Blaster Master Zero - Episode 7: Now, For Stealth...

I'm at the lava stage. I'm at the stealth stage. I'm at the combination lava and stealth stage.
____________________________________
Twitter - / proton_jon
Twitch/Livestream - / protonjon
KZbin Channel #2 - / therunawayguys
KZbin Channel #3 - / protonjonlivestreams

[@pcachu]

29:45 and somewhere off in the distance, we hear the faint voice of Abridged Vegeta: *_"OH MY GOD IT'S SO GODDAMN COOL!!"_*

[@PScoopYT]

Mondo Cool, you might say.

[@SammieWeiss]

That was me, sorry

[@MisterJackTheAttack]

I am glad Jon finally caught up on writing other people's LP scripts and is releasing his own again.

[@camdude7234]

Ah a good throwback to the tri force heroes LP

[@omega13whitelucario95]

I forgot about this joke

[@LuigisPikachu]

Timely reference

[@omega13whitelucario95]

@@LuigisPikachu *insert the Meow mix song from Super Mario World*

[@SmashToons]

That moment with the Acceleration Blast was so good. One of my favorite parts of the game, for sure.

[@darienb1127]

At least the stealth Isn't the "oh you get caught once, now go back to this every far off corner of the map." Zelda does that a surprising amount actually.

[@knutandersson4606]

worst part of every zelda game

[@fiercedeitymidna5781]

@@knutandersson4606 Especially in BotW's Yiga clan hideout, where the guards can instakill you. Dx

[@ShadeDergon97]

​@@fiercedeitymidna5781 And the fact that the guards kill through fairies and Mipha's Grace doesn't help. At least you had the option of using Ancient Arrows if you had enough of them.

[@TheKabuto90]

The stealth segments in most Zelda games are more like an exercise in patience than your actual sneaking abilities. As a result they really aren't that hard.

[@darienb1127]

@@TheKabuto90 It's not hard, but that dosen't mean it's fun. or good.

[@ultrawinggaming9764]

36:44 The Skeleton Boss and Plutonium Boss connection goes further. In the Japanese version they have the same name "Skelevenom" clearly hinting that they are supposed to be the same creature. Though Skeleton Boss doesn't have nearly as much plot relevance as Plutonium boss does

[@WhirringGears]

I feel like they could have fixed the "stealth" portion of this area without actually changing the stage or enemies, but by changing the dialog. Instead of saying "We should hide and stay out of sight," they should be saying, "We should observe our surroundings and get creative." So whether by sneaking or by combat, you feel like you've outwitted the security system.

[@MrRevilnemesis]

It was just a small joke, but the visual gag with SOPHIA using the Acceleration Blast just really got me.

[@zacharylandrum4789]

The ProtonJon solution for Area 7 in Blaster Master Zero. Step 1: Mash A. Step 2: Repeat when enemies appear.

[@vineheart01]

That weapon is as my friends call it the "fuck you beam"

[@LordTyph]

**Beam finishes charging** ***** YOOOOUUUU!!!* Haru YO ***_***_*_ you beam firing_*

[@Following1000]

Today's episode just showcases Jon's love of death and destruction.

[@JustCrazyDK]

ProtonJon Plays Blaster Master Zero EP.7 Damage : Tank :140;22 Human:109;44 Deaths : Human : 1; Sub Weapon usage : Tank : WarHead : 30; Thunder : 07; Homing : 96; Tackle : 78;23 Shield : 01; Human: Grenade : 39;5 Flash : 11;4 Turret : 2; Tactical Nuke incoming! : 4;3 "Fred" : 3; In the Original/NES : 57;2 Famicom Version : 01; Glitch Showcase : 1;

[@shawnburke-hutchinson5901]

Acceleration Blast: A powerful laser fired from Sophia’s Exhaust Port. It does everything: Destroy bosses, Pink Spikes, and just pierces walls. It takes all of Sophia’s energy to use, so keep an eye on that.

[@thunderknight4149]

wait until it gets "The zero" atleast it is my code name but if you don't know then SPOILERS The lazer even bigger, charges in half the time and you can sustain damage while charging

[@krullachief669]

@@thunderknight4149 "The Zero"? So what, does it launch a MIRV nuke while flamenco guitar plays in the background?

