Blaster Master (1988)

Blaster Master, also known as Super Planetary War Chronicle: Metafight in Japan, is the first game in the Blaster Master / Metafight series. I had never heard of this series until I stumbled across Blaster Master Zero on Steam and was surprised to find it originated from the NES. So I booted up the NSO classics library on my Switch 2 and launched the first entry. I'll admit that I didn't give it much more than 15 minutes before deciding that it was not the game for me. But I liked it enough to watch a longplay of it.

The story is relayed via a cutscene that plays from the main menu exclusive to the NA version. The Japanese version doesn't have this cutscene but includes the plot in the game manual. The main character, Jason, is admiring his pet frog when it escapes from his jar, hops across the yard to a radioactive container (a standard lawn ornament), slurps from its depths, becomes a big boy frog, and jumps down a dirt hole. Jason follows his frog down the hole where he stumbles across a vehicle in the underground caverns below his home. He dons the futuristic gear and the rest is gameplay.

Gameplay flips between traversing the world in vehicle and by foot. It reminds me of Metroid a bit as you're left to explore the world at large but can only progress past locked passageways by defeating bosses, earning new abilities, and exploring the areas that weren't traversable before. There's sections the gameplay/POV changes to a topdown view that mixes things up, which is one of the main aspects of the game I find interesting.

While I didn't have the skills/patience to play this one myself, I still appreciate and enjoy the game. I may look into the other entries in the future and possibly play the newer ones.

Beat at a comfortable 40 fps since default speed was a little too fast. I spent the 1st stage figuring out the controls, and this game had some interesting mechanics. Enemies seemed to only exist while on screen as I often seen them appear out of thin air close to the edge of the screen. This was slightly annoying and unintuitive as they should have appeared right at the edge of view. Unlike most similar games, enemies did not respawn as the player moved around or even when changing screens, which meant I could do tactical retreats to lure enemies to easier kills without worry. They seemed to respawn on a timer and only once in an optional dungeon did respawns happen right on top of me. Powerups dropped by enemies also lasted quite a long time and even survived screen transitions. I could leave health pick ups for later and even backtrack to the previous screen to get them. Sometimes it was difficult to avoid damage while transitioning due to enemies camping right at the entrance, but their positions were remembered when going back to the previous screen so the next try should be easier. The tank could only shoot straight ahead and straight up despite the cannon clearly pointing diagonally up during the animation to switch between normal and up mode. This animation took a few seconds so I had to plan well ahead to hit any enemies above. The special weapons worked very well to hit the angles that the main cannon could not. Missiles fired 3 in a spread, 1 slightly above and 1 slightly below, while also passing through terrain. Homing missiles were even better, and the lightning shot directly below or down at a slight diagonal. The main cannon was good enough for most fights so I only used the specials sparingly and had plenty of ammo for each. There was a control issue with the underwater tank mode because pressing down + shoot fired the special, and I often pressed up and down while shooting underwater since it played more like a space shoot em up.

