don't play this without save states, worst mistake of my life
One of the highlights of the NES library undoubtedly but it still has a fair share of major issues that bring it down. One is the lack of passwords and saves, which isn't too uncommon for the time at all but seeing as this is pretty long for an NES title it could really use some.
The other, much bigger issue is the fucking wall climbing mechanics introduced after Area 6. They are so fucking bad. A lot of people will tell you this but I can not stress how much more miserable the game becomes with them. You'll always cling to the sides of platforms when you just want to fall from one and even though there's only one new area after this is obtained I probably could count more than 50 times it tripped me up. It's such a shame too, because it's so late in the game and leading up to that point it controls and plays wonderfully. I wish you could just turn wall climbing on and off or something on the pause menu, only having it turned on when absolutely necessary. It's probably one of the most absurd endgame blunders I can think of, at least gameplay-wise. Crusader of Centy still has this beat if we count plot-related ones.
Despite the wall climbing being from hell, I would still recommend this. Maybe I wouldn't recommend beating it, but for that first half especially it's a lot of fun. I just wish it could've sustained that enjoyability longer than it does, and I'd definitely have it at an 8 or so if that was the case.
The other, much bigger issue is the fucking wall climbing mechanics introduced after Area 6. They are so fucking bad. A lot of people will tell you this but I can not stress how much more miserable the game becomes with them. You'll always cling to the sides of platforms when you just want to fall from one and even though there's only one new area after this is obtained I probably could count more than 50 times it tripped me up. It's such a shame too, because it's so late in the game and leading up to that point it controls and plays wonderfully. I wish you could just turn wall climbing on and off or something on the pause menu, only having it turned on when absolutely necessary. It's probably one of the most absurd endgame blunders I can think of, at least gameplay-wise. Crusader of Centy still has this beat if we count plot-related ones.
Despite the wall climbing being from hell, I would still recommend this. Maybe I wouldn't recommend beating it, but for that first half especially it's a lot of fun. I just wish it could've sustained that enjoyability longer than it does, and I'd definitely have it at an 8 or so if that was the case.
I'm stuck on Area 3
It's like Metroid. Amazing music, nice atmosphere for NES standards, it's a technical marvel...
But the exploration platformer genre was simply not there yet in terms of its game design mentality branching out from the action platformer in the right ways, and in terms of its now laser-focused awareness on what quality of life features the genre needs, or at least benefits heavily from.
I want to play Blaster Master Zero one day, though. It looks like good fun!
It's like Metroid. Amazing music, nice atmosphere for NES standards, it's a technical marvel...
But the exploration platformer genre was simply not there yet in terms of its game design mentality branching out from the action platformer in the right ways, and in terms of its now laser-focused awareness on what quality of life features the genre needs, or at least benefits heavily from.
I want to play Blaster Master Zero one day, though. It looks like good fun!
This game has some great ideas that are barely expanded upon or executed well. Going into top-down sections for supplies is a great idea, but it's execution is meh. The top-down gun upgrades are lost when you get hit and are extremely sparse in placement, so unless you're really good you probably won't keep it. This problem is made greater by the fact that every boss is in the top-down section. Why half of the bosses aren't in the SOPHIA sections is beyond me, since you also get ammo for SOPHIA from the top-down sections, who controls much better than Jason. In fact, why couldn't every boss be with SOPHIA? The game would instantly be better.
Anyway, you can also play as Jason in the 2D sections, but he's way worse to play as than SOPHIA. There's only two moments where playing as him in the overworld is necessary, and I think there could've been more honestly, because what we got was pretty basic. Still, those two moments were pretty neat.
The backtracking is also a neat idea, but its execution is dumb. You go from stage 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, then back to 1 with new abilities, from there get to 5 and 6, go back to level 1 and then 2, go to level 7, back to 2 and then 3, and then 8. Why was it straightforward for half the game before the developers said, "Now go back to the very beginning"? It should've had level 1 be a center world where you go to each level, get a powerup, go back to 1, then go to the next stage through there. Or, just a completely interconnected map.
And then there's the final level, which it seems was made by someone who hates videogames. Extremely precise jumps, a jank wall climb, and general timewasting is present all throughout. Why? I don't know, I guess developers were still used to arcades where you don't want people to finish your game.
Oh yeah, obligatory 'Play the Japanese Version because they removed unlimited continues in the US versions because of rentals or something'. I actually played the US version, but I used save states. I know, I'm too far gone. Other than that, the game is fine. 6/10 for now, but it could go lower after I play Blaster Master Zero.
Anyway, you can also play as Jason in the 2D sections, but he's way worse to play as than SOPHIA. There's only two moments where playing as him in the overworld is necessary, and I think there could've been more honestly, because what we got was pretty basic. Still, those two moments were pretty neat.
The backtracking is also a neat idea, but its execution is dumb. You go from stage 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, then back to 1 with new abilities, from there get to 5 and 6, go back to level 1 and then 2, go to level 7, back to 2 and then 3, and then 8. Why was it straightforward for half the game before the developers said, "Now go back to the very beginning"? It should've had level 1 be a center world where you go to each level, get a powerup, go back to 1, then go to the next stage through there. Or, just a completely interconnected map.
And then there's the final level, which it seems was made by someone who hates videogames. Extremely precise jumps, a jank wall climb, and general timewasting is present all throughout. Why? I don't know, I guess developers were still used to arcades where you don't want people to finish your game.
Oh yeah, obligatory 'Play the Japanese Version because they removed unlimited continues in the US versions because of rentals or something'. I actually played the US version, but I used save states. I know, I'm too far gone. Other than that, the game is fine. 6/10 for now, but it could go lower after I play Blaster Master Zero.
I really do love this game but MAN was it hard to go back to, especially after playing Zero 1 and 2. I really can't point to anything inherintly wrong with Blaster Master; it's level design is solid, music is quite good (save for area 8, that shit sucks), the game has a solid challenge, and exploration is quite fun. But unfortunately, the main issue with the game is the era it was released in. Limited lives (which is a death sentence in metroidvanias), no saving, no map, insta-kills, et cetera. I would love if this game got a modern remaster or something, because the core of a great game is here. But unfortunately, I can only recommend the original Famicom version (with infinite continues).
Pros:
+ a huge overworld with hidden secrets and a revolutionary approach to progression
+ three-fold gameplay of tank, on foot and overhead action is unique and seamless
+ all levels have their own visual character and hold specific challenges
+ equipment upgrades noticeably change the gameplay and movement options
+ enemies do not respawn and pickups do not disappear after exiting a screen
+ re-entering areas and upgrading weapons as needed is possible
+ health of the main character can be replenished by entering the tank
+ boss fights can be retried again right away
+ controls on foot as well as in the tank are tight and even make strafing possible ...
