Bomberman Password Guide For NES

Many years ago I posted an article about the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Hudson soft's Bomberman on GameFAQs.
The "BOMBERMAN PASSWORD SYSTEM GUIDE", explained how we can jump to almost any Bomberman level we want by creating a working in-game password using only your trusty pen and paper. My 2005 guide explained how we can start the game on our desired game stage while equipped with the maximum number of those deadly Bomberman bombs with maxed out explosion range just by adding, subtracting, and interchanging portions of its 20 character password.


An Explosive Overview

Bomberman is a game developed by Hudson soft and Actionamics and released on December 19th, 1985 in Japan and January 1989 in North America. The object of the game is to strategically place bombs to vaporize your weird enemies. The Nintendo Entertainment System version of this should give us 50 levels of sheer cosmic boredom. This is one of those boring Nintendo Entertainment System games that is extremely fun and addictive. Who says you cannot combine the adjectives "fun" and "boring"? With Bomberman you can!


The Password System

The Nintendo Entertainment System version of Bomberman has a built in password option so we can track our game progress. Information such as how many bombs we already have, how destructive these bombs are in terms of explosion range, scores, game stage, and so on are kept within its passwords. A valid Bomberman password will contain 20 letters from "A" to "P".
The whole password guide concept is really easy to understand - all you need is the password table and Bomberman's Stage 00 base password "B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A".


The Password Table

In the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Bomberman, our password table assigns a specific value to these fifteen (15) letters in the "A" to "P" range.
A = 7
B = 0
C = 11
D = 4
E = 14
F = 9
G = 13
H = 1
I = 6
J = 3
K = 10
L = 15
M = 2
N = 5
O = 8
P = 12



How It Works

The base password B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A takes you to Stage 00 of Bomberman for NES; along with 1 bomb that has 1 square bomb range. Tthe letter B corresponds to 0 (zero) and the letter A corresponds to 7 if we were to follow the Password table above.

B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A therefore would be the same as 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7. The three major formula in my guide goes:

To add one bomb:
@, @, @, @, @, +1, -1, +1, -1, +2, -1, +1, -1, +1, @, @, @, @, @, +4

The formula string above is something that we add to our base password which is B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A or also known as 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 7. The "@" symbol signifies that the letter in the said position must remain the same.

Thus:
B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A
also known as:
0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 7
added to:
@, @, @, @, @, +1, -1, +1, -1, +2, -1, +1, -1, +1, @, @, @, @, @, +4
should give us:
0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 8, (negative 1), 8, (negative 1), 9, (negative 1), 8, (negative 1), 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 11

What do we assign to the resulting negative numbers after our manipulation!? Since we can only assign zero (0) to fifteen (15) to the letters the letters "A" to "P", we will make an imaginary rotation so the counting would go this way:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 0, 1, 2, 3,... and so on.

Basing on our own ultra boring version of X and Y number line:
-1, 0, +1
is the same as:
15, 0, 1 in our Bomberman for NES password system guide.

In our case, a negative 1 result would be equivalent to fifteen (15) if we were to apply this rotation counting; and the complete resulting password we will get is:
0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 8, 15, 8, 15, 9, 15, 8, 15, 0, 7, 0, 7, 0, 11
We will then convert the twenty (20) numbers above into their own respective letter by looking on our password table once again. We will then get this password:
B, A, B, A, B, O, L, O, L, F, L, O, L, O, B, A, B, A, B, C

The initial Bomberman password we modified takes us to Stage 00, along with one (1) bomb and one (1) square bomb explosion range; the resulting B, A, B, A, B, O, L, O, L, F, L, O, L, O, B, A, B, A, B, C should also take us to Stage 00 but we are now able to carry 2 bombs instead.

The following are some other formula from my Bomberman Password System Guide for the Nintendo Entertainment System:

To add one bomb range:
@, @, @, @, @, +1, @, @, @, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +6

To add on stage / level:
@, @, +1, -1, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, @

On one note, if you are currently in stage 15 and plans to skip to stage 16; or stage 31 and plans to skip to stage 32; or stage 47 and plans to skip to stage 48, the formula must be:
@, @, +1, -1, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -2, +2, -1, +1, +2

Immune to your bombs:
This formula makes our Bomberman character invulnerable to his bombs. We will no longer hear the annoying "pwwwwzzzttttt" sound the moment Bomberman gets hit with his bomb blasts. The formula is to literally interchange the password characters on the seventh and eight positions.
Thus:
B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A
becomes:
B, A, B, A, B, A, A, B, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A

Have bomb detonator:
On the other hand, this formula should give our Bomberman character a remote control he can use to detonate his bombs at will. Interchange the password characters on the second and third positions to acquire this power up.
Thus:
B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A
becomes:
B, B, A, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A


Alternative Way, Anyone!?

As always, to make things more easier for the gaming masses, I have created a simple tool that would allow us to save trees by not computing Bomberman passwords on a lousy piece of paper. We can then try whatever password we can produce on Game Oldies Bomberman for NES page. The Non-Technical Technical Support is not in any way affiliated with whoever runs the Game Oldies website.
Stage Select (00 - 50):
Number of Bombs (01 - 10):
Bomb's Range (01 - 15):
Combining the "Bomb Detonator" and "Immune to Bombs" features may cause weird results. For the "Bomb Detonator" and "Immune to Bombs" features:
  • 00 = NO
  • 01 = YES
Have Bomb Detonator:
Immune to Bombs:






Reference(s) / Test Environment(s):

  1. Erickson Deveza's Bomberman Password Guide for Nintendo Entertainment System
  2. http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563390-bomberman/faqs/39608
  3. Javascript tool written by Erickson Deveza



Bomberman Password Guide For NES Bomberman Password Guide For NES Reviewed by Admin Moronman on 10:44 PM Rating: 5

2 comments:

  1. There is an error in the password generator. For bomb range 2 it generates password for range 1; bomb range 3 generates password for range 2.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Besides... I would like to generate the password with the speed-up power up of level 4. Is it possible?

    ReplyDelete