Blaster Master retrospective and Tengen check-in: One froggy evening | NES Works

Sunsoft gets a major glow-up this episode after a mediocre start as a publisher of ancient arcade ports and one neat-but-meager light gun shooter. No one would accuse them of half-assing it this time around, though; Blaster Master shot instantly to the top of the NES all-time greats list as soon as it debuted, and it still holds up remarkably well despite some unforgiving design choices that make for some incredibly difficult scenarios. The plot may not make much sense, and the weapon degradation system can be deeply demoralizing, but on the whole Blaster Master did a lot to advance the state of the NES art.
Also this episode, I take a moment to provide proper context for the whole Tengen thing I erroneously tackled back in the 1987 chronology.
Special thanks this episode to Stefan Gancer of Gaming Alexandria, whose work documenting Sunsoft's history ( / sunsofthistory ) proved a HUGE help for keeping details straight as I organized my notes for this episode.
Production note: NES footage captured from ‪@analogueinc‬ Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with XRGB Mini Framemeister.
Video Works is funded via Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its KZbin debut! Plus, exclusive content, eBooks, and more!

[@jessragan6714]

Just imagine how his parents reacted when he vanished into that hole. "We're sending our love down the weeeeeell!"

[@METR0lD]

I loved this game back in the day. It was a Blaster Masterpiece.

[@TheLastBrandon]

I agree. Well said 😊

[@sadham2668]

A Blasterpiece

[@grasslandgraphics]

As a kid, that story both made no sense at all and also made perfect sense.

[@chrusader5134]

This man is too professional to only have 65.4K subs. What a multiverse we live in.

[@stopmikeandjim3196]

I believe "SOPHIA III" is now canonically the name of the tank FWIW.

[@TetrisMaster512]

I know in Blaster Master: Blasting Again, it's referred to as SOPHIA, though the version of the tank that Roddy pilots in the game is a later iteration of it, and not actually III. Seems like the SOPHIA name was made canon as early as BM2.

[@tripled2096]

The zero series calls it Sophia III, but it also has the original japanese version "Metal Attacker" show up in the 3rd game

[@Daryoon]

Because it didn't release over here in Europe until 1991, I always believed Blaster Master was a late NES release, but it predates *Fester's Quest*?! Context, as ever, changes everything.

[@JeremyParish]

Yep, Fester’s was designed by the US team and programmed in Japan based on the top-down bits in BM.

[@Daryoon]

@@JeremyParish Learning how all these things connect is one of the joys of this channel.

[@reyvgm]

Watching footage of that Stage 5 crab fight with an empty gun bar gave me nightmarish flashbacks. Did you know you can shoot missiles upward? It's hard to do, but hold up with the tank and quickly press Down + B and you'll shoot the 3-way missiles upward.

[@rzzz5946]

oh yeah, i think you can shoot lightning upward too. for maximum style points. I never used those subweapons much. On subsequent playthroughs i might use one on a particular jump down.

[@54raynor]

It took way too long for me to figure out that getting to the crab with a fully-charged gun made it a ridiculously easy fight.

[@childofcascadia]

I was actually playing this last night on my Switch! Its one of my favs from when I was a kid. But Ill say having been playing the Zero series lately, I forgot how absolutely ridiculous the English plot was. I was like "oh yeah, this ones not about the far future and aliens, its about a kid going to rescue a pet frog that fell down a hole where he somehow found a tank." Although I do have to say I like how Zero combined both plots into something new.

[@locke103]

wait till you play the others, the third game will very likely amaze you

[@childofcascadia]

I have 3 waiting for me as soon as I finish 2 (which im on now). Ive heard absolutely great things and cant wait to play it.

[@billkendrick1]

QVC shopping channel (iirc) pitched Gauntlet after Tengen went their separate way. My mom bought it for me at the time. In recent years, I was happily surprised to find Tengen's Tetris for less than 💰💰💰 and grabbed it.

[@dagossYT]

I think, by far, the thing that drags Blaster Master down is the lack of a battery backup or password system. If you could take a break, it would be a lot less frustrating.

[@iamhere490]

Sunsoft was well known for how unforgiven their games were

[@thepolarphantasm2319]

Same thing that ruined Ocean's Jurassic Park game for SNES

[@dagossYT]

@@thepolarphantasm2319 I spent so much time playing Jurrassic Park as a kid. Fun game that I never was able to beat because I couldn't save. Got really good at the first few hours though!

[@thepolarphantasm2319]

@@dagossYT finding all the dino eggs :/

[@timallenbrown]

Gimme more of that sweet sweet Nintendo Power footage

[@JeremyParish]

Every episode, whenever possible!

