Blasto

"Zapping Aliens? Why not..."

-Visuals 8/10-

While Blasto offers you middle of the road visuals, they are bright, and do come flaring across the screen with a type of brilliant life that isn’t easily emulated anywhere else. Moving through stages at a three quarter overhead view, you’re given a very limited detail set-up that moves at a decent pace, and doesn’t allow for much slow down or image pop-up. Placed in a space-type environment, you’ll find yourself zapping aliens with a bit of humor that comes apparent on the screen. Not a bad effort by any means, and action gamers will more than likely enjoy the fact that it does move at such a fast pace.

-Audio 8/10-

A nice put together of music for an action game, it gives you a surreal sense of adventure, and will keep you interested in listening to the game while you blast away. Certain tracks will have an infectious tendency and you’ll probably find yourself humming to a couple of the stages tracks after a while. The sound effects, as fun as they can be at times, can become little more than background noise after a few stages, so there isn’t anything that is too memorable that you’ll hear. All in all, it’s not a bad combination for an action game of this type.

-Control 8/10-

The control here can be a little strange at first to master, but after you have the fine tuning of jumping around, and locking on your enemies, there isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t be blasting away like a pro. Younger gamers may take some time to get used to the way that the in-game mechanics work, but veteran action gamers will find the button placement, and the different actions that you have to perform easy to get into, and that most of this game revolves around blasting things. Be prepared for some sore thumb-pads.

-Game Play 8/10-

The game revolves around a hero trying to fend off an attacking alien horde through zapping them before they zap him. Several stages of alien blasting mayhem is what will greet you, and the adjustable difficulty level will make this game either very easy, or very hard depending. You’ll find that the game offers some pretty solid game play to any action gamer, while excluding the overly difficult computer A.I. that most games of this type has to offer. Something that might turn off some action gamers, is the fact that Blasto is one player only, so there isn’t a chance to have two people play through and take everything out, but it is an enjoyable adventure for solo gamers everywhere.

Replay value is based solely on what the gamer makes of it. A very lengthy adventure awaits, and while there isn’t anything in terms of solid unlockable secrets to find, there is a lot of addictive game play rolled into the numerous stages. Blasto does move at a deliberate pace, but if you’ve got a good handle on the controls, you’ll find that the game play has infinite possibilities that revolve around how many times you’ll replay the game.

-Overall 8/10-

Blasto is a solid PSX game that any collector would find enjoyable, and slightly humorous. You’ll find that the visuals, while not the most exquisite, can be humorous in a simple way. Combine that with a decent soundtrack, some extended game play, and you’ll find Blasto to be worth the money you shell out for a purchase. As always, rent first and then make your decision, because while Blasto is a good action game, it won’t be everyone’s cup of action tea

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/20/01, Updated 01/20/01