There were low to the ground enemies that could not be hit by the cannon, reminding me of those damn slimes in Battle of Olympus. But the guy could get out of the tank at any time to defeat them. Not only that but him and the tank had separate hp, and his hp healed to full every time he got back in the tank, so it was possible to use the guy to kill enemies to preserve tank hp. Most of my deaths were from being knocked off a ledge while outside the tank though, and once I parked it with only 1 wheel touching ground and could not get back in. There were ladders and dungeons that required getting out of the tank, and the underwater stage had a significant portion on foot swimming before the tank gained the ability to swim. Dungeons played more like Zelda 1, only being much simpler. Some were sprawling with multiple ways to go but none were complicated enough to require a map, or had any kind of intermediate objectives, like finding keys or switches for locked doors. It was just enemies, spikes and instant death terrain. The only annoyance was in the ice stage with slippery floors leading to spikes, where it was very difficult to avoid damage. Whenever he took damage in a dungeon the power of his gun decreased. Max power was a wave beam that passed through walls, which felt like cheating. Below that the wave was physical projectiles, which was useless in tight corridors because it just hit the walls. It was a major fail of the game to not have the more powerful gun modes retain the basic straight long range shot, which was the most fun and skill based dungeon combat. In between the basic straight shot and the wave shot was a weird shot pattern where the shots went about half way across the screen before veering off to the side to go backwards. That seemed more like a down grade! The other button threw grenades, which did far more damage than the shot while having low range; useful against enemies that came in close and against some bosses. Most dungeons were just optional side areas with health and gun power for the guy, or ammo and hover fuel for the tank. Every stage had 1 dungeon that led to a boss which dropped a new ability that allowed access to the next stage, which was not always linear progression. The game was very much a Metroidvania with fully back trackable open world and new powers to unlock new ways of traversal, but there were no optional permanent upgrades nor optional areas that required powers from later in the game. It was a bit annoying to figure out where to go because there was no map in game. Getting to stage 2 was easy. Stage 3 was inside stage 2 behind destructible blocks. Stage 8 was in stage 3 past a narrow ascent with spikes. I figured the guy would get a jetpack to fly up there but the final upgrade was the ability to drive on the ceiling. Getting past those spikes required driving on the ceiling from the beginning of the room while not getting hit by flying enemies. Stage 8 really ramped up the platforming difficulty too with spikes everywhere. The tank became a bit more difficult to control at the end because it would try to climb or go down every wall rather than simply drop off platforms, so I had to do little hops. It was certainly valuable to be able to cling to walls and ceilings but I would have preferred it not be automatic. Stage 4 required using hover at the very beginning. I noticed the suspiciously high platforming at the beginning and figured there was something up there. Vertical screen scrolling was not great as I had to jump or fall down to make it scroll, often to see that there was only a short distance to the floor or ceiling. More dynamic screen scrolling or overall more zoomed out view would have helped. Stage 4 was a sewer and the most confusing stage with many samey looking screens. It led to the water stage, which led to the ice stage, which gave the wall climbing. The fire stage was up a wall in stage 2. I died a few times to some of the bosses with the bubble spitting crab being the hardest for me, mainly because I got hit and lost max weapon power. The bosses became significantly more difficult as weapon power decreased because it forced more risky play to actually hit them with the weaker gun, or go for higher risk and damage with grenades. Too bad there were no bosses or mini bosses to fight in the tank.

This was an excellent NES game that I can't believe I never even heard of before. It was better than Metroid and Castlevania but not as good as Zelda 1 due to the lack of maps, puzzles and sidequest upgrades, and some of the more awkward shooting mechanics. The tank had momentum that made the platforming a little awkward but that made perfect sense for a heavy vehicle. If only it tightened some things up, added more content, and had some kind of save or password or way to farm lives, then it would have been a legendary masterpiece like Zelda 1. As it was, it gets close with

8.7/10

Preliminary: I am playing the original Japanese version. So far, the great music is carrying this, I like the platforming and everything but the jump is a bit delayed when platforming swiftly, and swift platforming is something I always look for in NES platformers! Plus, the game within the first 5 minutes has already had several moments where there are so many sprites on screen it slows down the NES lol why. why programmers. did you really not know about that? Anyway, I'm excited to see that you get power-ups/upgrades like in Mega Man and Metroidvania games to return to old areas, so that usually gets me hooked. Lol omg I was curious and exited the SOFIA vehicle and you're so tiny and cute!

Ugh I accidentally abandoned SOFIA on a ledge to go underwater and now can't get her back? Or something? Is there a workaround for that? I suppose the fact I'm willing to start over says a lot but also, I hope I don't get burned out. Because I was starting to enjoy it too!

Day 1

Okay I'm having a lot of fun now with a labeled map (cuz it's more complex/Metroid-esque than I expected), but I've already run into 2 glitches. Like, I got out of SOFIA at the entrance to an Interior area and my character was stuck in limbo and unable to get back in. Soon after that, there was an enemy that spawned like in the ground and kept glitching back and forth in one spot lol

It seems a lot of the clunkiness in the controls is intended. Some really annoying enemy spawning in this, like you're just barely unable to see outside your scroll and bam they always spawn right there. The bad spawning happens both in the exterior platforming parts and the interior top-down parts. But I'm bopping to the music, enjoying the upgrade mechanics (upgrading both Jason and SOFIA I see), and just finished the Area 2 boss. Time to call it quits for tonight cuz fighting a cold, but enjoying this for the most part so far.

