After almost a year of owning a Wii, I've finally figured out what the console's name actually means. Wii must be Japanese for 'mini-game', as that seems to be what every other game released consists of: Mario Party, WarioWare, Rayman Raving Rabbids and now Bomberman Land.

For those not in the know, Bomberman is one of the oldest gaming characters, dating back to the now ancient but much beloved ZX Spectrum in 1983, which saw Bomberman's debut. The game's concept was simple and incredibly addictive. Taking control of the titular Bomberman, you move around a grid-based map where many of the pathways are blocked by boulders. You must strategically drop bombs with a short fuse and then run out of the blast radius while they explode, clearing a path and also revealing power-up items to enhance your speed, the number of bombs you can drop at once, the blast radius and more. Soon the concept was built into the one of the most frantic, fun and addictive multiplayer games ever devised, where you needed to trap the other bombermen in the level between your bombs and their own so that they're taken out by explosions and you're the last bomberman standing. It was a simple formula, and one that the series has pulled off well in almost every game where the character has appeared [Providing we ignore the atrocious 'update', Bomberman Act: Zero. Ed].

Bomberman Land however is a collection of fifty mini-games that sees you taking control of Cheerful White (the bomberman) as you try to build your way through the rankings and progress through the five zones to confront The Champion, who looks like he's auditioning for a role in Brokeback Mountain. The games are fairly simplistic and generally follow every other mini-game format already out there, but that's not to say they're not fun. I understand why game companies have released these types of games for the Wii, as it really is difficult to play on the Wii for a long length of time without causing some discomfort, cramp or possible amputation to occur [Not to mention the risk of smacking fellow players about the head in a cramped environment! Sore Head Ed]. I enjoyed the pick up and play nature of this game and while I could argue that the story it provides is weak (to say the very least), its simplicity makes the game easy to follow.

Playing as Cheerful White, you must enter one of the five zones, starting with Ring, and compete to become top place on that leaderboard to proceed. If you gain top position then you are promoted to the next level, if your performance is average then you have to replay the zone again and if you play poorly then you are demoted from that zone. This is a crushing event, especially if you have worked hard to get into a particular zone; to be bumped back down is almost like a Premiership Football team having to play in the Coca Cola First Division! Adding this element actually makes you care a lot more about practicing certain games (an extensive training area is available) before trying your luck and risk losing your coveted spot in the final of the five zones, the Energy Zone.

Most of the criticism and praise for the Wii has been thrown at its controls. Some games (Smackdown in particular) seem to be an exercise in masochism, whilst others like Wii Sports work perfectly. Bomberman Land is somewhat in the middle; it's neither perfect nor a failure, but the fact this doesn't adversely affect the gameplay shows that the developers, Hudson, understood how to use the controller properly. The fact that the game comes with a full length, twenty-four page manual made me worry that the controls would be overcomplicated or simply unplayable. Thankfully, however, while moving Cheerful White is at times like trying to reel in a 400lb salmon with a toothpick attached to a piece of silly string, once you get to grips with the controls you'll be flying from level to level like nobody's business.

The games themselves are a little hit and miss, as with all mini-game collections, but with over forty on offer you won't catch me complaining. In fact, I love the fact that Hudson didn't just stop at twenty or so average to good games, but instead threw in everything that they could think of (or borrow). One game sees you firing at clay pigeons Duck Hunt-style (why has this old classic not been remade for the Wii yet?) and later you play a game that's curiously similar to the old 'Pop Out' game, where you must destroy a bouncing a balloon with a gun, which then splits into two separate smaller balloons that you must again hit until the balloons are destroyed. Both of these are definite highlights and even the very predictable games, such as having to sort bombs by colours, still have a certain charm to them. Because most games are very short, they're over before you know it and so you can blitz through those that aren't to your tastes and move quickly on to the ones that are real gems.

And speaking of gems, it would be wrong for me to forget that Bomberman Land comes bundled with the original game, which in its five available modes is a huge bonus. These five versions are played by using the Wiimote like an NES controller and are a wonderful blast from the past that you'll probably play more than the main game itself. This isn't a bad thing though; in fact, it's just another reason why I heartily recommend Bomberman Land. One thing that Hudson have done is to include a new Wiimote version that incorporates the movement sensor to place bombs and pick up items within the old game. I thought the controls would mess up this classic, but I'm glad that the designers were brave enough to have a go and it works as a nice bridge between the old and new games.

The original survived and thrived in multiplayer mode and Bomberman Land continues that legacy. Not only can four players play the classic version, but you can also play a wide variety of the mini-games with friends too, which increases the longevity immensely and, unlike most party games, having the original game to fall back on it means that if you do find the controls too difficult or get bored of the mini-games, you just blow each other up instead.

Graphically, the game doesn't scream next generation, with the cutesy graphics around the Super Mario Sunshine level, but fortunately for Bomberman Land, this doesn't matter in the slightest. It doesn't need ultra realistic textures or lighting - it just needs to look bright and fun, which is exactly what you get. The environments are simplistic but serve their purpose for the short mini-games themselves, which vary in terms of look but for the most part are simple, single screens with very little going on to make them stand out. The music meanwhile is as addictive as any drug - I may never get this tune out of my head! Everywhere I go, I keep hearing it and while I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, it did make me want to come back for more, so it must have worked on some level.

Bomberman Land could have been a mediocre Mario Party clone or simply a nostalgia-kick compilation like a lot of recent games. Instead however, it's actually a fantastic game that serves to not only pay tribute to Bomberman's proud heritage and introduce a new audience to the old classic, but prove that there's a new lease of life for Bomberman in 2008 and on the Wii. If you want a good few hours of pure gaming fun alone or with friends then I can't recommend Bomberman Land highly enough.

Reviewed by David Simpson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).