[@PuglyWont]

This seems like some sort of milestone for NES Works. You're into the heart of NES games now! Changing the story played into the "weird thing from Japan" to me, and the added intro sequences made it seem intentional. Recounting it felt more like a nightmare than a whimsical start to adventure it seemed as a kid.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

I'm VERY surprised to learn that the weird frog story wasn't in the Japanese version of the game, it was such a bizarre decision, I assumed that must have always been there. And I assumed Blaster Master was the name of the vehicle in the US version! Shows what I know!

[@FlippytheMasterofPie]

It seems like the sort of story that would be in the Japanese version since that market has historically had more tolerance for whimsical cuteness while the American market has always tried to make its games seem like Serious Business™️. Funny that the Japanese version has the more serious storyline. It’s the reverse of the famous Kirby angry eyebrows!

[@ShadowEl]

I thought the marketing for Blaster Master Zero canonized the ship's name as Sophia III. Maybe I imagined that.

[@PScoopYT]

@@ShadowEl As point out in the video, the name appears on the subscreen was a leftover from the original version. However, the name stuck since and most Blaster Master games afterwards gave the tank the name "Sophia the 3rd" Including Inti Creates' Blaster Master Zero trilogy.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

@@FlippytheMasterofPie Exactly my thoughts! I'm still amazed it's the product of the "beer-and-muscle-cars-and-missile-launchers" US!

[@absolutezeronow7928]

Blaster Master on NES is one that I remember liking and Blaster Master Zero is essentially a remake that improved the game. It's good that we've reached where Sunsoft starts to release good games though. And 1943 next time maybe? Nice.

[@riggel8804]

The Blaster Master intro makes perfect sense when your an 8 year old boy.

[@auralunaprettycure]

Lol! Yeah that’s really quite accurate, and I can guarantee that this was the experience for many back in the day, haha. I also happen to have a story about the game actually relating my mother. After she had a surgery that had her bedridden, I played through the entirety of it on the tv with her recently and I as a hardcore Blaster Master fan who saw the intro many times booted up the game prepared to make fun of it, but before I did so, I noticed she was extremely engaged during the entirety of it. She was actually someone who grew up with this and other NES games, while I was not. For me who played the game for the first time via emulation and the 3DS Virtual Console, Seeing someone who enjoyed the story in that way, made it quite a unique experience as I saw someone who appreciated the cutscenes in a new way.

[@riggel8804]

@@auralunaprettycure I played Blastermaster a lot as a child. I remember the intro being well regarded. The Blastermaster intro is similar to a fairy tale--Finding a magic door to another world in your backyard is an old story. Typical kid logic. I can relate to your mom. That intro hits me in the nostalgia feels.

[@rzzz5946]

Young me: "Wow he really loves that frog. Ok, lezz go."

[@allenharper2928]

Seriously. What boy WOULDN'T love to find a tank and a giant underground world to explore in it?

[@LorenHelgeson]

"Yeah, we can do that, too." And they certainly did, in spades. While Konami and Capcom were juggernauts in their own right, my favorite NES developer would easily go to Sunsoft. From their custom sound chips to general improvement in game quality, I'm really looking forward to the NES Works '89 episodes that will cover their works.

[@zackschilling4376]

Its a shame we never got Mr. Gimmick here in North America. SunSoft should always be mentioned in the same way as Konami and Capcom always are in regards to the NES. Batman, Blaster Master, Gremlins 2, Batman, Journey to Silius, even lesser games like Fester's Quest (with some tweaking it could be good to great), there was always something to love with SunSoft games.

[@LorenHelgeson]

@@zackschilling4376 Indeed. Gimmick would have been fun, and I'm really hoping to someday see someone like Limited Run Games finally release it. In recent years, we got legitimate re-releases of Metal Storm, Panorama Cotton and Trip World. Gimmick doesn't seem too far-fetched. Even considering Fester's Quest, that game was only "bad" due to an oversight and a misunderstanding among the dev team - it was supposed to have checkpoints, for one thing. And regardless of the gameplay quality, I will always praise it for its music. That overworld theme is prime Sunsoft goodness.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Man, Sunsoft had such a disappointing company trajectory. For a few years there, they really were rivaliing Capcom and Konami at the top of the NES 3rd Party heap, but then they got cheap and started outsourcing their 16-bit games, and their star fell just as fast as it had risen. :-/

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

Someone (I wish I could remember who) once said that we don't understand the companies that fall from grace, or are destroyed by larger publishers. That making games is often punishing work, and what we regard as failure, is actually the goal of many developers. For that reason, I prefer to remember the good times, and simply ignore Sunsoft's claims that the western games are totally carrying on their legacy. It's not like there aren't better western games, so it's pretty obvious that they'd completely checked out and were just interested in one last cash grab.