Day 2

The tacky enemy spawns continue to bog down the game, plus the frequency of the NES slowdown from sprite overload. Enemies that you knew were in your reach but because of the way the game works, was out of your "vision" (despite the level around them being visible) so that you can't hit them but of course as soon as they spawn into your "vision" they can hit you. Ooo boy and now time to backtrack from Area 3 to Area 1 in order to get to Area 4. Meh.

Welp, I backtracked all the way to Area 1 to use the Hover to get to Area 4. Imagine having to find that on your own.... like who would've thought to float up super high from the very beginning of the game? Craziness. And there are no hint-giving NPCs in this. But thank goodness for maps nowadays! Again, bogged down my the sprite overloads and terrible enemy spawns, but a good action platformer in the Metroidvania style I can't help but get hooked to.

Day 3

I'm enjoying it, but not enough to go for any extra stuff. Nor to forgive its flaws (mediocre collision masks, poor enemy spawns, and sprite overload slowdowns). But enough to push through to the end! The Sound continues to be a highlight, I dig the Area 4 jingle :--p It's pretty wild. The music itself ironically slows down (intentionally), it's almost like they were aware of the sprite overload slowdowns :-p

It's quite unforgiving with its lives, unless I'm missing some easy way to get extra lives? Either way, thank goodness for savestates :-p Pro-tip: this is water that for some reason Jason can't survive in this time, as opposed to all the other water so far. Don't make my mistake thinking there's a wall/railing against it and lose a precious life :-p (ashamed to admit I just reloaded my savestate from the start of the Interior, I always savestated at the start of each area, start of each boss interior, and after each boss)

Also, is it just me or does Jason kinda look like Hello Kitty when turned around? :-p

I see why they changed this infamous small ladder suicide fall part for the US version, again, thank goodness for savestates when playing the original Japanese version of any Nintendohard game :-p

The number of bugs mentioned in the StrategyWiki guide, in addition to the ones I have come across, is alarming. The Area 5 music reminds me of Zelda. And the Area 5 boss was quite cool Looking, for the most part I had only really noticed the level design/settings in terms of Look. And lol wow the Area 7 music has like a hardcore punk sound to the drums. And sheesh is that boss hard!

Well I told myself to stop for movie time but I got to Area 8 and might as well finish it. My goodness is this Area brutal. So much unavoidable damage and those frustrating slug enemies. Plus the big final upgrade I had gotten made controls more awkward, tho it was cool to be able to cling to the ceiling. Ironic it has a "body"/organic theme to the final Area, cough, Metroid. I can't imagine enjoying this without a guide and savestates, like figuring out which room to go in in that final Interior part... ridiculous. And I used an exploit for the true final boss of the game, I have no shame lol, it still took wayyyyy too many hits to kill it that's ridiculous. But, I did it at last! Great ending screen

Look: 8.5/10 I love the menu UI and the top-down areas have a good look. The level design too. The bosses too... I guess I generally liked the Look it seems ha, except maybe the regular enemies.

Sound: 8.5/10 Like the Look, particularly good for an NES game from this era.

Play: 7.5/10 Bugs, sprite overload slowdowns, and frustrating regular enemy spawns all bogged this down. However, it's still a gameplay style I love: action-adventure, upgrades, shooting. Without savestates and a guide, I would not enjoy this as much, though.

Feel: 8/10 Start of a longstanding series, even tho I had never played any. The Look and Sound contribute to a good Feel, plus the cute Look of the main character and the name of the vehicle being SOFIA/SOPHIA (It's funny I swear this Japanese version spelled it SOFIA in the menu.)

Attachment: 8/10 With savestates, I would play this again, possibly even blind now that I know the areas you have to return to etc. However, how often I return to the early Metroidvania era, besides the ones I already know and love like the first Castlevania and Goonies 2, is yet to be seen.

