Rating of
2/5
Bullet Hell in Disguise
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/27/11
The original “Blaster Master” for the NES has always been a bit of an enigma for me. On one hand, I like the fact that it mixed vehicular side-scrolling with personal top-down perspectives for two kinds of gameplay in one package. I also liked the “Metroid”-style interconnected overworld. On the other hand, what I did NOT like was the unforgiving difficulty, extremely limited continues, and long play-time. It was like Sunsoft was specifically making a game that I would want to play, but making it impossible to complete. After playing with a couple of mediocre sequels, I was pleased to see a gameplay video of “Blaster Master: Overdrive” (“BMO”) that showed true-to form gameplay stylings with 32-bit 2D graphics. After more than a decade of gameplay developments to cut-down on frustration and increase accessibility, I was expecting “BMO” to finally provide the definitive “Blaster Master” experience.
Presentation
“BMO” looks great and sounds great… for a 32-bit 2D game. These are the type of graphics I was expecting in games when the 3D revolution took over and started throwing ugly, primitive polygons everywhere. The backgrounds and characters feature a lot of detail and are smoothly animated. Unfortunately, “BMO’s” graphics have one unforgivable flaw: the game is presented in 4:3 non-widescreen format. The game even uses this standard definition format when the Wii itself it set to display widescreen. It makes exploring the game’s environments feel very cramped.
The soundtrack, like the graphics, is old-school, featuring high-quality MIDI. Most of the tunes are remixes from the original game, which is a nice touch for returning fans.
Story
“BMO” is actually a prequel to the original “Blaster Master,” featuring world-famous virologist, Alexander, father of Jason (the hero of the original game), and the prototype tank-car, S.O.P.H.I.A. Aside from some brief story scenes at the beginning and end of the game, it doesn’t have much narrative value.
It seems that a mutant virus has fallen from space. This virus transforms non-human animals into aggressive, carnivorous monsters, while at the same time putting all humans into a deep, unwakable sleep. Alex, being the scientific genius he is, must venture into some ruins and put an end to the virus at its source… by shooting it.
I find some parts of this narrative to make no sense. Why is Alex going into underground ruins to destroy the source of the virus? Where did these ruins come from? Did the space virus just happen to land in them? And if the virus only affects non-human animals, why are there so damn many robots running around in the ruins?! While it IS a much better premise than the original game (in which Jason is searching for his pet frog, who fell down a hole into the ruins), that’s not exactly an accomplishment.
Gameplay
Like the original game, “BMO” blends side-scrolling and top-down gameplay. While driving S.O.P.H.I.A., the game is a side-scroller that bears a remarkable resemblance to “Metroid.” The tank-car can aim its gun in 5 directions (left, right, up, and two upward diagonals), move side-to-side, and jump. By defeating the bosses in each major area of the underground ruins, Alex gains upgrades for S.O.P.H.I.A. that allow it to fire a grappling hook, climb walls, drill through rock, move through water, and drive over spikes. These upgrades are necessary to move on to each successive area. Annoyingly, this version of S.O.P.H.I.A. has an Energy Gauge that is depleted by using any of its abilities (including something as basic as shooting the default gun). While this gauge does refill by itself, it requires the tank-car to be completely immobile to do so. Aside from that, S.O.P.H.I.A. also has a typical Hit Point Gauge, which depletes as the tank-car takes damage and can be refilled by picking up fuel cans dropped randomly by enemies.
The top-down sections feature Alex outside of his tank-car as he walks through smaller-scale areas seeking bosses and power-ups. These sections remind me a little bit of the NES game, “Smash TV.” As Alex travels through these sections, he can find personal Hit Point Upgrades that permanently increase his Hit Point Gauge as well as Weapon Power Packs that increase the potency of one of his weapons. Alex begins with three weapons (and never finds any more): a laser, a homing laser, and a grenade. These weapons have 5 power levels and, like in the original game, taking a hit also decreases the level of Alex’s active weapon. In addition to these weapons, enemies randomly drop Nukes, of which Alex can carry one at a time. These Nukes damage (and usually destroy) everything on screen (and slightly off-screen due to the 4:3 aspect ratio).
One of the biggest problems with “BMO” is the controls. Instead of allowing options, like so many other Wii games, “BMO” forces the player to use a sideways Wiimote like an NES controller. The d-pad is for movement, 1 fires the currently-equipped weapon, 2 makes S.O.P.H.I.A. jump or Alex use a Nuke, A cycles through weapons, B strafes, - reveals the map in vehicle mode (a much needed addition!), and + pauses. This setup would work okay for a game that only worries about left/right/up/down. However, “BMO” relies heavily on making Alex strafe while facing at an angle, which is incredibly finicky. Personally, I think this game would have played much better with ‘twin stick’ dual-analog controls instead of a d-pad and a strafe button, as it requires near-constant shooting in one direction while moving in another. Even worse, while they are only occasionally unresponsive, the controls are ALWAYS incredibly sluggish. Both Alex and S.O.P.H.I.A. trudge through the game’s environments like they are moving through tar pits. This was a huge disappointment, as both Jason and his tank-car were incredibly snappy in the original “Blaster Master.” It’s also a huge liability, as the game moves increasingly toward the ‘Bullet Hell’ style of gameplay the further in the player gets.
The gameplay starts out good for the first half of the game; it’s challenging, but do-able. But in Area 5, the difficulty suddenly spikes and the player is faced with more and more situations where the entire screen is covered in projectiles, some of which are emitted by indestructible enemies. By the end of Area 8 and the confrontation with the final boss, “BMO” felt more like a SHMUP than an action/adventure title. It left me growling in rage on many occasions as Alex took unavoidable hits due to his sluggish movement and the cloud of projectiles on-screen.
Including its return to ‘Nintendo Hard’ halfway through, “BMO” only pays lip service to modern game conventions. While there is a map for the side-scrolling vehicular areas, it’s very basic and doesn’t provide helpful info, such as the locations of un-collected power-ups or odd floor plans. There is no map for the top-down areas that Alex explores, which would have been helpful in reminding the player which areas actually contain re-collectable Weapon Power Packs. While “BMO” actually does implement save points, they are very poorly spaced. Instead of placing a save point at the beginning of an area and one right before the area boss, they are instead scattered around randomly, which frequently means a 15 minute trip from a save point to a boss (which gets really old after being killed by said boss a few times). Saving also has reversed controls, with 1 being ‘Confirm’ and 2 being ‘Cancel,’ which can lead to inadvertent not-saving if the player isn’t careful. While it may only say 8 hours on my end-game save file, it took closer to 12… but repeating areas due to death isn’t recorded.
Overall
“Blaster Master: Overdrive” is a frustrating, tedious experience. While it looks like a relic from the 16/32-bit Golden Age, it’s actually a trap. This game is an NES throwback in every sense of the word. If it wasn’t a Digital Download, I’d definitely throw it back. I can only recommend this game to Bullet Hell fans who aren’t put-off by poor controls.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 2.5/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Overall (not an average): 2/5