[@dillontam9752]

They didn't stop making good games after the NES era, they just stopped making them for the overseas market. They were never as big as Capcom or Konami, both in the sense that even their best games were never as lucrative as the big game makers of the era and that the company itself was literally not big enough to devote resources to making as many games as those others did.

[@GELTONZ]

Hmm...that's an interesting one to think about. Because yeah, their SNES and Genesis output was mostly disappointing but they made some incredible looking Neo Geo fighters with Galaxy Fight and Waku Waku 7 which are absolutely up to the standards of their NES output. They did some good Gameboy stuff too. Lemme see...OH! They had an RPG series on called Albert Odyssey (of which we only got one) and did the absolute masterwork of the Genesis that was Panorama Cotton, a Space Harrier-esque rail shooter that pushed the system to its limits and is one of the finest in the genre! Looks like they really fell off with the PS1. They made TRAG, a very anime Resident Evil clone, but little else that impressed. I mean, I have a soft spot for Blaster Master: Blasting Again on PS1 but in general they just couldn't stand out on PS1.

[@dillontam9752]

@@GELTONZ Out Live: Be Eliminate Yesterday is a Japan-only PS1 game from them that is very underrated, imo

[@Musicradio77Network]

The many Sunsoft NES games were “Blaster Master”, “Fester’s Quest”, “Batman” and “Batman: Return of the Joker” were the best games for the NES. In the SNES era, Sunsoft made two games based on the “Looney Tunes” including “Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions” and “Road Runner’s Death Valley Rally”, the worst game for the SNES due to slippery controls. The object is to avoid Wile E Coyote while you can where the Road Runner chases away unless the Coyote goes out of control, just like in a cartoon where it had gags.

[@supersmashbro596]

i love how blaster master zero basically combined the american and japanese canons.

[@ryucross]

Blaster Master Zero is really up there with Metroid Zero Mission and Bionic Commando Rearmed in terms of remakes of NES games that kept the core of what made the games work and just fixed all the issues 8-bit game design caused. I wonder if there's a Retronauts episode on that topic.

[@makohidari4723]

indeed. Even having the two different protagonists meet eventually. crazy but they pulled it off.

[@GELTONZ]

While I don't like them changing the plot to it taking place in the future and Freddy being a "mysterious frog-like creature", I DO love that and the reason why it's called "Zero" is amusing to me: See, on PS1 they made a game called Blaster Master: Blasting Again starring Jason and Eve's kids. This game was developed in Japan but followed the US canon. BUT it was also released in Japan under the title of simply "Blaster Master". Thus, Blaster Master Zero is a prequel to Blaster Master: Blasting Again hence the name.

[@GenteelCretin]

Blaster Master was an enigma to me in my youth. I loved it (and, admittedly, I loved the frog angle because I was a kid in the sticks), but I could never get halfway through it when I was young. The entrance to Area 4 is downright _esoteric,_ and there's pretty much no way I would've known to go back to the first level without the eventuality of the internet to guide me.

[@NiceTryLaoChe]

I was surprised he didn't mention that. The entrance to Area 4 was little short of diabolical and I have no idea how the casual player was supposed to find it.

[@GenteelCretin]

@@NiceTryLaoChe If I remember correctly, it doesn't have completely asymmetrical progression until that point. I rented it as a li'l runt and got to the section in Area 3 where you're intended to ceiling-climb over (after a much later power-up), but I assumed that's where I was meant to go and I didn't understand the Hover function. To be fair, when I played it as an adult I realized I would never have made it past the following levels as a kid.

[@Zeffarian]

The location of Area 4 was alluded to in the manual. It basically showed in a simple diagram that Area 4 was somehow connected to Area 1. If you rented it with no manual, I can imagine you were pretty much out of luck.

[@GenteelCretin]

@@Zeffarian Hah. Well, now I can pencil that in under Star Tropics on my list of rentals where my progress was thwarted by the lack of a manual.

[@locke103]

@@NiceTryLaoChe i dont even remember HOW i found that out... considering at 1993, i didnt quite have internet access. much less would know where to look, i was far too young to know how to navigate usenet and the like.

[@COIFISHGAMING]

Blaster Master is the first game I ever bought out of my own money. Instant respect by the editing and research involved here. Great video of one of my all time favorite games! Subbed.

[@auralunaprettycure]

This is without a doubt one of the highest achievements to complete for me as a gamer, and among one of the greatest I’ve ever played. And I say this as someone who only first discovered it as a teen decades after release thanks to KZbinrs, first playing it with emulation and with the 3ds and WiiU Virtual Console. Everything about the game, from the smooth character animation on both SOPHIA and Jason (with a level of attention to detail so heavy that even the tank’s wheels buckle after a great fall, with the animation somehow making the controls feel even better), or the genius gameplay (the lack of knockback here makes it by far the easiest NES title for me to pick up and play as someone who did not grow up with this era of game, Everything, about this game feels years ahead of its time and its frankly inspiring to me that a game so advanced was released in 1988 in Japan. Thank you for this lovely video on a special treasure to me.

