I remember having the absolute best time with this game when it was released for the trusty old NES. I remember that I had seen a review in some gaming mag, and they were totally blown away by it, and after taking a look at the screen shots, I was too.
So, I’m back to playing this old gem and am having an absolute ‘blast’ with it. :roll: I think one of the reasons I liked it so much is that it was very similar to Metroid in terms of it’s style of play. After each boss you defeated, your vehicle would gain an upgrade that would allow you to proceed further in the game world. Being able to drive up walls, and then across ceilings was the absolute best!
Man, would I love to see a sequel on one of the current systems…
Blaster Master was one of my favorite NES games as well. I borrowed it from a friend for a couple of weeks and played it non-stop. I’d never made the connection to Metroid until you mentioned it, but yeah, it did have a lot of similarities. By the time I had enough to buy a copy for myself, you couldn’t find the game anywhere
I can’t remember - could you save your progress at all in the game? I think that’s the only thing that prevented me from finishing it.
Remember the grenade trick? I’d leave the game paused for five minutes sometimes :D
There was a horrible sequel made for the PSX called “Blaster Master: Blasting Again” or some sort. The game had nausea-inducing frame rates, and I couldn’t bring myself to play it for more than 5 minutes (keep in mind this was Winter 2001, when the PS2 had already been released).
I think there might’ve been a GBA or GBC remake of the game a couple years ago as well.
It didn’t at all have ‘horrible framerates’ it in fact played at a very respectable level, quite smoothly. The draw distance was surprisingly impressive given you can sit your tank up in a nearby cliff and scan the entire nearby surroundings in which you can actually see the enemies all around without much draw in or pop-up (impressive for PSX). Control was tight, shooting solid, only real complaint I had was that it featured quite a bit of backtracking and ‘door unlocking’. (Par for the genre, but it got a bit irritating doing ti so often)
Fantastic bosses in it as well. Highly recommended if you;re willing to blow $10
Oh and there was also a sequel for Genesis IIRC, but I never did get a chance to actually spend time with it.
That’s right - there were no saves. You had to finish it in one sitting. When I first got this game, I got to the end boss, but could never finish him. Several years later, I decided to get the job done, and I did. It was definitely a sense of achievement. (I have a habit of getting easily frustrated and giving up after a few failures.)
Now, however, you should be able to get through it with no problems. Run it through an emulator - you can just freeze/load state at any time.
The genesis and GB/C games are also quite good. One GB game is new, one was a remake.
A GBA version would be lovely, but the ps1 dealie tanked I think.
also:
"It didn’t at all have ‘horrible framerates’ it in fact played at a very respectable level, quite smoothly. The draw distance was surprisingly impressive given you can sit your tank up in a nearby cliff and scan the entire nearby surroundings in which you can actually see the enemies all around without much draw in or pop-up (impressive for PSX). Control was tight, shooting solid, only real complaint I had was that it featured quite a bit of backtracking and ‘door unlocking’. "
I really really wanted to like it… I won’t say anything else but this: I found it to be the opposite of what you posted in every imaginable way.