Overall: 8.1/10

Completion: Main Story Playtime: ~3h 30m

Blaster Master is a genre chimera that somehow works, despite its identity crisis. This 1988 Sunsoft NES title fuses together overhead run 'n gun action, side-scrolling exploration, and Metroid-style upgrades - gameplay mechanics borrowed from other Sunsoft titles like Journey to Silius, Fester's Quest, and Ufouria. At first glance, it feels like a Frankenstein's monster stitched together from NES spare parts. Yet Blaster Master not only functions, it shines as one of the console's hidden gems with some rather bold game design.
Aliens. It's always aliens.

You control one Jason Frudnick, ex-pet owner and his versatile armored vehicle SOPHIA-3. In platform shooter mode (one that resembles Journey to Silus in the way the game controls slightly slippery with a similar setting and look) SOPHIA 3 controls like a rugged off-road vehicle as you explore a sprawling Gollvellius-like overworld. Along the way, you discover entrances to subterranean enemy lairs and random Dungeon Explorer-like dungeons to explore. Once inside, gameplay shifts to top-down shooting as you take down aliens and navigate environmental hazards. Boss fights are spectacles of pattern recognition, some of my favorite for the console, they will test your reflexes against different kinds of attacks. Each victory earns you a new tank upgrade that opens up more of the open world in true metroidvania fashion. Positioning your feet and knowing where you are actually stepping is important you'll soon learn. Similar challenges await you in the final inning of this game

While it has flaws, Blaster Master successfully combines its disjointed parts through brilliant game design. The Metroid-inspired progression gives each upgrade purpose, and tank enhancements prevent navigation from becoming tedious. The driving, almost Run 'n gun-like combat is addictive, not tedious in most places. Environmental puzzles and platforming challenges put your skills to the test. While the difficulty can feel punishing, victory brings profound satisfaction. Each small triumph pushes you closer to uncovering Blaster Master's many hidden secrets. You'll need devotion to suceed (and maps one way or another and more likely than not, probably an emulator)

The game looks good just about everywhere. It is a shame the game is so hard that few people get to enjoy the different level themes and looks

Blaster Master's genre-splicing could have been an unholy mess. And while not all parts are made equal, it's still one of the NES' most novel experiences, rewarding players who persevere through its ruthless difficulty and rougher design spots. Don't be fooled by its identity crisis - here lies one of the console's most underappreciated classics. Never underestimate the love a boy has for his frog or the lengths at which he might dare go to get his pet back!

Blaster Master is a game with amazing graphics and excellent soundtrack. Despite this, I did not enjoy it at all.

What really breaks the experience of Blaster Master is that the continues are limited. AFAIK in the Japanese version this is not the case. Completing the american version of the game required me to use savestates from world 2 onwards, in addition to always having a guide ready with the map and tips for beating the bosses.

I can't say that my only issue with BM is the difficulty: I hated the tank controls especially in the ice world, and when you finally get the last powerup, the controls completely change (almost at the end of the game!) which I hated. There are other aspects that I don't like, for instance: in the "Interior" maps you lose power every time you get hit, your movement is kinda slow and the bosses don't have an HP bar. Speaking of the bosses, from world 4 onwards these fights are waaaaay too difficult for the few continues you have available.

If the game wasn't so difficult and the controls were better, I think it would be a great title. As it is, it's really tough for me to recommend it.

Blaster Master? Couldn't we call it "The Hunt for the Mutated Pet Frog?"

This game, titled Chō Wakusei Senki Metafight in Japan, took a plot about a futuristic battle in 2052 between the Dark Star Army led by Goez and the Science Academy of NORA led by Kane Gardner, and somehow when the game came to the states, the plot changed from this to a young boy named Jason, who one day chases his pet frog Fred into the backyard, and falls into a hole with a futuristic space tank? Why couldn't they just use the same storyline from the Japan version?

Regardless, Blaster Master is a fun game where you control a tank through eight different worlds. The purpose is to find a boss in each world, defeat said boss, and then get an upgrade for your tank needed to explore another world.