[@straightupanarg6226]

So you're saying Blaster Master is one simple romhack (permanent gun upgrade) away from pure genius?

[@pentelegomenon1175]

I think it would be better if they just removed the lowest gun upgrade level, so the whole gun upgrade mechanic of the game doesn't suddenly seem out of place.

[@ryucross]

Blaster Master Zero had the best fix: a recharging shield that would prevent weapon level downs provided you didn't get hit multiple times. Unfortunately that kind of game design wasn't around during the NES era so the best option would probably be to have the tank recharge your gun energy every time you entered it; even just charging you to level 3 or 4 would make the overhead sections much more pleasant to play.

[@VGJustice]

@@ryucross Having your Gun recharge from the tank would have been amazing. Ah, well. Inti Creates did a fantastic job fixing up this flawed masterpiece.

[@MCastleberry1980]

This has been one of those games I've wanted to love but suck at, so I keep remembering it as more awesome than it actually is. Still wild to me that Sunsoft went on to make Fester's Quest and was like "What if we focused a game around the worst part of Blaster Master, make it even harder and also star a character that hadn't been on TV for 23 years?"

[@The_Wandering_Nerd]

To be fair, the Addams Family TV show was fairly popular in reruns up until the 1980s and they must have known the 1991 movie was in production, so maybe they snatched up the rights to the TV show to... be ahead of the curve?

[@locke103]

@@The_Wandering_Nerd i think it was just serendipity, the way that played out. going on vague memory of a vague mention, so take that with a grain of salt... i honestly never thought to try and research the game

[@GELTONZ]

Believe it or not, while the Nintendo Power ABSOLUTELY sold it, the plot made it memorable. There are dozens of sweeping sci-fi space war stories on NES, but "kid tries to get back his pet frog and accidentally stumbles upon an alien super tank and a secret alien invasion underground" was unique, relateable, and made many kids imaginations run wild. I became pretty obsessed with digging holes after playing Blaster Master and I've heard many people refer to Blaster Master's plot as "the greatest videogame plot of all time" in a way that is both joking and loving. I mean, real talk, some kids really liked pet frogs.

[@SaturmornCarvilli]

Blaster Master is tied with Bionic Commando as my favorite NES game. I still remember buying it for $14 at Lionel Toys with my paperboy money. Because it looked the coolest of the discounted games. And once I started playing it, I wondered how it could be on discount. Since it was better than practically any of the other games I had played up to that point. I completely agree about the top-down gun loss of upgrades. Especially since several of the gun levels were arguably worst off. Like the second most powerful wave shot that didn't pass through walls or the looping shots that lowered the rate of fire to the forward shot. The lack of continues, password or saves also made this game exceptionally brutal. As it was often a 2+ hour epic to get to the end. Even if you knew where to go. It took me so many games to figure out how to defeat the Plutonium Boss. Especially his second form. Because I never knew of the trick until after finally beating the game.

[@JohnVullo]

Had this game as a kid. No idea how, but Im sure my parents asked whoever working at the store what was good. I never got very far as a kid but loved this game. Blew my mind being so used to Mario's 'just move right' that you can actually go backwards and in fact, need to go to where you started in the game, to get to world 4. The ending music IMO is also the best ending music on the NES. The ONLY flaw this game has, is that heres no password/save feature. Even if you know what you're doing, it takes like 2 and a half hours.

[@antshield]

I don't comment this enough, but I really love your content. Learning about this game was interesting and seeing them use a modernized version of the English story surprised me. I never knew the Japanese story had nothing to do with a lost frog. 🐸

[@thejackal007]

While not in the scope of these videos per se, I'd love to see you talk about Sunsoft and how their music in games tended to be as amazing as it was. Out of all the soundtracks on the NES, you can always tell a Sunsoft game simply by listening to the music.

[@Boltingblade182]

I absolutely LOVE that the screenshot at 19:32 includes Gary Butterfield's Power Worlds books too. I had to do a double take when I saw that, as someone who listens to a ton of Duckfeed stuff.

[@kmaru80]

The frog story is a very important part of why I remember this one

[@FloatingSunfish]

I remember falling in love with the Tank sections of this game, but being annoyed with the Human sections so I never actually played this very much. Time to add it to the backlog!

[@doricdream498]

The weapon downgrade system in blaster master is made even more infuriating by the fact that some rooms grace you with unavoidable swarms of bullets and homing enemies immediately upon entry. It's a great game, but most definitely one that benefits from QoL features such as save states and rewinds.

