Bomberman 64: The Second Attack! arrived in 2000 as one of the final major releases in the Nintendo 64's commercial lifespan, a period when the platform was already ceding ground to the PlayStation and anticipation for the GameCube was building. Hudson had previously released Bomberman 64 in 1997, an ambitious but divisive reinvention of the classic formula that traded the series' top-down grid-based play for a three-dimensional action-adventure structure. The Second Attack doubled down on that direction, expanding the scope into a full role-playing-inflected action game with a narrative framework, elemental mechanics, and a companion character named Pommy — a creature that travels alongside Bomberman and can be fed items to evolve into different forms, each granting distinct abilities in combat and puzzle-solving.
The game's story follows Bomberman after the events of the first N64 entry, sending him on a journey across multiple themed worlds to recover powerful elemental stones called Elemental Stones, each tied to a different bomb type. These bomb types — Fire, Wind, Ice, Thunder, Light, and Dark — are central to the gameplay loop. Players must equip the appropriate elemental bomb to interact with environmental hazards, defeat specific enemies, and unlock pathways, giving the game a puzzle-adventure texture layered on top of its action foundation. The world structure is hub-based, with Bomberman navigating a spaceship called the Warship Robin between planetary stages, each of which contains multiple areas, hidden items, and boss encounters.
Controls on the N64 controller translate reasonably well to the three-dimensional space: Bomberman can kick, throw, and pump bombs to adjust their blast radius, mechanics inherited from the series' earlier 3D experiments. Pumping a bomb — holding the button to inflate it before throwing — allows for variable explosion sizes, a skill that becomes essential for reaching distant targets and solving environmental puzzles. The camera, a persistent challenge in N64-era 3D games, can be manually adjusted but occasionally struggles in tight interior spaces.
Pommy's evolution system adds a layer of long-term investment unusual for the series. By feeding Pommy specific food items found throughout levels, players can guide his development along different evolutionary paths, affecting both his combat behavior and his passive support role. This system encouraged exploration and item collection beyond what the core bomb-based gameplay required.
The multiplayer mode supports up to four players and retains the series' traditional battle arena format, offering a more familiar Bomberman experience for those who found the single-player campaign's RPG leanings unfamiliar. However, the game's North American release was limited in distribution, making it a relatively rare cartridge, and its late arrival on the platform meant it received less attention than it might have earned earlier in the N64's life. Reception at the time was mixed, with critics acknowledging the ambition of its systems while noting the camera and some pacing issues in the later worlds.