Cons:
- ... except for the one-hit fall damage on foot that leads to cheap deaths
- continues are secretely limited and their amount is kept from the player
- no save or password system leads to a lot of frustration on death
- losing health and gun power on hit is a frustrating double punishment
- navigating the overworld and knowing where to go is difficult
- entering non-boss areas on foot for upgrades is basically a waste of time
- chances for finding hover and health pickups is not equally distributed
- backgrounds are lifeless and not animated
- grenades are apparently useless (this might be an issue with my emulator)
- late stage bosses appear to have RNG attacks
Magic Moment: Returning to the first screen of the game and realizing that progress was always in plain sight.
Playtime: Roughly 5 hours before dying in the final level and deciding that I was satisfied. Played on a shoddy NES emulator without save states originally released on Playstation 1 but repackaged for Playstation 4. I know.
Verdict:
As someone who grew up without a NES, this is one of those classic games that seems to have become synonymous with the success of Nintendo's first console. From a contemporary perspective, that fascination is easily understood: the controls are tight, the action is difficult without ever becoming unfair, the overworld traversal is engaging and the progression through a complex overworld in search of permanent upgrades predated the modern codification of Metroidvanias. At the same time, the lack of a save feature and the severe punishment of being hit by an enemy leads to a lot of frustration and requires memorisation of level layouts and enemy behaviors (at least when playing this without save states). Despite this criticism, playing Blaster Master still holds a lot of entertainment and gives insights into the origin of what would become an entire series of action games that is till going strong to this day.
Play this once if you want to know what the fuss is about, but an emulator is mandatory.
+ a huge overworld with hidden secrets and a revolutionary approach to progression
+ three-fold gameplay of tank, on foot and overhead action is unique and seamless
+ all levels have their own visual character and hold specific challenges
+ equipment upgrades noticeably change the gameplay and movement options
+ enemies do not respawn and pickups do not disappear after exiting a screen
+ re-entering areas and upgrading weapons as needed is possible
+ health of the main character can be replenished by entering the tank
+ boss fights can be retried again right away
+ controls on foot as well as in the tank are tight and even make strafing possible ...
Cons:
- ... except for the one-hit fall damage on foot that leads to cheap deaths
- continues are secretely limited and their amount is kept from the player
- no save or password system leads to a lot of frustration on death
- losing health and gun power on hit is a frustrating double punishment
- navigating the overworld and knowing where to go is difficult
- entering non-boss areas on foot for upgrades is basically a waste of time
- chances for finding hover and health pickups is not equally distributed
- backgrounds are lifeless and not animated
- grenades are apparently useless (this might be an issue with my emulator)
- late stage bosses appear to have RNG attacks
Magic Moment: Returning to the first screen of the game and realizing that progress was always in plain sight.
Playtime: Roughly 5 hours before dying in the final level and deciding that I was satisfied. Played on a shoddy NES emulator without save states originally released on Playstation 1 but repackaged for Playstation 4. I know.
Verdict:
As someone who grew up without a NES, this is one of those classic games that seems to have become synonymous with the success of Nintendo's first console. From a contemporary perspective, that fascination is easily understood: the controls are tight, the action is difficult without ever becoming unfair, the overworld traversal is engaging and the progression through a complex overworld in search of permanent upgrades predated the modern codification of Metroidvanias. At the same time, the lack of a save feature and the severe punishment of being hit by an enemy leads to a lot of frustration and requires memorisation of level layouts and enemy behaviors (at least when playing this without save states). Despite this criticism, playing Blaster Master still holds a lot of entertainment and gives insights into the origin of what would become an entire series of action games that is till going strong to this day.
Play this once if you want to know what the fuss is about, but an emulator is mandatory.
The wall upgrade you get in the end is not only a cumbersome and horribly-designed mechanic, there are traps in the last level whose very premise is predicated on the fact that the wall upgrade is cumbersome, horribly designed, and not even necessarily so. Maybe they could have just made an upgrade that was useful and fun instead of build its awfulness into the level design and then just shrug and say I dunno, get better at games, nerd. Or, you know, at least let me turn it off! I had such a blast playing this game otherwise and it certainly would have been in my top three NES games but then it just... I mean just... there's difficult, and then there's just the sheer contempt that developers had for game players back in the 80's and 90's. Who hurt them? And I mean then after you see the way they treat other people like this, and then you're going to turn around and even try to make me feel bad for using save states? Why shouldn't I use them? What have they ever done for me lately to deserve me not using them?
Just about a masterpiece, but held back by the lives/continues not working out and the gun meter issues. Those issues are pretty easily mitigated though by playing on modern hardware. Controls well, filled with cool visuals and music and a ton of interesting ideas. The best Metroidvania on the NES; it absolutely eclipses the first Metroid and is overall more fulfilling than the fun but flawed Simon's Quest.
Play the Japanese version, the U.S. version's limited continues are an annoying change. It's a fun metroidvania though I wish your upgrades had a greater effect (aside from Wall 2 which just makes the final area super frustrating) and it was easier to find hover and gun pickups.
This review contains spoilers
An early metroidvania with the dumbest child isekai plot you could ever think of and a lack of infinite continues in the western version because videogames back then were simple toys that needed to last long instead of works of art.
Despite the ambition that shines through at first with the vulnerability with which the Sunsoft team portrayed the pilot of the SOPHIA in a manner similar to cinematic platformers, a massive world for NES standards bringing different little environments with a graphical simulation of 3D depht at some points...
Gameplay wise it's just clunky. As one of their first projects it was maybe too ambitious and couldn't be polished properly. Early on, there are some spots where the SOPHIA can get stuck on and you simply need to commit suicide to reset things, even if later when you come through that area with the new powerups, you can get out. Unlike posterior games in the genre like Super Metroid, where you can toggle the weapons on and off: you can fire the special shots when pressing down and the fire button (good luck swimming without wasting it) and near the end of the game the platforming becomes extremely annoying because there's a required improvement to the vehicle where it starts automatically climbing up and down walls, making jumps unnecesarily complicated because you can't turn that off. Metroid II would later improve on this wall-climb ability by making it activate while you are in rolling ball mode.
And well, compared to Metroid or The Guardian Legend for NES, the atmosphere is lacking, and compared to the latter, the story is as minimal as you can get. Because it doesn't have a password system in neither the japanese or the western versions, you also have to beat it in one sitting, forcing you to replay it from scratch whenever you turn it off, which is a sin for a 4 hour metroidvania. I used save states at the start of every area so I could continue later once I got tired, I'm not falling on this archaic trap for kids from the 80s who had nothing better to escape to.
Despite the ambition that shines through at first with the vulnerability with which the Sunsoft team portrayed the pilot of the SOPHIA in a manner similar to cinematic platformers, a massive world for NES standards bringing different little environments with a graphical simulation of 3D depht at some points...
Gameplay wise it's just clunky. As one of their first projects it was maybe too ambitious and couldn't be polished properly. Early on, there are some spots where the SOPHIA can get stuck on and you simply need to commit suicide to reset things, even if later when you come through that area with the new powerups, you can get out. Unlike posterior games in the genre like Super Metroid, where you can toggle the weapons on and off: you can fire the special shots when pressing down and the fire button (good luck swimming without wasting it) and near the end of the game the platforming becomes extremely annoying because there's a required improvement to the vehicle where it starts automatically climbing up and down walls, making jumps unnecesarily complicated because you can't turn that off. Metroid II would later improve on this wall-climb ability by making it activate while you are in rolling ball mode.
