The original Dyna Bomb launched back in 2017 to significant acclaim. While the explosive single-player didn’t set the games industry on fire, it developed a decent fanbase keen for more. And thus Dyna Bomb 2 arrives, promising to build on the original with new levels, new secrets, and a co-operative mode. In this Dyna Bomb 2 review, we’ll discuss whether the game stands out more than its predecessor in a very crowded genre.
That genre is the classic 2D platformer. Despite assumptions from naming convention, Dyna Bomb 2 is not a Bomberman clone. Far from it, in fact. Dyna Bomb 2 has more in common with the likes of Super Mario Bros. and Super Perils of Baking than the bomb-pooping robot adventures. Coming from the house of Ghost Sweeper, you could imagine there’s a bit of puzzling alongside the platform action. However, Dyna Bomb 2 is a much more straightforward affair.
The game plays as a series of stand alone levels divided into various differently themed worlds. Each level features a set amount of enemies to defeat, diamonds to collect and power-up tokens. In order to 100% complete each level, all of these must be attained in a single run. To aid you along the way, you have a fuel-limited jetpack (recharged through power-ups and walking) and can throw bombs. The bombs are limited however, so judicious use is required in order to kill every enemy in the level. There are also no checkpoint, so failure in any of these aspects – or of course, dying – results in a level restart.
Between levels you can access a shop. Here you can purchase both permanent and temporary power-ups. The temporary power-ups use the diamonds you collected within the levels and only apply for the next level you play. The permanent power-ups however, are as they say, permanent. These require you to collect all four power-up tokens within a level to gain a credit, and aren’t cheap. If you find yourself stuck on a later level these boosts can really tip things in your favour.
We say a ‘later level’ as Dyna Bomb 2 isn’t exactly a difficult game. It will take experienced players quite some time before they find the challenge in Dyna Bomb 2. However, that does make the colourful, cartoony platformer perfect for enjoying with younger gamers. And this is where the game’s co-operative mode comes into play.
Two players can join the action simultaneously, sharing hits, bombs and jetpack fuel. The levels play identically, and should one of the players stray too far they’ll be brought back onto the screen in a bubble for the other player to resurrect them from in a similar manner to Sonic the Hedgehog 2. As with the rest of the game, the mechanic works perfectly well, is somewhat unoriginal. But in that, while Dyna Bomb 2 isn’t one of the best family video games available, it can certainly provide an entertaining Saturday morning or two with younger gamers.
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