[@tripled2096]

Blaster master zero is infinitely more fair and polished in the overhead segments lol. You actually get gun upgrades at a reasonable pace, and nothing is completely unavoidable so you can keep them if you arent reckless

[@SaltonGreen]

Yeah the frog angle definitely hooked me . Didn't realize it was an Alice in wonderland story

[@BMoser-bv6kn]

I've always assumed the frog burrowed into the ground. It never once occurred to me there might have been an open shaft just sitting there, because THAT WOULD BE STUPID. Also I think mentioning the leap of faith in the famicom version was notable, but it might be something you're saving for the future 3 second episode on Metafight: "This jump be whack, yo."

[@GELTONZ]

I always thought that the frog's change in size made it too heavy and the ground collapsed beneath it.

[@JeremyParish]

It’s definitely drawn as the frog just hopping headfirst into a random hole in the ground.

[@RogerPyoko]

One of the issues of Nintendo Power gives you a "trick" in regards to the leap of faith, in that if you land on the lock when you die it still counts for unlocking the gate. It stands out because the trick is clearly based on a proto version of Blaster Master, before they reworked the entire bit of level to not have that jump!

[@philmason9653]

That Dai 3 Wakusei factoid is really interesting, I've never even heard of that game. The pre-Donkey Kong golden age is another subject ripe for a deep-dive documentary series. Though nobody should have to suffer through that many characterless Space Invaders xeroxes.

[@jaynukem1929]

Ok, I know I've watched videos from this channel before. But, I am currently being completely blown away by how he makes this video look like old footage from an 80's VHS tape. I love it!!! I don't ever remember him doing that before.

[@foxtwin]

Excellent feature on Blaster Master! Thank you for this! This became one of the new games, to me, that played as good as it looked back in the day. And Blaster Master Zero is a super re-imagining that definitely gets it all right

[@supersmashbro596]

its funny because blaster master zero effectively welds the japanese and american canons together.

[@randominimizer]

I love this game and had so much memories of playing it with my family. I was little and I might have just missed one of my brothers beating it, but from what I can recall, I've never seen them made it past the frog boss. But man, getting to play this was one of my most anticipated activity after school and weekends.

[@54raynor]

This is another game that I grew up playing and finally beat after years of trying. It’s come in surprisingly handy as an adult, as there have been multiple occasions where I went through the game in front of an audience that had never advanced past the 3rd level.

[@malkneil]

Great episode Jeremy. Like myself, I'm sure the nostalgia is strong with this one for many watchers. I recall specifically being spellbound by the boss (who we assumed was the final boss) on the box cover -- and that nobody on the playground had ever gotten to him yet. What an audio-visual delight Blaster Master was, but as you covered, not without it's complications. I think they were very much on the verge of a blockbuster hit if they could have smoothed over some of the more annoying 'features' in the game. A few of my pet peeves: -- As you mentioned, losing the gun upgrades every time you get hit -- really frustrating. -- They introduced the wall climbing abilities kind of late and those would have been cool to use more in the 'meat' of the game. -- The key was a completely bogus upgrade. Just imagine if there was one other cool powerup in its place. -- The pause trick bug kind of made beating the bosses feel cheap. Although anyone who's tried to beat the frogs without it deserves a purple heart (especially the orange one). -- As mentioned, the hit detection can be a bit janky. Both in you getting hit and you trying to hit enemies. Despite all this it's a great game deserving of praise. Been looking for a new Switch game and Blaster Master Zero looks like it might be a fun trip down memory lane. Keep up the great content -- really enjoying it.

[@malkneil]

@@rzzz5946 check out Displaced Gamers channel who did an entire ep on the pause glitch. He gets into the assembly code which, if you're a programmer of any level can be intriguing

[@demonpugo]

I got this game on my birthday thanks to a KB toys salesman in the mall. He said it was rad, and he was right. Bought it on his recommendation with extra bday cash.

[@JakalairVG]

This game has always been high on my list of favorite NES games and probably makes the top ten games of all time. It was brutal and often made no sense, but it was so much fun to play for hours at a time on the weekend while waiting for my friends to get home and come get me for bike riding.

[@KLGChaos]

I've got the complete NES music vol 1 and 2... hearing all the old tunes really brings back memories, especially when you're doing an NES Works and I recognize the music, even for games I didn't play much (or at all, Like Gumshoe).

[@thecunninlynguist]

An absolute classic. I could never beat it legit...but man how ambitious this was during the era. Sunsoft rarely faulted...good times.