And well, compared to Metroid or The Guardian Legend for NES, the atmosphere is lacking, and compared to the latter, the story is as minimal as you can get. Because it doesn't have a password system in neither the japanese or the western versions, you also have to beat it in one sitting, forcing you to replay it from scratch whenever you turn it off, which is a sin for a 4 hour metroidvania. I used save states at the start of every area so I could continue later once I got tired, I'm not falling on this archaic trap for kids from the 80s who had nothing better to escape to.
Your Frog gets lost, then you kill it in Stage 4. Then you kill it again in Stage 7. Then he appears in the Ending. I don't get it but the game is good
A Nes classic that has not aged as well as others. The lack of continues really hurts the game and the level design can be frustrating especially with the clunky controls. Many of the doors scattered throughout the levels only exist to waste time which is simply put, a bad design choice. Still a fun game and worth a try.
Play the Japanese version if you're interested on Kane Gardner, really recommend it. Otherwise play Zero
No
The game that lit my imagination as a child. As horrible as that intro is, it really introduced me to the idea of an adventure.
While definitely not one of the biggest developers at the time, nowhere near the same level as Nintendo, Sega, or even smaller ones like Konami and Capcom, Sunsoft did make quite a number of niche, quality titles at the time. Even though a good number of them weren’t anything too special compared to other games, they did provide enjoyable enough gameplay to where many people still remember a handful of their titles fondly to this day, such as the Batman games for the NES, Journey to Silius, and… Fester’s Quest…… ok, we can ignore that that one existed, because that will be the best for everyone. But anyway, out of all of their titles, they are definitely most well known for one game, which would launch their main flagship series, and at the time, was designed to be the greatest action game ever made. Whether they succeeded or not on that front is debatable, but nonetheless, this game would turn out to be the original Blaster Master.
I had known about this game for a VERY long time, and I had wanted to play through it for a long time. Based on what I had seen and played myself, it looked pretty good, and considering it has gotten plenty of sequels and spin-offs to this day, including the Blaster Master Zero trilogy, which looks awesome, it was clear that many people loved and still remembered the series all the way to this day, so it must still hold some level of quality all the way to this day. After putting it off for a long time, focusing on plenty of other titles, I finally decided to check it out, and yeah, it is pretty great… but not as good as I would’ve liked it to be. A lot of it is pretty impressive for the time, but there are a lot of little things that hold this game back from being what I would consider one of the best of the NES library. Nonetheless, I still had a great time with it, and I wish I had checked it out sooner.
The story is about the most generic kid ever, Jason, trying to save his frog from a land full of mutants, and doing so by piloting a giant tank named Sophia that he just so happens to find, so it is clear this is the best story told in all media, the graphics are pretty great, being very impressive for the time, even if other games that look more visually appealing, like Mega Man, had already come out by then, the music is fantastic, with one or two iconic tracks present that you will definitely remember after beating it, as well as plenty of other good tunes, the control is pretty good most of the time, with there being plenty of options to maneuver around and get to new places, but there are plenty of instances where I had trouble with them due to some slipperiness in both parts of the gameplay, and speaking of which, the gameplay is pretty inventive, taking inspiration from plenty of different places, and creating something unique that stands out from the rest.
The game is primarily a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Jason and Sophia, go through 8 separate areas filled with plenty of pathways, caves, and dangers, take out plenty of enemies that will attempt to take you down, all of them being either gray or red, because colors weren’t invented yet, obviously, gather plenty of health items, weapons, and upgrades to give you an edge over everything, and take on plenty of big, disgusting bosses that will test your skills in every way. Once again, this is all typical for a game on the NES, but the way that Blaster Master differs from all of them is how it allows you to proceed forward and take out your targets. Given how you are piloting a tank for a majority of the game, you are given plenty of weapons you can find to take out enemies, such as a barrage of missiles, homing missiles, and even thunder bolts, but also, you are given plenty of choices for aiming your shots, so you can easily take out plenty of threats from plenty of angles, which may not seem like much, but considering how many NES games only let you fire in one direction most of the time, this is pretty innovative for an action platformer. Not to mention, as you go along in the game, you can gather plenty of upgrades for Sophia, which not only gives you new abilities such as being able to hover, pilot through water, and climb up walls and ceilings, but it allows you to access new areas that were once inaccessible, similarly to Metroid, really providing a sense of discovery and progression other games at the time just couldn’t manage.
But that is only the start of the options you have to moving through areas and kicking ass. At any time, you are able to get out of Sophia and traverse on foot, which you’ll need to do plenty of times to access new areas you normally wouldn’t be able to otherwise. While on foot, you can also access caves and dungeons, which lead to the second gameplay style featured, which are top-down adventure segments, where you move through a series of rooms, take out plenty of enemies with your weapons, gather plenty of health and upgrades to help you out, and fight all of the game’s bosses. It gives off plenty of Zelda vibes all throughout, and these sections can be pretty fun, even if they do get repetitive towards the end of the game, even with some of the bosses being repeated as you get closer to the end, which is never fun. Not to mention, whenever you get damaged in this mode, not only do you lose health, but also a bit of your gun’s upgrade, which is a fair enough punishment I guess, but it does really suck, and it makes you feel like the biggest tool. Just gotta get good, I guess.
Now, despite all of the good things this game has going for it, like I mentioned before, there are a lot of little things in this game that do bug me, including those moments of slippery control and repetition that plagues the game at points. First off, all of the locations and enemies in this game, while being cool to see, I can’t lie, are pretty bland overall. Sure, the bosses have some cool designs, but in terms of everything else, it all feels pretty generic for an NES game, which does suck, but it isn’t that big of a deal if you don’t care too much about something like that. Secondly, there are some moments of poor design that can be seen throughout, such as when you are going through a door, and you get hit by an enemy immediately without being able to do anything. That shit sucked in Metroid, and it still sucks here.
In addition to that, like I mentioned before, all of the bosses you fight in the game are all fought in the top-down sections as Jason, which does kinda suck, because this game REALLY needs some big fights while you’re in Sophia. Not to say that there isn’t already plenty of challenge in the side-scrolling sections, but come on, you are piloting a super-powered tank with missiles and lighting bolts. That is just SCREAMING with boss fight potential against something, but alas, we never get anything like that. Hopefully this is fixed in later games, but for now, it is somewhat disappointing.
Overall, despite some repetition, blandness with the environments and enemies, and some missed potential here and there, I can definitely see now why Blaster Master is considered a classic of the NES library, because it is genuinely a great game, carrying plenty of innovation for the genre, and that Metroid-y feeling of satisfaction when you get everything right. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of this system, or for those who have played later games in this series like the Zero trilogy, because there is definitely something that you are going to get out of this game. Man, now that I finally did check this out, I can’t wait to check out the sequel! I wonder what people think of that one. Hold on, lemme check…………………… oh no.
