Blaster Master

"Quite an exciting game for the NES!"

Well, Blaster Master is a game about this frog named Fred who escapes from his owner's house. The worried owner, Jason, chases after the little guy. Soon, the frog touches a box of radioactive waste and grows into some huge frog (ok, I don't get why a frog would grow to a huge size like this, or why a crate of radioactive material would be in someone's backyard, but, the story isn't that important...), then falls down a hole in the earth! Jason, in typical hero style, falls down the hole after Fred, but when he gets to the bottom, he sees some strange vehicle underground. Thus, he goes into the thing and goes on a hunt for his pet frog. Not a very...uh...''standard'' story, but interesting nevertheless...well, in fact, the game is very, very fun. Here goes...

The graphics in this game are excellent, which is good. Jason likes nice (but a lot like Bomberman!), and the bosses are pretty impressive. The environment around you is very colorful and detailed. Very nice job. Gotta commend Sunsoft on this.

Ah, the music just gets me humming. Very catchy tunes flow throughout the different areas of the game. My favorite has to be the Level 1 music...you gotta hear it. Another nice job by Sunsoft.

The controls are just right in this. I don't get frustrated trying to get the Sophia (as the vehicle in the game is called) to do something. The Sophia moves smoothly, and so does Jason. Button response is very good for this. When you want to shoot something, it shoots it.

Well, of course, the most important thing in a game is the gameplay. This game plays like a charm. Blaster Master's a mix of a platform action game and a Zelda type game, and they mix with one another VERY WELL.
It's simple to operate the Sophia. A jumps, B shoots, Start pauses (well, yeah...), and Select gets Jason out of the Sophia. Wait, that's in platform mode. In the overhead look, A shoots Jason's gun, B makes him throw a grenade...and that's about it. You go around in the stages trying to get to the level boss. In platform mode, you just try to get to the overhead ''chambers'' in any way you can while going through woods, castles, caves, and many, many evil creatures. In the chambers, You work your way to the boss, getting past all the traps and enemies in the creepy, odd rooms. In the boss room, you fight huge creatures, ready to get the best of you...but if you survive, you get a new ability for the Sophia! For example, Hover lets you fly or hover for a short time. Wall can let you climb walls. I enjoy using all the different abilities since they're all interesting! Gameplay does not fail to please in this game.

I would come back to play this game again. Why? It's just plain fun! The game doesn't have a password or save feature, and it's EXTREMELY challenging, but the game just a bunch of fun. Just keep on going!

In conclusion, Blaster Master is one heck of a fun game for the NES. Its combo of two different game genres is perfect, and it'll keep surprising you! Buy this game as soon as you can! Blaster Master can keep you pleased for a long time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/01, Updated 06/23/01