[@RichardCraig]

Thank goodness I lived near an Ames in South Jersey! They seemed to carry whatever they felt like. They still had C64 games for sale into the early 90s and also sold Tengen games and other stuff you didn't really see anywhere else. I miss Ames, lol

[@IamMarkSmith]

Jeremy, I had more inspiration that caused me to love this game back then. The cartoon “Jase and the Wheeled Warriors.” The tank Jase drove had various weapons much like “Sophia.” Ahh, after school cartoons were so awesome back in the 80’s.

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

Once more I would like to thank Jeremy Parish for the use and credit of my commercials. Someday I'll add more, I promise this. Blaster Master is a game I rented, but I didn't actually own until the late 90s when NES games were super cheap. I didn't actually complete it until the mid 2000s with the aid of the excellent maps on VG Maps by user sonyball in 2007 which show every map in the game along with the location of everything within the maps. Blaster Master's maps are enormous and it's quite easy to either get lost or go the wrong direction. Even _with_ the maps you still will still have a very challenging time.

[@makohidari4723]

For it's time. Blaster Master is quite an impressive game. Enjoyed re-playing the game even now. it's quite a unique game in the NES library. Hope we get some Sunsoft love for Batman and Gremlins 2 NES too. Also. Kudos to Inti Creates for the 3 Blaster Master Zero games. Continuing the series into moden times and added quite some improvements.

[@tinypinata505]

Possibly my favorite NES game. And that's saying a lot.

[@Panzer_the_Merganser]

Wow this popped up at the perfect time today. Thanks for this one; a TON of nostalgia for Blaster Master.

[@charon59]

I missed the boat on Blaster Master as a kid. I knew about it, but never got around to playing/renting it. Didn't play till decades later. When I did, my initial reaction when doing the first overhead stage was: "oh yuck, this is just like Fester's Quest" :/

[@BMoser-bv6kn]

Aw. Your first impression coulda been "Hey, this is just like Blaster Master. Rockin'." followed up by "Wait... what's going on... here...."

[@landeny65]

This and Rygar were my go to games the summer before Mario 3 came out

[@vuuvovuuv]

I know this is nothing new for you but I wanna thank you for taking the time to keep the proper aspect ratio for gameplay, and not just stretching everything out to HD depths

[@AQuestionofCharacter]

Ah. Metal Attacker. Well that's just nice and frustrating as I swore it was Sofia lol. Thanks for your diligent work.

[@GELTONZ]

The tank was called Sofia the Third in the US (while in Japan that was the name of the planet it was from). Blaster Master Zero actually reconciles all of this and ties Blaster Master and Metafight together at the end by saying that the all terrain hopping tanks themselves are "Metal Attackers" and that SPECIFIC Metal Attacker is named "Sofia the Third".

[@oman1825]

These are some awesome times for the NES. Love the Video Works and Retronauts Podcast.

[@Choralone422]

You hit the nail on the head with how I felt about Blaster Master back in those days! BM was the 4th game I ever owned for the NES and I absolutely loved and hated the game. I loved the graphics, play control, music and overall feel of the game. But I absolutely hated the power down system when Jason took damage. All of my friends back then felt the same way as they would borrow the game and usually bring it back to me a few days later complaining they kept dying because they lost weapon power. I was never able to beat the game but boy did I spend a lot of hours trying back then!

[@the_exegete]

It was the lack of continues let alone saves or passwords that really did this game in. I loved playing this game and always wanted to see it through to the end, but eventually I just got sick of running that first hour or so every time before getting cooked. Maybe it's time I go back and give it the old save state try!

[@thelastofyou]

I loved the atmosphere of this game, ever since the intro music

[@PhillBowser]

Nice video Jeremy. Surprised you didn't mention Fester's Quest and Gremlins 2 by Sunsoft basically utilize the same Blaster Master viewpoint and frustrations.

[@feitclub]

somehow I played Fester's Quest for many hours but never this one, why?? I remember the Nintendo Power coverage even!

[@co81385]

Yes! Blaster Master! One of my favorite NES games ever, and one of the original "MetroidVanias"!

[@cmedtheuniverseofcmed8775]

Absolutely enjoyed this game when it first came out. I hadn't even realized that it was considered a "metroidvania" before the term was ever adopted. I totally agree and they managed to still be unique. Honestly, despite the issues with the gun, I still felt that the challenge wasn't too hard especially when compared to some of the other NES games of its time. It's satisfying when you beat it. :)

[@willmistretta]

First off, the key to doing well in the overhead areas is to STRAFE. Like, all the time. ABS = Always Be Strafing. The ability to move freely while keeping the enemy in your sights and blazing away is *everything.* I didn't really see it happening in this gameplay footage, though. Oh, and I adore how Sunsoft was willing to ditch the Metafight angle completely and go all-in on Jason and his frog. They even canonized the Blaster Master novelization from the Worlds of Power line. Wild, but wonderful. Does Kojima have the guts to do that. I think not. ;)

[@NeopToIemy]

Nintendo licensed Choose Your Own Adventure books in the US and Blaster Master was one of them, I remember not understanding how moving to different pages worked and just read the whole thing

[@roshaunkerdzaliev505]

Now we know where Sunsoft originated the infuriating GUN system for Fester’s Quest.