Game #360
I had known about this game for a VERY long time, and I had wanted to play through it for a long time. Based on what I had seen and played myself, it looked pretty good, and considering it has gotten plenty of sequels and spin-offs to this day, including the Blaster Master Zero trilogy, which looks awesome, it was clear that many people loved and still remembered the series all the way to this day, so it must still hold some level of quality all the way to this day. After putting it off for a long time, focusing on plenty of other titles, I finally decided to check it out, and yeah, it is pretty great… but not as good as I would’ve liked it to be. A lot of it is pretty impressive for the time, but there are a lot of little things that hold this game back from being what I would consider one of the best of the NES library. Nonetheless, I still had a great time with it, and I wish I had checked it out sooner.
The story is about the most generic kid ever, Jason, trying to save his frog from a land full of mutants, and doing so by piloting a giant tank named Sophia that he just so happens to find, so it is clear this is the best story told in all media, the graphics are pretty great, being very impressive for the time, even if other games that look more visually appealing, like Mega Man, had already come out by then, the music is fantastic, with one or two iconic tracks present that you will definitely remember after beating it, as well as plenty of other good tunes, the control is pretty good most of the time, with there being plenty of options to maneuver around and get to new places, but there are plenty of instances where I had trouble with them due to some slipperiness in both parts of the gameplay, and speaking of which, the gameplay is pretty inventive, taking inspiration from plenty of different places, and creating something unique that stands out from the rest.
The game is primarily a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Jason and Sophia, go through 8 separate areas filled with plenty of pathways, caves, and dangers, take out plenty of enemies that will attempt to take you down, all of them being either gray or red, because colors weren’t invented yet, obviously, gather plenty of health items, weapons, and upgrades to give you an edge over everything, and take on plenty of big, disgusting bosses that will test your skills in every way. Once again, this is all typical for a game on the NES, but the way that Blaster Master differs from all of them is how it allows you to proceed forward and take out your targets. Given how you are piloting a tank for a majority of the game, you are given plenty of weapons you can find to take out enemies, such as a barrage of missiles, homing missiles, and even thunder bolts, but also, you are given plenty of choices for aiming your shots, so you can easily take out plenty of threats from plenty of angles, which may not seem like much, but considering how many NES games only let you fire in one direction most of the time, this is pretty innovative for an action platformer. Not to mention, as you go along in the game, you can gather plenty of upgrades for Sophia, which not only gives you new abilities such as being able to hover, pilot through water, and climb up walls and ceilings, but it allows you to access new areas that were once inaccessible, similarly to Metroid, really providing a sense of discovery and progression other games at the time just couldn’t manage.
But that is only the start of the options you have to moving through areas and kicking ass. At any time, you are able to get out of Sophia and traverse on foot, which you’ll need to do plenty of times to access new areas you normally wouldn’t be able to otherwise. While on foot, you can also access caves and dungeons, which lead to the second gameplay style featured, which are top-down adventure segments, where you move through a series of rooms, take out plenty of enemies with your weapons, gather plenty of health and upgrades to help you out, and fight all of the game’s bosses. It gives off plenty of Zelda vibes all throughout, and these sections can be pretty fun, even if they do get repetitive towards the end of the game, even with some of the bosses being repeated as you get closer to the end, which is never fun. Not to mention, whenever you get damaged in this mode, not only do you lose health, but also a bit of your gun’s upgrade, which is a fair enough punishment I guess, but it does really suck, and it makes you feel like the biggest tool. Just gotta get good, I guess.
Now, despite all of the good things this game has going for it, like I mentioned before, there are a lot of little things in this game that do bug me, including those moments of slippery control and repetition that plagues the game at points. First off, all of the locations and enemies in this game, while being cool to see, I can’t lie, are pretty bland overall. Sure, the bosses have some cool designs, but in terms of everything else, it all feels pretty generic for an NES game, which does suck, but it isn’t that big of a deal if you don’t care too much about something like that. Secondly, there are some moments of poor design that can be seen throughout, such as when you are going through a door, and you get hit by an enemy immediately without being able to do anything. That shit sucked in Metroid, and it still sucks here.
In addition to that, like I mentioned before, all of the bosses you fight in the game are all fought in the top-down sections as Jason, which does kinda suck, because this game REALLY needs some big fights while you’re in Sophia. Not to say that there isn’t already plenty of challenge in the side-scrolling sections, but come on, you are piloting a super-powered tank with missiles and lighting bolts. That is just SCREAMING with boss fight potential against something, but alas, we never get anything like that. Hopefully this is fixed in later games, but for now, it is somewhat disappointing.
Overall, despite some repetition, blandness with the environments and enemies, and some missed potential here and there, I can definitely see now why Blaster Master is considered a classic of the NES library, because it is genuinely a great game, carrying plenty of innovation for the genre, and that Metroid-y feeling of satisfaction when you get everything right. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of this system, or for those who have played later games in this series like the Zero trilogy, because there is definitely something that you are going to get out of this game. Man, now that I finally did check this out, I can’t wait to check out the sequel! I wonder what people think of that one. Hold on, lemme check…………………… oh no.
Game #360
Angel_Arle Blaster Master reviews
Part 2: Bomber King: Scenario 2 for Game Boy
Part 3: Blaster Master 2 for Genesis
Part 4: Metafight EX for Game Boy Color
I never really could make up my mind if I truly wanted to stop reviews. While I’ve been trying to do shorter ones, I’ve felt like I wanted to do a series of reviews I’ve always thought of doing. I haven’t fully decided but I think I’ll possibly review every Blaster Master game. I haven’t played most of these games so it’ll be an interesting time if I decide to do them. I should note I might also bring back the Sailor Moon and Rockman reviews but I’ve been undecided. Well anyway, onto the actual review.
Picture this, you’re a game developer who hasn’t made much good. Sure Wing of Madoola, Fantasy Zone (Famicom), and Ripple Island weren’t bad but you just can’t hit it out of the park with something special. What do you do? You go bigger and create an exploration game to surpass the likes of many. That’s when Chou-Wakusei Senki Metafight was born. This game would mix exploration in a tank and gunning down enemies inside rooms from the maze-like areas. Is the game itself any good after all these years? With many sequels down the line, It’s going to be fascinating to see if this will be the peak. This was my 2nd time playing this game. Time to discuss.
Metafight stars a fifteen year old named Kane Gardner who is off to put a stop to the enemy invading. Thanks to the help of a seventeen year old girl named Jennifer Cornet, she builds the Metal Attacker, a tank that can shoot various weapons and gain new abilities throughout the adventure. It’s up to Kane to go through eight areas and stop the villains with whatever tools he has! Now this is just stuff from the manual as the game itself lacks any story, not even an intro.
