Blaster Master NES

Blaster Master was release on 25, April, 1991. in north America IGN Gave the game a 9.0 out of 10

Blaster Master is one of those NES classics that nearly every gamer alive in the '80s got their hands on at one time or another. I think that the game that's managed to carve out a place for itself in the memories of almost every 8-bit player, probably for a couple of a reasons.

The first is its story. You just can't forget a game that's about a pet frog named Fred who's grown into an enormous radioactive mutant and jumped down a hole into a subterranean maze, and his valiant owner Jason who chases after him into the depths of the earth and just happens to find an enormous four-wheeled alien tank named SOPHIA the 3rd down there to drive around while he's searching. It's the kind of literary masterpiece that could only be found on an NES cartridge.

There is a unique blending of two different styles of play into one distinctive design. it really reminded me of a Zelda with a blaster! going for a new adventure. Much of the game is presented as a side-scrolling action/platformer, But that's just half the experience, as Jason also gets out of the cockpit for on-foot action too -- and those sequences play out from an entirely different, top-down perspective.

Sunsoft's developers in the '80s must have recognized that disparity, because they played off of it well -- by making all the boss battles in the game be fought by Jason on foot. You're always at your weakest when you're facing the enemies who're the strongest.

Blaster Master then brings both halves of its gameplay together through the upgrades Jason earns for SOPHIA by beating the big bosses -- it's necessary to complete the on-foot sequences, because you can't make it to the end of the game without the extra equipment you get at the end of them. The upgrades give SOPHIA new powers, like increasing the impact of its main cannon, activating a hover ability that lets you fly short distances, and even getting a wall-walking technique

Now that's a lot of praise for a single game, and you can probably tell I've personally been a big fan of Blaster Master for over 15years myself. But, of course, the game isn't perfect. There are a handful of frustrating issues included here that have turned off thousands of players over the years, and i think it is worth letting newcomers know about them ahead of time so you don't feel like you're getting the wool pulled over your eyes.

The first frustration comes from a lack of traction in SOPHIA's tires. Your tank is always rolling -- so it takes it an extra second or so to come to a complete stop, when you let off pressing the D-Pad to the left or right. This will probably cause you to roll off the edge of a cliff or two in the early moments of the game, but you should learn to compensate for it before too long.

A second common complaint is Jason's inaccuracy with his gun when playing in the top-down sequences. Jason holds his weapon in his right hand, and the game takes that into account -- meaning that your shots will originate from the right side of his body instead of straight in front of him. It takes some more mental adjustment to correct for, as you'll always have to be mindful that enemies have to be targeted a little bit off-center.

The third long-running issue people have always brought up about Blaster Master, though, probably won't be much of one any more now that the game's on Virtual Console -- its lack of save points or passwords. On the NES, you'd have to finish the entire game, beginning to end, in one sitting. Which was difficult because the game was so long, but also because it was just plain hard --Many players have never completely beaten the game as a result.

Like any other NES game being emulated through the VC, you can press the Home button on your Wii Remote here to stop playing at any time and let the Wii save your progress. It's a very good new addition that addresses an old issue -- and, on top of that, the people responsible for digging this classic up out of the Sunsoft archives have hinted that there's a new little bonus at the end of the game, for those who commit themselves to completing the entire adventure. So if you're one of the thousands who gave up on saving Fred years ago, maybe now you'll be inspired and encouraged enough to help Jason finally find his friend.