[@Jayce_Alexander]

I'd say from this point on Sunsoft probably became the best third party developer for the NES, behind Capcom and Konami. At least in the west.

[@andrewkaye2108]

An interesting game that was hampered by early tech limitations, in that it featured no password or save feature.

[@DrewberTravels]

I really enjoyed playing blaster master as a kid but I never actually understood what the goals were. It was more just the excitement of driving the jumping tank car thing.

[@t0ph]

One of the few NES games we had and I loved it. I'd say a lot of that was due to the soundtrack as I don't remember ever getting very far into it.

[@Larry]

Did the grenade pause glitch also work in Fester's Quest? Was it purpousely put in by that time?

[@texturem0nkey]

I was one of th3 kids who drooled over the pages in those early Nintendo Power mags "what.. is.. THIS?" I really wanted that model tank they made, too! This was on a short list of games I think I rented first, and then bought. The overhead scenes were a bummer, but not anywhere near enough to distract from the overall coolness of this exceptional game. Yeah it felt a but cheap exploiting that boss pause trick, but also kind of leveled the playing field a tad for how busted the whole Jason Gun system worked. Not enough is ever said about how well this game looked, sounded and played, especially given the time it released. I was always bummed it never got the proper recognition it deserved alongside the likes of Metroid!

[@sillysausage72]

One of my favorites that I still own til this day.

[@CharlesWorkPPL]

Fun fact: In the 2013 Wayforward title "Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know," there is an egg grenade sub weapon which lets you use the same pause-grenade trick from Blaster Master.

[@Titleknown]

I do still find it funny that the most prominent Blaster Master prescence on the internet today is "Massive plantgirl dobahonkeros," at least as far as I can tell. Not that I'm complaining mind you...

[@JeremyParish]

Happily that ain’t in this game

[@douglasmurphy3266]

I could never beat this game as a kid. I think Jason failing to save his frog is canonical because in Fester's Quest, the streets are overrun not only by an alien invasion but also an endless supply of radioactive frogs.

[@mikeyfn-a6684]

I just came looking for this. Was waiting and left wondering why/how no time nor mention of Fester. 🧐🤨🤔 Good call 👍

[@ginormousaurus8394]

It might be just a coincidence, but the plot of the US version of Blaster Master reminds me of two animated series that had toy lines during the 1980s. Jeremy Parish alluded to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which featured animals mutated by radioactive waste. The other series was Inhumanoids, which had humans using high-tech suits and vehicles to battle monsters beneath the surface of the Earth. Also the idea of a child following an animal down a hole into a strange world is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.

[@GELTONZ]

Ooh! Those are good calls! I hadn't thought about Inhumanoids but you're right!

[@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819]

It is humorous that the Blaster Master Zero reboot trilogy managed to marry all of the twists and turns of the original Blaster Master/Metafight series (including referencing the often-forgotten PSX game in the series' true ending) considering we got a random story about a boy and a frog while Metafight was about a dire metallic alien apocalypse.

[@thenightstar9]

Fun fact, I always wanted to do this with a fan-made remake of the SNES's Kendo Rage. Since it's another game that got changed in plot entirely from the US and Japanese versions (there, called Makeruna Makendo). I wanted to create a remake of Kendo Rage and let players choose between "Original", "Localized" and "Remake" that changes the story to being "Jo does Kendo training from her martial arts instructor Bob on the way to school", or "Mai Tsurugino transforms into Makendo to send the ghosts and yokai back to the land of the dead at the behest of shady Spirit Detective Doro on her way to school", or a new hybrid story between the two. Blaster Master Zero's story was what inspired me to want to add this.

[@chaseman94]

I still remember when I finally beaten Blaster Master that one weekend at my cousins house back in 1993. The AC wasn't working and it was hot in that house for a little while but I was determined to finish this game and how sweet it was. Everything about that game was awesome from head to toe my favorite was the music in the game especially from stages 5 and 6 which to me sounded like they came from both Gradius and Life Force. I've played Blaster Master 2 for Genesis but I just couldn't get into it like the first one on NES maybe I'll give it a go now just for fun despite the reviews and opinions about it since then.

[@Panyc333]

I loved this game. This and bionic commando were my favorite non first party NES games.

[@XXXXX8]

I have memories of playing this game with a friend many years ago...

[@jamesmoss3424]

Blaster Master is an brilliant nes game and I will play it. 😀👍🎮

[@adamking6645]

This is another example of a publisher realizing that simple arcade ports weren't going to cut it on the NES in the era of Mario and Zelda. Deep adventure games were the future now, and Sunsoft needed to either risk being left behind or get in line. They chose the latter and the rest is history. And you're right about Tengen being erased from the official list of NES releases. In fact the 1993 Namco re-release of Pac-Man was billed as the "first official version" in the December 1993 issue of NP.

[@SobmicSSBB]

Shout out to Blaster Master Zero gotta be one of my favourite trilogies.

[@Bob-o]

I had that Worlds of Power book when I was young, I remember loving it - lol

[@Athenor]

As a kid, I always used grenades against all the bosses. I never had gun upgrades. Couldn't beat the final boss, but I had all the rest down pat.

[@jorymil]

What's amazing about Nintendo Power is how honest it was: sure, it was an advertising tool, but it really did feature the strong 3rd-party games prominently. Stuff like Blaster Master, Power Blade, Battletoads, Double Dragon, etc. It could easily have shamelessly promoted the poorer 1st-party games, but it didn't.

[@dendroleon]

blaster master's one of the best. i absolutely utilized the boss pause cheat.

[@The_Wandering_Nerd]

And yet Sunsoft thought the top-down levels were so good they even made a whole game out of them in this game's spiritual successor, Fester's Quest. And that game is even more punishing than Blaster Master.

[@CharlesWorkPPL]

I didn't know this game had limited continues until I was playing it on WiiWare and got sent back to the title screen trying to finish Area 5. Curse you, mutant lobster boss!

[@CharlesWorkPPL]

Actually, it may have been the frog in Area 7.

[@2Plus2isChicken2013]

That lobster (or is it a crab?) is everyone's nemesis in this game. I always make sure my gun level is maxed out when I enter his room. He's not too bad if you do that as long as you keep shooting. When he gets weak he goes crazy with those bubbles and I have no clue how anyone ever beat him without the max gun level.

[@CharlesWorkPPL]

@@2Plus2isChicken2013 A turbo controller would also help.

[@RabbitEarsCh]

I honestly thought the story was entirely intentional given it doesn't look too out of place for video game stories of the time, or even something like A Boy And His Blob. In retrospect, however, it is blatantly ridiculous, but I can't say it was the wrong move - certainly better to have this patent absurdity than something that would pass off as sci-fi cliché. It's seriously impressive how much Sunsoft evolved from Atlantis no Nazo into this in such a short span of time. Glad to finally know the name of the tank, too!

[@nBasedAce]

Blaster Master is one of a few NES games that still hold up today. I own it on my 3DS.

[@darktetsuya]

okay first off *mind blown gif* so the tank WASN'T "Sophia the 3rd"?! also I should've guessed the whole 'pet frog' thing was a Sunsoft US invention. I guess in a weird twist that got backported as the canon story for the 'Zero' series remakes (which I think were still called Meta Fight in Japan? or at least made reference to the original JP title) also agreed the penalty for taking damage in the overhead areas was way too harsh! also I did really enjoy gauntlet, I still remember the password from renting it as a kid! X78-AAA-AAA starts on level 6 I think? but you play as the Warrior with a bunch of extra upgrades!

[@zZiL341yRj736]

I always thought his frog turned into the tank.

[@JeremyParish]

Sure, why not!

[@soviut303]

A note on the nonsense storyline, I remember reading the novelization of this game as a kid (Worlds of Power: Blaster Master). As I recall, I found it pretty enjoyable back then. Now I find it impressive that someone managed to stretch that frog bit into three acts.

[@2Plus2isChicken2013]

For me Blaster Master is one of the best NES games ever made and it is one of only a few difficult NES games I enjoy enough that I bothered beating it. The Zero series really didn't grab me like the original NES game did. As frustrating as getting to the final boss and losing all your continues might be, I consider the glitch where you can get permanently stuck in a wall in Stage 5 to be way worse. You can't even die to get yourself out of it. Your only option is to reset the game and start over. How things like that ever make it through to a released game is beyond me.

[@goatbone]

Can't wait to see you cover Ufouria.

[@JeremyParish]

Too bad it was never released in the U.S. and therefore doesn't fall under the purview of NES Works...

[@goatbone]

@@JeremyParish Whoops totally missed the concept. Maybe a bonus episode one day.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@JeremyParish Oh well.

[@rodetroner1]

I haven't played this game and learning the US version of the story made me crack up considerably.

[@elmarakovideo]

Another great video. I enjoyed learning about Blaster Master's localization. I miss the classic Sunsoft era, and they seemed to disappear after making generic Looney Tunes SNES games.

[@7thangelad586]

I loved the Worlds of Power novel as a kid.

[@javelinman7]

This game is so dope. It's the gamiest game that ever gamed.