The game has both tank parts that are platform like and overworld parts where you control Jason. Each area has numerous doors, with one of these doors leading to a boss. The other rooms feature weapon upgrades for your gun or your tank (homing missles, Thunderbreakers, spread shot). Gun upgrades will become very important at different times in the game (level 5 crab boss in particular), but each time Jason takes a hit in the overworld portion, he loses one level of gun power, so that gets tricky.

The game, like many early NES titles, gets a bit tricky since there is no map to look at. You need to backtrack at different times in the game, and certain levels, especially the sewer in level 4, are very easy to get lost.

The challenge you face in Blaster Master is intense. The game is long, has no save feature or password system, and only limited continues. It's a bit easier to play now on the Switch with save states, but back in the day on the NES, this was a very tough game to get through in one go.

Blaster Master is a fun game with a ridiculous story. While I wish there was a map and a way to save progress, I still find this to be one of the better NES titles in the catalog.

TL;DR Game looks and sounds cool for beeing an 80s game, but the exploration, the most important part of this type of game, is really bad.

I played this on the NES emulator for switch.

I originally played it for the NES back 1989 or 1990. This is a nostalgic game for me, i played it as a kid and never really understood it. My dad didn't like it, and for some reason my 8 year old brain never understood how to finish any game my dad didn't also like, can you imagine that :D

Anyway, now i am all grown up and finally got around to playing it again, and it is very much as i remember it.

You play as a guy driving an awesome tank that can jump and shoot in a side-scrolling 2D-world. So apart from it beeing a tank, it isn't very much different from playing any other actiongame from this era where you are som warrior that can jump and shoot. It is also a bit of a Metroidvania, from the time before the term Metroivania even existed, meaning you will find paths that are inaccessible until you find the correct powerup for your tank. Powerups include a better cannon, a boring key, the ability for the tank to swim, hover, and stick to walls and ceilings.

The twist is that you can leave your tank to explore the world as a little person in a motorcycle-getup instead of the tank. Sometimes you find little rooms that are to big for the tank, and then you need to leave the tank and go in as a person. THen the game turns into a top-down labyrinth runner where you shoot and throw grenades at enemies. All the bosses and powerups in the games are found in those little labyriths.

The game isn't any good though. THe tank is cool, the person you control is cool, the monsters are... not cool, but at least not bad, the music is cool. The exploration on the other hand is horrendous! The game is filled with areas that look identical and 4 out of 5 times whatever path you are on will turn out to be a dead end, with maybe, MAYBE a temporary upgrade for your gun, that you WILL lose the second an enemy touches you. Which enemies in videogames like to do a lot.

I remember the manual that came with the NES game had a rough sort of map that laid out roughly how to navigate through tha game... Something like "go through area 1 to get to area 2, pass area 2 to reach area 3, go back to area 1 via area 2 to reach area 4, then area 5, then backtrack to area 4 to reach area 6..." and so on, and so forth... You wont get this guide if you play it on switch, which means you wont get a single clue on where to go to reach the next area of the game. THe game isn't all that big, but the frustration of knowing that i would need to blindly search around avery inch in every area to find the next area, and all the dead ends put in the game to pretend like the game had more playtime made me finally use a guide to get through this.

And i must mention the story of the game, it is the most bizarre thing i have ever heard... I read somewhere that the story in the japanese version of the game was about some underworld demons or some aliens or something who was attacking a peaceful world, and the worlds only hope was for you, and your awesom jumping tank, to murder your way through all the labyrinths in the game. Standard 80s videogame-story, nothing special, but it at least makes sense.

When the game was localized to America and Europe, they tossed this story completely, and now you are instead a kid named Jason who loves his pet frog. The frog apparently doesn't love you as much though, so it escapes into your backyard, where you, for some reason, have a radioactive barrel, which mutates the frog so it grows very large. After it grows large, it jumps into a very deep hole in the ground, which is also in your backyard, because... reasons.

Jason jumps after his frog, because he apperently has no sense of self preservation, and he finds himself in an underground cave, with the aforementioned awesome jumping tank, motorcycle suit and, (i assume) the gun he uses for the rest of the game. He starts up the tank and sets out to find his lost, giant-pet-frog mutant, and finds himself in a world full of monsters... Still, not very far from his backyard!

