance point. Clean the gold-plated pins on cartridges with a cotton swab and 90%+ isopropyl alcohol; never use abrasive erasers on cartridge contacts. The connector slot on the console itself can be cleaned by inserting and removing a cartridge several times, or with a dedicated pin cleaner. For video output, S-Video provides significantly cleaner image quality than composite and uses the same multi-out port -- a passive adapter cable is all that is required. On early SHVC board revisions, a capacitor near the power LED can leak; inspect the board if the console shows instability. Use the original AC adapter or a verified equivalent: the SFC runs on 10V DC and is not compatible with Famicom or NES power supplies.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Super Bomberman 3 copies regularly.
Does Super Bomberman 3 need a save battery?
Yes. Super Bomberman 3 uses a coin battery inside the cartridge to keep your saved progress. These batteries were built to last around fifteen to twenty years; every copy is now past thirty. If the game forgets your save the moment you turn it off, the battery is likely tired and can be replaced — though doing so clears any existing save data.
Will a Japanese Super Bomberman 3 cartridge work on my SNES?
The Japanese Super Famicom version will not fit physically into a North American or European SNES without modification — the cartridge shape is different. However, the game itself is region-free once the physical barrier is removed, and it will run on any SNES hardware.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Super Bomberman 3
A short checklist for buying a used Super Famicom cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
-
Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
-
Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese Super Famicom cartridge; its shell is shaped differently from the North American SNES and will not fit without modification.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
-
If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
-
Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
-
Confirm it is genuine, not a reproduction
Sought-after titles are targets for reproduction boards with replacement labels.
Ask for a photo of the circuit board and look for factory markings. Favour a shop with a licensed second-hand dealer permit (古物商) — by law its stock has a traceable origin, your simplest guard against fakes.
-
Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
See the unit we have →Unexpected Discoveries
Games you weren't looking for — but might be glad you found.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
Share your memory ↑