The game starts with you inside the Metal Attacker as you can shoot forward or upward. You can also jump and it’s a pretty floaty one too. The controls take a bit to getting used to but you should be fine after a while. You’ll be exploring big areas with many rooms and enemies ready to murder you. You want to find the room that contains the boss as it’ll have an item that enhances the Metal Attacker giving it a new ability. Though Area 4 only gives out a key. There’s three special weapons you can use that have limited ammo. The first is homing missiles which are just missiles that can home in on enemies and you’ll send out more depending on the enemy count on screen. The lightning weapon shoots lightning under you and it’s pretty useless as it goes in a few different directions that’s hard to guess and it misses most of the time anyway. The three way missiles will shoot three missiles that go forward and widen out as they keep going. The con with it though is that you have to always use three. To switch weapons you need to pause and select whichever and then press down and attack to use one.
With the select button you can have Kane leave the Metal Attacker and he can go into special rooms. The game switches to a top down gameplay style where you can shoot and use grenades, at least I think they’re grenades. You can strafe with the grenade button to help shoot better. Your gun has a meter which makes it get stronger the more pickups you get for it. It starts out as a normal shot, then one where it begins to shoot curvy shots, and then finally you have shots that go in a weird wavy pattern. The problem is that everytime you get hit, the level for it goes down. Kane also never gets upgrades for himself meaning pickups besides the gun and health will be transferred to the Metal Attacker. Kane also restores full health going into the Metal Attacker. Kane also is frail with small heights in the side scrolling areas so don’t even try using him for platforming.
Level design in the side scrolling areas are pretty fun. Despite the maze-like structures, nothing is ever too frustrating with the Metal Attacker. It helps that the game is very generous with health pickups. Levels are distinct and I’ll go over that in a bit. Enemies can come in a decent amount of variety. Some fly around and some are small and short. In fact for enemies like the landmines or worms, try to get Kane out and shoot them since he’ll go back to full health after the hits and you won’t lose ammo or health with the Metal Attacker that way. I do wish the camera was a bit better at showing what’s down below. What’s weird is pausing the game and unpausing sometimes does lower the camera. You also don’t really have much invincibility frames which can lead to many hits in hazards if not careful. You also only have 3 lives with none to refill with. You do have unlimited continues at the very least though stuff like Gun level reset after a death.
I like the progression in Metafight with the first area being a pretty good beginner level that gets you comfy with the rules of the game. Areas 2-4 have a lot of verticality to them showing more of how it won’t be easy to find where the boss is. Another brilliant design of Metafight is not finding the boss isn’t all doom and gloom. It’s still a good source for finding refills to stuff you need. Area 5 shows off the water level. You were taught earlier how the water worked here earlier and now you must traverse a lot of it with Kane alone. It makes for an interesting change of pace and really demonstrates the Metal Attackers feats when even easy enemies take multiple hits to die from Kane’s gun. Area 6 has ice physics that make the controls even more tricky to get used to. Area 7 has a lot of walls to break through with dangerous lava that can be hard to get out of. Area 8 has a lot of deadly spikes and with this game’s low i-frame count, you’ll have to be very careful though it does have an issue I’ll bring up later.
Rooms that Kane goes into are probably the low point for the game for me mostly because the gun just isn’t consistent enough to hit enemies leading to hits that don’t feel like your fault. The game also has a bad problem with how enemies spawn. It sometimes feels cheap with how they’ll just come out of nowhere. It’s here where some of that early Sunsoft jank shows up meaning they haven’t fully reached the confidence they would later. I’m also unsure why they would put instant death in these rooms. While I never fell into them, it feels like a poor design choice. The ice physics rooms are probably the worst areas as the controls just don’t work well with them. Even worse, some rooms just have you enter with enemies about to hit you and it almost goes to the same level of Metroid 1 in terms of cheapness when entering doors. When you have a mechanic that relies on not getting hit, I expect good enemy placement.
Bosses are all done in the top down sections and they can be pretty challenging with their size and Kane’s movement in general. It’s really hard for me to tell if grenades or the fully powered up gun do more damage. I’m not really a big fan of them but they do at least for the most part feel diverse enough to at least be memorable. I can only think of one similar boss which are the frogs. If you struggle with some bosses there is a glitch you can exploit. For bosses 2, 4, 6, and 7, shoot a grenade and pause as it hits and they’ll take continuous damage, just unpause after 15-20 seconds and they’ll be dead. Beating a boss will give you one of those upgrades for the Metal Attacker.
The first upgrade the Metal Attacker gets is the hyper shot which gives it more power, simple enough. The second upgrade is a crusher shot which can destroy blocks you once couldn’t destroy, opening up more areas for you. The next one is interesting as it’s a hover ability. If you were wondering what the H pickups were, well these refill your hover as it drains fast. This also marks an interesting point as you’ll have to go back to the very beginning of the game to find an area you can hover to that leads to area 4. This game has backtracking and I’m mixed on it because while the game does provide shortcuts or short routes to get back to where you go, it never really feels well thought out besides for the sake of just doing it. I’m not sure if I’m in the minority for it but I've never been the biggest fan of it. The upgrade in area 5 will help the Metal Attacker swim in water which is very nice. We also have the 2 wall upgrades letting you travel on the wall and ceiling. Sadly Wall 2 is a terrible upgrade because going off the edge will have you travel on the wall below you making jumps a pain in the ass! Half the reason area 8’s spikes are hard to avoid is because of this design choice.
Metafight does look pretty good for a Famicom game of its time. While enemy sprites aren’t the most interesting color wise and the game does rely a lot on dark colors, it still has some good looking areas. The tiles presented to form locations look pretty nicely detailed and a lot of them look unique from each other even if some aren’t the most visually cool looking. I do like how being in the top down levels zooms in the action making the sprites look bigger and the bosses massive sprites are impressive though the entire room becomes black to compensate for it, outside of the final boss. The music is what really impresses me with the first area having this heroic feel to it where it feels like Kane is fully prepared to defeat anything in his way. It gets you motivated for the journey. I really like the 4th area’s theme with how creepy it sounds along with the frog croak at the end hinting at what the boss truly is. The 5th area really gives a feeling of the unknown when entering the water, it sounds…mystical? I don’t know how to describe it. The rocking tune of Area 7 really gets you pumped with all the lava around. I could go on and on about how good the tunes are and while not everything is a hit for me personally, I still love it. Easily one of the highlights.
I should mention the US version named Blaster Master. It’s mostly the same but it’s got a new story starring a guy named Jason who chases after a frog and leads him to a tank and it’s up to him to find the frog. They even made an intro song for this cutscene which sounds nice and the area you travel out of when starting the game looks different to match the cutscene. The ending is a little different too but it just removes the chibi versions of Kane and Jennifer off the end screen and the final shot before credits added the frog. I should also discuss how continues work. You only have three in this version. Now I personally think this was done since it was usual for the time but I wanna bring up that the manual for the Japanese version supposedly mentions you have 5 continues when in the actual game it’s infinite. Could this suggest the US version is more complete? Honestly, I’m not sure. This game is already long enough being about 3-5 hours depending how you play and there’s not even a password system. Despite this, the game ended up being more popular in the US.