SPOILERWARNING for those of you who really care about the story from an 80-videogame... You end up acctually fighting no less than two giant frogs as bosses in the game. If one of them is Jasons pet frog, i have no idea... Every enemy is some kind of mutant or robot, and eventually you fight your way to a giant finalboss, who is also on the box art for the game. You kill this and some sort of medieval knight with a shield and a whip tries to kill you. This guy looks like he should be in another game altogheter, but he is here as the final boss. You kill this guy, and then a mountain collapses, while you, your tank and your frog wathches from a distance. The frog is still very large, but not as big as it where when it touched the radioactive barrel in your backyard. MAybe because you shoot it, or maybe you shoot some other frogs, i dont know.

History:
Can't say I remember ever seeing this game, definitely never played.

Expectations:
This is another one of those games where I really don't have any. I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into with this one but it looks like a pretty fun platformer so that's all I can hope for!

Day 1:

Hrm...

After my first night with this game I already have mixed feelings. On one hand the tank controls and fun and blowing things up is satisfying, and the top-down on-foot areas are actually not horrible. On the other hand, the pacing of this game invokes feelings of Rygar so strong I had to check the box just to double check that Rygar wasn't a Sun Soft game.

"Feels like Rygar" is not a compliment.

It even has the same death mechanic. That is to say, should you get a game over, you'll start at the beginning of the stage you're on with all the tank upgrades you've acquired so far. That's not too bad, but these levels are fairly large, and with eight of them to get through, I'm a bit concerned.

That's not to say I'm not having fun with this game, just that I'm not particularly looking forward to sitting down for a solid 3-4 hours just to beat it... I mean... I probably will, but I don't have to like it!

I think part of the problem is me, as I've found over time that I greatly tend to prefer linearity over exploration. With a game like this I want a straight line from Point A to Point B. In Blaster Master I go from Point A to searching for Point B which will unlock Point C then find Point D to get to the next level. That feels tedious to me.

If this gives you the impression that I was never able to get into games like Super Metroid... You'd be correct.

In the time I played last night, about an hour, I was able to defeat the second boss and unlock the path to Level 3, but not actually find the door leading there. On that note, the bosses are another highlight of this game, and if the level simply ended after defeating them, I'd probably be a lot happier with it.

Day 2:

Ugh...

I realize there's a problem when I realize I'm no longer "playing" a game, but rather subjecting myself to it. Okay, maybe that's not quite fair. I actually found myself having a bit more fun with the game after progressing to the third stage. The unfortunate reason for this is because that particular stage was extremely linear and had me spending 99% of it in my tank! I think my problem with Blaster Master, really, is me. As I'm getting older I'm finding I have a harder and harder time giving games attention when they don't make progressing through them particularly intuitive.

That's probably why I never like Super Metroid... *ducks*

I was actually all ready to wrap this post up, but about half way through that last paragraph I decided I owe this game one more day at least. I mean, I made it to the Level 3 boss, that's progress...

Day 3:

Well, I'm glad I game this game another day. I started playing earlier in the day and stopped well after the sun had gone down, and actually managed to have a decent amount of fun in the process!

For one thing I really took a stepped back and looked at this game. I realized that I almost forgot I was playing an NES game from time to time, as the graphics really are top notch here!

I managed to make it to the Level 5 boss this time before I got my final game over and had to start from the beginning, which I just wasn't willing to do.

Liked:
Again, the game looks and sounds amazing for an NES game. In addition, the handling is extremely tight and responsive. I actually had a ton of fun driving and shooting in my tank.

Disliked:
I'm personally not a fan of these types of adventure games, and I tend to get frustrated when my path isn't apparent. Had I not watched a random Youtube video on this game I'd never have realized that, after beating the Level 3 boss, I was expected to backtrack all the way to the very beginning of the game! Also, the game is kind of broken, and can't seem to figure out how to handle a paused state...

Play it Again?
With three levels left in the game I think there may come a day where I decide to sit down and try to beat it. Until then, this game has kind of made me exhausted...

Personal Score: