Dear music section friends, please hold off on changing the track for a moment. Today, this old hand wants to share a story. Back in the day, I used to play Tank Battle on the NES, before smartphones existed, and you had to rely on guesswork to fire the shells. Later, I would stand in arcades watching people play Crazy Tank. Then on PC, there were games like Worms and Bomb Me, where you had to calculate angles and wind for each shot, and it could entertain you for an entire afternoon. Recently, some young folks recommended Bomb Island 2 to me. At first, I thought it was just another cute-themed reskin, but once I tried it, hey, it really brought back that old feeling.
The core is still the same line-drag aiming system: hold the power with your right hand, release to fire. Wind direction and terrain are there, but the pacing is much lighter than the old PC version; the beginner tutorial lets you play the first match in three minutes. I like how it hides strategy within easy controls, like lobbing over a hill or, when facing a headwind, not pulling all the way—just raising the angle by a notch, and the shell can go around rocks to hit the target. There's a lot of progression content like pet bonds, weapons, mounts, and skins; you don't need to understand everything at the start, just follow the main story. The social aspect is lively too: team up for battles, form relationships, have kids. When I, as an older guy, join in, I feel like a father giving away his daughter, enjoying watching young people pair up.
The advantages are obvious: the art style is healing, the BGM is cheerful but not annoying, the controls are not tiring, and 2v2 matches or dungeon runs for relaxation are both fine. The drawbacks also have to be mentioned: the progression line in the later stages is relatively long, having too many appearances can make you spend more than intended, and sometimes you encounter pros in matchmaking who completely outmatch you. Fortunately, it's free to play, so you can gradually accumulate progress without spending money. A few little tips: don't just look at the power bar, the wind direction arrow is more important than anything; switch between high throws and low throws, don't rely on just one move; don't feed pets randomly, focus on building bonds first; when in a team, signal the angle, it's better than everyone playing individually; complete daily activities first, and spend on appearances according to your means.
There was a game where I was going all out against the wind with a straight shot, and the shell ended up drifting straight into the sea. My teammate sent a question mark, and I felt like I was back in the days when the Worms veterans used to ridicule me. Later, I raised the angle by two notches, and one shot hit the leftover health behind a rock. That feeling was like being twenty years younger. Friends in the music community who have played Gunbound or Worms can give it a try. It works well as a casual BGM for a healing shooting tavern—pretty nice. 😄