"One of Rare's best games ever."

Blast Corps was developed by Rare (makers of such classics as Donkey Kong Country) and released in the middle 1997. This game was released in Japan as Blast Dozer, it’s basically the same game, only with Japanese text. Many wondered if this game would live up to the quality of Rare’s other games. I’m happy to report it does, one of Rare’s most original games is also one of its best ever.

Graphics-8/10- Even today they look great. The vehicles come in many shapes and sizes, from a dump truck, to a robot (2 actually) they all look great. The buildings you destroy look great also, for the most part they are very sharp, the explosions are wonderful and add a lot of flavor to the game. The only downside to the graphics is that some of the buildings and vehicles suffer from texture blurring, this may not seem like much, but it is very evident in this game.

Pros- Excellent vehicle design. Great looking explosions.
Cons- Blurring runs rampant on some buildings and vehicles.

Sound-8/10- The music is good, it’s kind of bland but it does fit the game’s theme, so it works out just fine. The voice effects are great, they are very clear and are quite witty. While everything else is great, it’s the sound effects that really bring the score up, they are very clear and really helps emphasize the damage you do to the buildings (much like the explosions themselves, the sound of the explosions is also important and this game shows that like no other.)

Pros- Clear voices. Excellent sound effects.
Cons- Music is kind of bland.

Gameplay-10/10- You have to destroy buildings that are in the path of an explosive-rigged semi, if there is any contact between that semi and any part of the gaming environment (your vehicle, buildings, anything) the game ends. It’s your job to clear the path for the semi. It may seem simple, but it’s not, you start out using one vehicle, but you’re given a vast array of vehicles to commandeer during a certain level, some work better than others on a level, it’s your job to figure out which ones work best on a given level to optimize the damage you do. Overall, excellent, one of the most original twists on a genre in years, too bad it also makes the game very hard, the margin for error is small.

Pros- Very original game concept.
Cons- Little margin for error.

Control-10/10- The sense of control in this game is great, you have to master each vehicle’s control to even beat the game, believe me, this is no easy task, each vehicle controls differently and has small handling details that need to be mastered. Overall, great, it would have been easy for Rare to just slap the vehicles with the same basic control, but they didn’t they did something original and it works wonderfully.

Pros- Very responsive control. Every vehicle controls differently.
Cons- None.

Replay Value-6/10- This is the game’s only serious fault (other than the insane difficulty), this game is very difficult, replaying it is a chore because you must play each level perfectly, there’s no real margin for error. The game is great while it lasts though.

Pros- It’s fun to play the first time through.
Cons- The insane difficulty makes this game a chore to play through because you must play each level perfectly.

Presentation-9/10- Everything looks like it belongs in the game. The menus are well laid out and are easy to use. The vehicle design in this game is second to none. For the most part, the game maintains a smooth look, there are a few polygon tears, but not many.

Pros- Excellent vehicle design. Menus are well laid out.
Cons- Some polygon tearing.

Overall-9/10- The game has great graphics, good sound, excellent control, and wonderful gameplay. It is one of the best games ever on the N64 in my opinion.

Buy or Rent?-Rent- it's a great game, but rent it first to see if the difficulty bothers you, if it does, don't buy it, if it doesn't, go buy it, it shouldn't cost more than $20. If you can't find it at conventional stores (i.e. E.B., Software Etc.) try Funcoland.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/04/00, Updated 10/04/00