We would see this game rereleased a couple of times. The first one being put in Memorial * Series: Sunsoft Vol. 4 for the PS1. It also came with the game Ripple Island. It plays fine but sadly the audio is pretty bad especially on the percussion so I wouldn’t recommend it at all. The game would see a couple of emulated rereleases via stuff like virtual console. The most interesting one has to be the NSO rerelease of the game as they also gave it an SP version that lets you start at the final area with everything maxed out so if you struggle with this game, maybe play this one if you want to see the toughest part of the game.This also applies to the US service of NSO.
This game is an interesting turning point for Sunsoft. At this point, many of their games would be very high quality and they would become respected around that time. While Metafight didn’t do too well when it came out, it would be considered a hidden gem in Japan. As for me, it’s a good game if flawed. While I appreciate what it sets out to be, I can’t help but feel some of Sunsoft’s early jank is still presented here. It’s got problems I can’t look past but with stuff like Rough World, Hebereke, and Gimmick being created after this fine work, Sunsoft would have it good for a while. Metafight wouldn’t see another Japanese game for many many years. Though with that said, we do have what I like to call a filler episode for the next game. Next time it will be the Game Boy game, Bomber King: Scenario 2. (That is if I actually feel like continuing this).
Part 2: Bomber King: Scenario 2 for Game Boy
Part 3: Blaster Master 2 for Genesis
Part 4: Metafight EX for Game Boy Color
I never really could make up my mind if I truly wanted to stop reviews. While I’ve been trying to do shorter ones, I’ve felt like I wanted to do a series of reviews I’ve always thought of doing. I haven’t fully decided but I think I’ll possibly review every Blaster Master game. I haven’t played most of these games so it’ll be an interesting time if I decide to do them. I should note I might also bring back the Sailor Moon and Rockman reviews but I’ve been undecided. Well anyway, onto the actual review.
Picture this, you’re a game developer who hasn’t made much good. Sure Wing of Madoola, Fantasy Zone (Famicom), and Ripple Island weren’t bad but you just can’t hit it out of the park with something special. What do you do? You go bigger and create an exploration game to surpass the likes of many. That’s when Chou-Wakusei Senki Metafight was born. This game would mix exploration in a tank and gunning down enemies inside rooms from the maze-like areas. Is the game itself any good after all these years? With many sequels down the line, It’s going to be fascinating to see if this will be the peak. This was my 2nd time playing this game. Time to discuss.
Metafight stars a fifteen year old named Kane Gardner who is off to put a stop to the enemy invading. Thanks to the help of a seventeen year old girl named Jennifer Cornet, she builds the Metal Attacker, a tank that can shoot various weapons and gain new abilities throughout the adventure. It’s up to Kane to go through eight areas and stop the villains with whatever tools he has! Now this is just stuff from the manual as the game itself lacks any story, not even an intro.
The game starts with you inside the Metal Attacker as you can shoot forward or upward. You can also jump and it’s a pretty floaty one too. The controls take a bit to getting used to but you should be fine after a while. You’ll be exploring big areas with many rooms and enemies ready to murder you. You want to find the room that contains the boss as it’ll have an item that enhances the Metal Attacker giving it a new ability. Though Area 4 only gives out a key. There’s three special weapons you can use that have limited ammo. The first is homing missiles which are just missiles that can home in on enemies and you’ll send out more depending on the enemy count on screen. The lightning weapon shoots lightning under you and it’s pretty useless as it goes in a few different directions that’s hard to guess and it misses most of the time anyway. The three way missiles will shoot three missiles that go forward and widen out as they keep going. The con with it though is that you have to always use three. To switch weapons you need to pause and select whichever and then press down and attack to use one.
With the select button you can have Kane leave the Metal Attacker and he can go into special rooms. The game switches to a top down gameplay style where you can shoot and use grenades, at least I think they’re grenades. You can strafe with the grenade button to help shoot better. Your gun has a meter which makes it get stronger the more pickups you get for it. It starts out as a normal shot, then one where it begins to shoot curvy shots, and then finally you have shots that go in a weird wavy pattern. The problem is that everytime you get hit, the level for it goes down. Kane also never gets upgrades for himself meaning pickups besides the gun and health will be transferred to the Metal Attacker. Kane also restores full health going into the Metal Attacker. Kane also is frail with small heights in the side scrolling areas so don’t even try using him for platforming.
Level design in the side scrolling areas are pretty fun. Despite the maze-like structures, nothing is ever too frustrating with the Metal Attacker. It helps that the game is very generous with health pickups. Levels are distinct and I’ll go over that in a bit. Enemies can come in a decent amount of variety. Some fly around and some are small and short. In fact for enemies like the landmines or worms, try to get Kane out and shoot them since he’ll go back to full health after the hits and you won’t lose ammo or health with the Metal Attacker that way. I do wish the camera was a bit better at showing what’s down below. What’s weird is pausing the game and unpausing sometimes does lower the camera. You also don’t really have much invincibility frames which can lead to many hits in hazards if not careful. You also only have 3 lives with none to refill with. You do have unlimited continues at the very least though stuff like Gun level reset after a death.
I like the progression in Metafight with the first area being a pretty good beginner level that gets you comfy with the rules of the game. Areas 2-4 have a lot of verticality to them showing more of how it won’t be easy to find where the boss is. Another brilliant design of Metafight is not finding the boss isn’t all doom and gloom. It’s still a good source for finding refills to stuff you need. Area 5 shows off the water level. You were taught earlier how the water worked here earlier and now you must traverse a lot of it with Kane alone. It makes for an interesting change of pace and really demonstrates the Metal Attackers feats when even easy enemies take multiple hits to die from Kane’s gun. Area 6 has ice physics that make the controls even more tricky to get used to. Area 7 has a lot of walls to break through with dangerous lava that can be hard to get out of. Area 8 has a lot of deadly spikes and with this game’s low i-frame count, you’ll have to be very careful though it does have an issue I’ll bring up later.
Rooms that Kane goes into are probably the low point for the game for me mostly because the gun just isn’t consistent enough to hit enemies leading to hits that don’t feel like your fault. The game also has a bad problem with how enemies spawn. It sometimes feels cheap with how they’ll just come out of nowhere. It’s here where some of that early Sunsoft jank shows up meaning they haven’t fully reached the confidence they would later. I’m also unsure why they would put instant death in these rooms. While I never fell into them, it feels like a poor design choice. The ice physics rooms are probably the worst areas as the controls just don’t work well with them. Even worse, some rooms just have you enter with enemies about to hit you and it almost goes to the same level of Metroid 1 in terms of cheapness when entering doors. When you have a mechanic that relies on not getting hit, I expect good enemy placement.
Bosses are all done in the top down sections and they can be pretty challenging with their size and Kane’s movement in general. It’s really hard for me to tell if grenades or the fully powered up gun do more damage. I’m not really a big fan of them but they do at least for the most part feel diverse enough to at least be memorable. I can only think of one similar boss which are the frogs. If you struggle with some bosses there is a glitch you can exploit. For bosses 2, 4, 6, and 7, shoot a grenade and pause as it hits and they’ll take continuous damage, just unpause after 15-20 seconds and they’ll be dead. Beating a boss will give you one of those upgrades for the Metal Attacker.
The first upgrade the Metal Attacker gets is the hyper shot which gives it more power, simple enough. The second upgrade is a crusher shot which can destroy blocks you once couldn’t destroy, opening up more areas for you. The next one is interesting as it’s a hover ability. If you were wondering what the H pickups were, well these refill your hover as it drains fast. This also marks an interesting point as you’ll have to go back to the very beginning of the game to find an area you can hover to that leads to area 4. This game has backtracking and I’m mixed on it because while the game does provide shortcuts or short routes to get back to where you go, it never really feels well thought out besides for the sake of just doing it. I’m not sure if I’m in the minority for it but I've never been the biggest fan of it. The upgrade in area 5 will help the Metal Attacker swim in water which is very nice. We also have the 2 wall upgrades letting you travel on the wall and ceiling. Sadly Wall 2 is a terrible upgrade because going off the edge will have you travel on the wall below you making jumps a pain in the ass! Half the reason area 8’s spikes are hard to avoid is because of this design choice.
Metafight does look pretty good for a Famicom game of its time. While enemy sprites aren’t the most interesting color wise and the game does rely a lot on dark colors, it still has some good looking areas. The tiles presented to form locations look pretty nicely detailed and a lot of them look unique from each other even if some aren’t the most visually cool looking. I do like how being in the top down levels zooms in the action making the sprites look bigger and the bosses massive sprites are impressive though the entire room becomes black to compensate for it, outside of the final boss. The music is what really impresses me with the first area having this heroic feel to it where it feels like Kane is fully prepared to defeat anything in his way. It gets you motivated for the journey. I really like the 4th area’s theme with how creepy it sounds along with the frog croak at the end hinting at what the boss truly is. The 5th area really gives a feeling of the unknown when entering the water, it sounds…mystical? I don’t know how to describe it. The rocking tune of Area 7 really gets you pumped with all the lava around. I could go on and on about how good the tunes are and while not everything is a hit for me personally, I still love it. Easily one of the highlights.
I should mention the US version named Blaster Master. It’s mostly the same but it’s got a new story starring a guy named Jason who chases after a frog and leads him to a tank and it’s up to him to find the frog. They even made an intro song for this cutscene which sounds nice and the area you travel out of when starting the game looks different to match the cutscene. The ending is a little different too but it just removes the chibi versions of Kane and Jennifer off the end screen and the final shot before credits added the frog. I should also discuss how continues work. You only have three in this version. Now I personally think this was done since it was usual for the time but I wanna bring up that the manual for the Japanese version supposedly mentions you have 5 continues when in the actual game it’s infinite. Could this suggest the US version is more complete? Honestly, I’m not sure. This game is already long enough being about 3-5 hours depending how you play and there’s not even a password system. Despite this, the game ended up being more popular in the US.
We would see this game rereleased a couple of times. The first one being put in Memorial * Series: Sunsoft Vol. 4 for the PS1. It also came with the game Ripple Island. It plays fine but sadly the audio is pretty bad especially on the percussion so I wouldn’t recommend it at all. The game would see a couple of emulated rereleases via stuff like virtual console. The most interesting one has to be the NSO rerelease of the game as they also gave it an SP version that lets you start at the final area with everything maxed out so if you struggle with this game, maybe play this one if you want to see the toughest part of the game.This also applies to the US service of NSO.
This game is an interesting turning point for Sunsoft. At this point, many of their games would be very high quality and they would become respected around that time. While Metafight didn’t do too well when it came out, it would be considered a hidden gem in Japan. As for me, it’s a good game if flawed. While I appreciate what it sets out to be, I can’t help but feel some of Sunsoft’s early jank is still presented here. It’s got problems I can’t look past but with stuff like Rough World, Hebereke, and Gimmick being created after this fine work, Sunsoft would have it good for a while. Metafight wouldn’t see another Japanese game for many many years. Though with that said, we do have what I like to call a filler episode for the next game. Next time it will be the Game Boy game, Bomber King: Scenario 2. (That is if I actually feel like continuing this).
Some people call this a "metroidvania", but it's really a prototype of that. It's too early in gaming history to actually be one, as the designers couldn't let go of traditional action platformers design philosophies.
There is an interconnected world, you do acquire new powers that open new doors, but it's really a linear adventure that takes you through some huge levels, and halfway through the game requires you to backtrack to the very beginning for totally arbitrary reasons. Exploration isn't really encouraged because there are no secrets or shortcuts or power-ups other than the ones you get from beating the area bosses. Exploring will really only take you to dead ends.
The instruction manual gives you a "map" for most of the areas (areas 4 and 5 don't have one for some reason?), but around area 2 or 3, you'll realize that the map is worthless, and you'll google a proper map online.
Using save states, this is a nice game, but I'm thinking of the poor kids that played this on an actual NES back in the day, and it was probably miserable? There are no passwords and no saving, you have to do it in one sitting, an absurd design choice considering the size of the game. The north american release features limited continues - that is insane.
Especially considering that the last couple of bosses have RNG-based attacks. I rewinded the hell out of them, I'm not sure how players are expected to get better, there is no pattern or wind-up for the attacks. And then the last area is a bunch of time-wasting design, some pixel perfect jumps, and that terribly designed wall-walking mechanic which is sure to give you lots of damage.
Finally, the top-down portions are a nice change of pace, but the choice to lose your gun upgrades when you take a hit is... curious.
This game is basically another example to the philosophy of 80s designers, where they punished the player as much as possible for whatever reason.
I'm legit not sure if one can finish this game as originally intended. With save states and rewinds, it's nice though.
There is an interconnected world, you do acquire new powers that open new doors, but it's really a linear adventure that takes you through some huge levels, and halfway through the game requires you to backtrack to the very beginning for totally arbitrary reasons. Exploration isn't really encouraged because there are no secrets or shortcuts or power-ups other than the ones you get from beating the area bosses. Exploring will really only take you to dead ends.
The instruction manual gives you a "map" for most of the areas (areas 4 and 5 don't have one for some reason?), but around area 2 or 3, you'll realize that the map is worthless, and you'll google a proper map online.
Using save states, this is a nice game, but I'm thinking of the poor kids that played this on an actual NES back in the day, and it was probably miserable? There are no passwords and no saving, you have to do it in one sitting, an absurd design choice considering the size of the game. The north american release features limited continues - that is insane.
Especially considering that the last couple of bosses have RNG-based attacks. I rewinded the hell out of them, I'm not sure how players are expected to get better, there is no pattern or wind-up for the attacks. And then the last area is a bunch of time-wasting design, some pixel perfect jumps, and that terribly designed wall-walking mechanic which is sure to give you lots of damage.
Finally, the top-down portions are a nice change of pace, but the choice to lose your gun upgrades when you take a hit is... curious.
This game is basically another example to the philosophy of 80s designers, where they punished the player as much as possible for whatever reason.
I'm legit not sure if one can finish this game as originally intended. With save states and rewinds, it's nice though.
very very fun, sophia controls really nicely and i enjoy the metroid-esque level design a lot. i'd say this one does what metroid tried to do miles better. unfortunately the top-down sections, most of the bosses and a few sloggy sections (mostly the stuff requiring me to deal with the wall upgrades) bring this down to only a 7 for me
This is definitely a flawed NES action game, but it's definitely "one of the classics", and it still holds up despite its design.
I think the main issue is enemy placement. There are points where you're basically required to take a hit going through doors, and others where you just get slammed by enemies who go off-screen. See, enemies stop moving when they are off-screen and only go back into motion when their entire sprite is on screen. Not moving or even being shown based on partial presence may not sound like a big deal but it significantly lowers the reaction time you are given to avoid things, especially if you're not paying a lot of attention to this kind of thing.
Besides that the only major flaws I have for this game are the lack of any sort of progress save and the strangeness of grenades, but I can easily look over those. Modern platforms have save options for Blaster Master and either way, it's easy to blast through the first couple areas in less than half an hour to get to where you were. Also, it's just really fun to play so going through the early segments over and over doesn't bother me.
As an early metroidvania, it can be shakey at times, but this game really maintains the thrill of gaining more abilities and finding new ways to use them in your progression. I really like going back to previous areas to find entry to more areas, but I think a map would have been nice, because it can still be rather easy to get lost.
I highly recommend giving this a shot. I got this one for real cheap (10 bucks) so it's real easy to come buy and well worth the cash.
7/10
I think the main issue is enemy placement. There are points where you're basically required to take a hit going through doors, and others where you just get slammed by enemies who go off-screen. See, enemies stop moving when they are off-screen and only go back into motion when their entire sprite is on screen. Not moving or even being shown based on partial presence may not sound like a big deal but it significantly lowers the reaction time you are given to avoid things, especially if you're not paying a lot of attention to this kind of thing.
Besides that the only major flaws I have for this game are the lack of any sort of progress save and the strangeness of grenades, but I can easily look over those. Modern platforms have save options for Blaster Master and either way, it's easy to blast through the first couple areas in less than half an hour to get to where you were. Also, it's just really fun to play so going through the early segments over and over doesn't bother me.
As an early metroidvania, it can be shakey at times, but this game really maintains the thrill of gaining more abilities and finding new ways to use them in your progression. I really like going back to previous areas to find entry to more areas, but I think a map would have been nice, because it can still be rather easy to get lost.
I highly recommend giving this a shot. I got this one for real cheap (10 bucks) so it's real easy to come buy and well worth the cash.
7/10
As much as I enjoy traversing interconnected maps, think Blaster Master could've been better benefited with a more linear structure. The movement is a bit too limited and some of the runs are a bit too harsh to warrant the amount of backtracking involved in this title. Still, there's a lot of fun to be had with the game's high-energy action and creativity. One of those titles where it's clear to see why it has such a positive legacy, even if the experience as a whole hasn't held up all too well. 3/6
i actually beat this one! was not expecting a cool little metroidvania, especially based on how bad the box art is for this. i wouldve liked this even more than NES metroid if there was any reason to explore at all (there really isnt). also it sucks that enemies dont actually show up unless theyre within a certain range of you, and that range is much smaller than the actual screen size
The first time I got to Area 6 as a kid, I knew I could not stop until I finished this game because the soundtrack was too good to not be fully appreciated.
Con un uso creativo de todo el potencial de visual que le ofrecía el limitado hardware del NES, este increíble título de la subestimada Sunsoft da catedra del diseño de niveles variable así como de alternar entre dos jugabilidades que son dos mundos muy distintos.
Como tanque, Sophia the third tiene un arsenal vastísimo que brinda al jugador un apetitoso abanico de posibilidades para defenderse de los monstruos del sub-suelo además de contar con una movilidad que se siente de ensueño y un mapeado extenso e inter-conectado que no tenía nada que envidiar al mapa del primer metroid.
Y en cuanto a las partes del piloto a pie, si bien el control es algo tosco pone al jugador en segmentos de acción rápida y de sumo cuidado donde la potencia del poder ofensivo de nuestra arma dependerá de lo bien que sorteemos los peligros que rodean nuestro entorno.
Con jefes de ensueño que ponen en práctica nuestros aprendizajes del arsenal variopinto y una música tan ambiental como mítica Blaster Master es sin duda uno de esos títulos que con justa razón han cosechado un nicho de fanáticos, cada vez más creciente gracias a la intervención de Inti Creates con el fantástico reboot (Zero).
Y es que, aun cuando ya hayan jugado los títulos modernos dar un repaso histórico a la aventura original de Jason en busca de su rana Fred es más que obligado, háganse un favor y no se priven de esta joya del pasado.
Como tanque, Sophia the third tiene un arsenal vastísimo que brinda al jugador un apetitoso abanico de posibilidades para defenderse de los monstruos del sub-suelo además de contar con una movilidad que se siente de ensueño y un mapeado extenso e inter-conectado que no tenía nada que envidiar al mapa del primer metroid.
Y en cuanto a las partes del piloto a pie, si bien el control es algo tosco pone al jugador en segmentos de acción rápida y de sumo cuidado donde la potencia del poder ofensivo de nuestra arma dependerá de lo bien que sorteemos los peligros que rodean nuestro entorno.
Con jefes de ensueño que ponen en práctica nuestros aprendizajes del arsenal variopinto y una música tan ambiental como mítica Blaster Master es sin duda uno de esos títulos que con justa razón han cosechado un nicho de fanáticos, cada vez más creciente gracias a la intervención de Inti Creates con el fantástico reboot (Zero).
Y es que, aun cuando ya hayan jugado los títulos modernos dar un repaso histórico a la aventura original de Jason en busca de su rana Fred es más que obligado, háganse un favor y no se priven de esta joya del pasado.
really unique game, but it became very boring to me after area 4
For an early metroidvania, this is a pretty decent game. Definitely better than Metroid and Castlevania. For me personally, it did get a bit stale the more I played, especially when I had to backtrack, but for what it is the world is well-designed and was fun to explore. The controls also feel good, the upgrades are cool, and I especially love the boss designs. It's no wonder why they used one of them as the centerpiece for the box art. The sprites are massive compared to your character and that allowed them to be much more detailed, making them look very grotesque and menacing. Furthermore, the variety in gameplay is very nice. Having half the game be a side view in your car exploring the overworld, then going into a dungeon area where it turns into an overhead perspective adds a lot of diversity to spice things up. Overall I think it could use some work, but for an NES game, it's fun nonetheless. I'll definitely be checking out more games in this series as I'm sure they'll be even better.
cool game about exploring the underworld to get your asshole pet frog. i dont know why the publishers thought this was far better story than the original one but whatever. like most games of this era, it gets to be a pain in the ass but at least you got kickass music to help you fight through it.
Definitely one of the few NES games that is like actually pretty good.
I love the music and the animations, but I just couldn't get into the game
A weird blend of Metroid (including literal Metroids floating around...) and top down running and gunning. The story premise is just as bizarre. Visually it looks fantastic for a NES game, but the somewhat clunky controls and rather repetitive gameplay keep it from true greatness.