Bomber Man have to climb the 50 floors of the underground labyrinth and reach the surface in order to become human.
You must accomplish two things on each floor: You must destroy every enemy, and you must reveal the exit which can only be used once ever enemy is defeated.
Every floor contains one power-up that can increase Bomber Man's abilities, as well as his chances for survival. Bomber Man begins the game with ability to produce one bomb at a time with an explosion range of one square. Power-ups can be collected to increase both the number of bombs he can drop, and the range of the explosions.
The touch of an enemy, and being caught in an explosion are both lethal to Bomber Man (but he can withstand explosions if he collects the Flamepass power-up). The bombs detonate on their own a couple of seconds after being dropped, but the Detonator power-up can give Bomber Man the useful ability to detonate the bombs on command whenever he chooses. Bomber Man's bombs can also detonate one another in chain reactions.
[Control]
-- Use the direction pad to direct Bomber Man in any one of the four cardinal directions.
-- A button: Press the A button to drop a bomb on the tile that Bomber Man is currently standing on. If Bomber Man does not possess the Detonator power-up, the bomb will self destruct after a couple of seconds.
-- B button: Only used if you have the Detonator power-up. Press the B button to detonate the oldest bomb that you have remaining on the screen.
-- Start button: Start/Pause the game.
-- Select button: Choose "Start" or "Continue". You have to input secret code for the "Continue" feature. You will get this secret code when game over.
[Enemies]
There are eight different enemies in the underground labyrinth, each one a little different from the others. They move at a variety of speeds, with the fast monsters capable of overtaking Bomber Man at full speed. They have varying degrees of intelligence. Some wander aimlessly about the stage, while others hone in on you and stay on your trail when you try to get away. And three of the monsters are capable of passing through the walls effortlessly. They are much harder to destroy, but if you happen to blow up a wall that they are inside of, they will be killed in the process.
[Powerups]
There are eight different powerups. Some are more rare or valuable than others, but it's a good idea to make sure you find the particular power-up hidden in every stage. To miss out on one is to put yourself, and Bomber Man, at a disadvantage. Dying from an explosion or touching an enemy results in losing all the powerups.
-- Bombs: Increases the amount of bombs dropped at a time by 1; collectible multiple times.
-- Flames: Increases explosion range from the bomb in four directions by 1 square; collectible multiple times.
-- Speed: Increases movement speed. Obtainable only in Stage 4.
-- Wallpass: Gives the ability to pass through brick walls that can be destroyed (but not indestructible walls), just like the enemies that have it such as Kondoria, Ovapi, and Pontan.
-- Detonator: Gives the ability to detonate the oldest bomb (use B button)
-- Bombpass: Gives the ability to pass through bombs.
-- Flamepass: Gives immunity to explosions.
-- Mystery: Grants temporary invincibility from being harmed by monsters or explosions.
