Blast Corps

"Fun, Unique Game"

Blast Corps has got to be one of the most unique games on the N64. Although it is not multi-player, it can be quite fun, addictive and challenging. The story is right out of Rare's usual bag of tricks - an out of control missile carrier is headed around the world and beyond, on a rampage, and if it hits anything it blows up. This causes chaos, disarray, confusion and all that other fun stuff. It is your job to clear a path for the missile carrier. To do this, you must get rid of buildings, using various vehicles of destruction - bulldozers, dump trucks, giant robots and the like. Your journey takes you all over the globe, and if you're really good at the game, into space. You get to rescue innocent citizens and scientists from buildings, too, although you have to blow up the buildings first. You also employ the use of transportation vehicles, such as trains and cop cars, not to mention giant robots, to get your work done.

Blast Corps has decent graphics - nothing special, but they're not ugly. Everything is polygon-based, the vehicles, to the robots, to the buildings. There are no cut scenes or things like that, so don't expect a movie here. The graphics are colorful, with an average amount of attention paid to detail.

The sound in Blast Corps, overall, is pretty good overall. The music is nothing memorable, and unless it really turns you off, you'll probably not want to bother turning on something else. The sound effects make up for the average music, however. There are short voice cuts for when you do something special. Noises, beeps and the like just make the overall atmosphere of the game a little more fun.

The control of Blast Corps, basically, depends on the vehicle or robot you are using. Some vehicles are incredible easy to use, and you'll have mastered them after a few minutes. Other vehicles are still hard to use after owning the game for six months, most notably the dump truck. The rest of the game is played in menus or the main board. All control is done by using the analog control stick; the directional pad is not used at all in the game.

To save your game, you can use the game's built-in EEPROM system. However, there is only one slot to save in, and it doesn't record your high scores. If you're in it for the long haul, you'll want to use a Memory Pack to save in Blast Corps. You get four save slots using a Memory Pack, all of which save your high scores. However, each slots takes up 7 slots in your Memory Pack, and Blast Corps automatically equips you with four slots. If you try to delete any of these slots, Blast Corps re-creates them the next time you play the game.

Blast Corps has some really fun bonus games. You can win medals in these games, just like in the main game. The level of medal that you can win (bronze, silver, gold or platinum) varies depending on how fast you can complete the bonus game. A bonus game generally consists of racing around a track in your vehicle, or blowing up a certain amount of buildings in your robots.

Blast Corps is a very long game, if you want to play it all the way through. The first set of levels, set on Earth, are rather easy. You'll probably be able to breeze through them after a day or two of playing the game. After beating a level, another one may open up. Generally, you're able to pick from about three levels. Here's what there hard part comes in - the levels after this are extremely hard. If you do well, you progress in the game.

The other side of the game comes in replaying the levels you have already beaten. If you're able to clear out all the buildings, and save all of the people, then you will win a medal. Working on pre-cleared levels can be fun for some people, but boring for others.

I've owned Blast Corps for over a year now, yet I still play it every now and then. It's just a fun game. Usually, though, when I replay the game, I just play the first few levels and then let it go for awhile. Re-learning the controls and the way the game works just becomes too frustrating. It's not worth it when you've already beaten the game.

By finding everything in a level, you earn medals. By earning medals and beating levels, you earn a certain rank. The ranks appear when you access a saved file, and most of them have pretty corny names. However, if you're not interested in progressing too far in the game, but you are concerned about finding everything in a level, ranks are a good way to compare your performance to other game players.

Blast Corps has been criticized by people for it's excessive challenge. I agree with these people, Blast Corps is a hard game. However, even if the later-levels are too hard for you, simply replay the first set. Blowing up all of the buildings, finding people and everything else involved in replaying a level is good fun and a way to pass an afternoon.

Blast Corps has also been called the "sleeper hit" of 1997. I think this is a fair assessment of the game. It didn't have a lot of fanfare or hype going into it's release, but a lot of people realized that it was a fun game. Months later, the game rightfully joined the "Player's Choice" series, making it available for only $40. With it's lowered price, and not to mention the fact that it can usually be found used for $20, Blast Corps is probably a good buy.

If you're the type of person who likes to work on a game and get everything out of it, Blast Corps is definitely worth a purchase. If you prefer breezing through a game as fast as possible, it's still a fun weekend rent.

Graphics: 8
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 9
Replay Value: 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99