[@seant1326]

@@thunderknight4149 *half

[@dragon1130]

@@krullachief669 It's a secret. Let's just say, the games title is called Master Blaster ZERO for more than one reason.

[@thunderknight4149]

@@seant1326 lol "have"

[@Sajin_71]

Since the last episode, I've finished BMZ and BMZ2 and I am very happy with it. I forgot how much I love Inti Creates and their games.

[@DarkLink1996.]

Eve's dialogue for Venom Master implies its part of Skeleton Boss (Skele Venom in the Japanese version, which is Plutonium Boss' name in Metafight). Venom Master's Japanese name is even "Another Venom".

[@tripodranger7873]

16:09 Honestly, I think that's a flaw in the design of the secret. I made the exact same assumption, that it was harmful magma, but thought I could bypass it with the dash move, since that gives you some i-frames. But doing that just made me bounce out of the lava like I was hitting a physical wall, so I just assumed, like you did, that this was another instance of required backtracking. I got all the way to the mutant lord before I realized I wasn't missing anything.

[@thekidsatno80]

Blaster Master Zero: NOOOOO!! YOU CAN'T JUST USE CHARGE TACKLE TO BYPASS THE STEALTH SEGMENTS!!! Proton Jon: haha A button go brrr

[@SpottedAlien]

Story time: When I went through this area, I didn't know most of the things highlighted about the lack of punishment for not playing stealthy. So I legitimately played stealthy. I also didn't know about the siderooms not being blocked and also didn't think to wall-climb to reach the room with Accel. Blast. So the area was already taking a long time, I had map, and I wasn't having a lot of fun with it. Then I get to the final boss. Remember how Jon is emphasizing that you need to be good at grabbing onto the ladder in order to make the jump? Didn't know that going in, just thought it was that one time in the Sewer level that you needed to. And Jon's not kidding about not jumping down from one platform to another, even if it's just a little difference it height, it is insta-kill for Jason. You have to be super precise with your jumps in the boss room, literally one missed jump is a death. I say this because after doing a whole stealth section, I basically got locked into a boss fight room for 15 to 20 minutes, falling to my death. Sometimes because of a missed jump, sometimes because Jason just wouldn't grab the ladder, other times because I got hit by a shot that knocked me off course. And after all that, I didn't have Accel. Blast. So I still had to fight the boss normally, which you can still lose on. This boss legitimately took me 15-20 minutes. And that's why I despise Jason's jump and think this is the most unfair boss in the game.

[@quez2564]

Not sure if it was intentional, but it's cool how the sound acceleration blast makes while charging is incredibly similar to the "boss approaching" sound from the original game.

[@TheMakman91]

So...I Jon explained the 2 ways anyone can do stealth. 1: no one ever knows you were ever there. 2: Nothing is left alive to say that you were ever there. Option 2 is always faster.

[@shadowrose8907]

I've heard it called "Stealth vs. Russian stealth"

[@MasterReaperSID]

Well, there is always getting rid of the body, finding a good body disposer and a lot of other things that really eat up your time.

[@ZenoDLC]

It scales linearly with the amount of things that were alive

[@gmaster2647]

29:40 Nice edit! Thought that was the game for a second, lmao.

[@xenoboost]

Eve be telling you about bosses with the same urgency as getting milk from the grocery store.....Thanks eve.....love you too.

[@JesusLopezPrado9601]

XD

[@Sephiroth1204]

Ahaha that blast was amazing. Love that they give you extra dialogue for it too

[@MrEvilbyte]

During my playthrough, I realized one thing. Area 7 is Hard! Specifically the Area 7 dungeons. Screwing up even slightly potentially means losing a ton of gun upgrades while you get swarmed from every direction (and that happened to Jon in this video). I actually had to flee out of a dungeon, backtrack to an earlier one just to attempt to re stock. The last boss took me 10 tries too (boss always managed to fire a rock where I was jumping, or knock me OFF the ladder when I was descending to Sophia). Finally beat this place. After more then an hour, and occasional mild cussing xD

[@crimsoncutz8430]

This game can be pretty unimaginative on its boss names, huh? Skeleton Boss? What's next, do you fight Large Antagonist? Combative Leader? Gun That Shoots At You?

[@EmpressZafkiel]

Love that you came back Jon. I have been looking forward to every new video you post, and they are always awesome.

[@TDownit_Strider]

Watching this LP made me pick up the game again after I hadn’t played it since 2018. These videos have been a nice way to catch up to where I left off, curiously enough, in this area. Then I remembered why. Those damn top-down stealth sections.

[@andrewcosmicanimations8709]

Stealth is something that really only works if it is planned and built in from the start. If your mechanics don't revolve around it for most of the game, it doesn't usually work well. Same goes for escort missions. They can be good, but only if the mechanics are built around it to begin with. Two of my favorite games that revolve around stealth and escort missions respectively are Aragami, and The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince. Those games each make stealth and escort missions fun.

[@ToastyMozart]

Especially when slotted into action games, because at its core Stealth is a subgenre of Puzzle games and a lot of the time the devs don't really account for the design considerations that requires.

[@andrewcosmicanimations8709]

@@ToastyMozart 100% agree with you there.

[@RPGPersona]

This is the area I came back to when I decided to finally beat this game when your LP uploads of this started. It didn't take long for me to figure out why I took a break from the game at this point.

[@fiercedeitymidna5781]

21:11 Spider Tank, Spider Tank, does whatever a Spider Tank does. Can it swing from a web? No it can't, it's a tank. Look ouu~uut it's Spider Tank.

[@Shadow6907]

Not gonna lie when I first picked up and tried out the Acceleration Blast and saw what it did I started cackling like a supervillain. It's just so cool.

[@mutalord]

That hand pushing the screen to compensate the shockwave XD

[@camdude7234]

Needed this today since today is not going so well so thank you for uploading Jon

[@KazeNoKlonoa0]

Acceleration Blast IS really cool but with that color and animation I can't help but think of it as an Ass Blast of proportions epic enough to require you to anchor yourself to the ground...

[@Eguzky]

I have to say it; when Jason is walking left or right in the Jason areas, the little back end of the gun makes it look like he has a bunny tail.

[@thunderknight4149]

29:46 nice editing

[@JustCrazyDK]

16:15 I used the Biggen... and that's all I will say on that. 20:50 Good one. 26:53 I saw that move and died. Good times. 27:45 Yeah, it is. Not a good idea. 28:05 The Biggen. 29:50 Thanks Hans. 35:56 Worst part is : I thought about doing it this until after I beat it. Bummer.

[@Rexaura888]

5:00 I understood that reference. 7:46 I prefer stealth segments to be optional personally unless the game really lends itself well to stealth and picking your targets off (like Hitman in a sense or Skyrim), but if they are optional, I at least want better incentives to try and encourage players to go for stealth. Path of Radiance for instance gives a ton of Bonus Experience Points if you do its prison break levels without alerting any guard units (regular enemy soldiers are fair game) but you also don’t get the Weapon Experience or combat experience points from fighting the hordes of soldiers that come if you do alert them. Inti Creates also had a similar optional stealth section in a Mega Man Zero mission where you got docked mission points each time you alerted the guards but otherwise nothing of real consequence happens except for having to fight off some enemies. 34:38 Doesn’t sound as threatening as Galactus and yet...

[@Darkfiro0]

When optional stealth become mandatory stealth on Destroyer mode.

[@acamera367]

*When shield Mine becomes your best friend forever*

[@christopherchasteen4990]

35:53 That boss is DONE for, hahaha! ACCELERATION BLAST TIME!!!!

[@SuperGoker64]

20:48 Looks like Emile's been rubbing off on Future Jon

[@johanandersson8646]

Great commentary! It's so much more fun, imo, to watch and listen to someone who knows what's he's doing.

[@gagejoseph91]

The whole "Acceleration Shot one-shots Skeleton Boss" is actually kinda referenced in BMZ2.

[@underrated9]

I think they might've put the stealth part in so that you can play the game differently if you want another experience. It seems similar to making different weapons do different things or use wave for everything, it just seems fun to have options.

[@MadMasterPorkey]

"The Planet Eater" is such a badass sounding title to have. The boss being called "Skeleton Boss" kinda ruins it a bit though.

[@ZenoDLC]

Probably named by Jason

[@zafool4997]

Skelevenom is a better name, yeah.

[@endernightblade1958]

fun fact about this: in universe, all the boss names/titles are ai-generated. which doesn’t quite excuse the name, but it’s funny to think that this is the best it could come up with.

[@quez2564]

It's almost like they assumed you'd be playing through this zone with the weakest gun and no subweapons when they designed the stealth mechanics. Could be fun actually

[@acamera367]

Destroyer Mode also makes the stealth a lot more necessary. Enemies being weak to specific gun types, a lot of weaknesses being changed up too. It's also hard as hell.

[@Terumimi]

Did...did jon just make a combination pizza hut and taco bell joke????

[@a1goldenrunner]

I'm at the pizza hut

[@tj_kendon]

@@a1goldenrunner I'm at the Taco Bell.

[@FixTheWi-Fi]

I'm at the combination Pizza Hut & Taco Bell

[@ImJustASchlub]

I'M AT THE COMBINATION SNEAKY STAGE AND LAVA LEVEL

[@krullachief669]

I am at soup.

[@fuschiawarrior2159]

31:53 Emile impatience is infecting you.

[@fuschiawarrior2159]

The area 7 music bops.

[@djoshawott2850]

Shame it's in an unecessary and shitty stealth section every game has for no reason but you have to do it in some games because the game hates you!

[@fuschiawarrior2159]

@@djoshawott2850 The stealth section isn't so bad, I like it.

[@TSKyanite]

We are nearing the end of the first Protonjon comeback LP! Any guesses on the next?

[@enthiegavoir5955]

5:00 I mean, there's a guy from the streams who's a master at that sort of thing.

[@MasterTimeThief]

Oh do tell.

[@d3structi]

The most satisfying achievement/trophy in BM0.

[@Tayra609]

For that one boss that does the blaster move, and how most people dont see it, funnily enough when i played through this game and did the dlc, that blaster move was one of the only things it did, i didnt know it changed which side its on or that it shot electric balls, only the drones and the laser were the things i saw, then i killed it

[@DairXV]

So based on that closing, there are at least 2 more episodes. Not counting any bonus episodes

[@MrSailing101]

36:00 and thus, a series tradition was born

[@nestermrcool]

Moral of this episode don't be like jon, or you will be destroyed

[@NealCamerlengo]

I'm not a big fan of Stealth games but I somewhat don't mind stealth sections if done right and not annoying such as The Warriors for example which has stealth sections but interesting. A boss that has Gundam Fin Funnels? That is amazing.

[@blaz9474]

5:41 Impressive, musical coughing! Edit: Can... you crush SOPHIA under the elevator at 7:09?

[@DarthSears]

No, there's an 'X' which indicates the elevator would not move. That'd be a funny as fuck Game Over though.

[@sunlightscythe]

I just realized, the stealth level gives you a giant death laser

[@jaxpool155]

i agree that stealth bits in games that don't normally focus on it is not great. whenever a stealth bit comes up in a zelda game or a game where i know i can just beat things up, it's just frustrating.

[@YourPalRal]

Wow, Acceleration Blast looks super cool!

[@TheHellspawnHero]

I must've gotten lucky, Venom Master used the huge laser against me really early on in the fight.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

I love the sense of scale this boss has even if it is extremely easy... don’t worry zero 2 fixed that

[@PunkAznn]

15:35 Based editor moment. How do they do it. 🤔 🚢🚢🚢

[@betasprite4239]

I was sad about the loss of both Area 6's and Area 7's BGMs. They were SO good, and I was looking forward to their remasters... and there was only disappointment. For those 2 BGMs. Everything else was still great. Also, the remote turret attracts all of the pink stealth bots, so you can use that to keep them off of you, as well.

[@MrSailing101]

the searchlight troopers in the dungeons are completely neutered by the turret The searchlight enemies in the overworld can't shoot through the shield. Stealth is completely optional if you have the right equipment as you said at 9:30 They reward players for thinking to do that

[@ShadowoftheMask]

It doesn't seem like THAT bad or forced stealth mechanic :D I mean I consider forced stealth mechanics to be stuff like "you were spotted by enemy RESET" when you could easily just kick enemy butt

[@StormDragonZ]

Funny enough, there are only 15 achievements on Steam. Beat every major boss, view the "bad" ending, get 100% items, view the "good" ending, beat the unlockable boss rush mode (just beat it, nothing under a certain time limit), and the kicker is to beat Destroyer Mode (hard mode) 100%, which hard mode is an understatement in difficulty. There's also an achievement for summoning SOPHIA to a save point, which is rather silly, and for defeating Skeleton Boss with the Acceleration Blast.

[@ignitedrowlets5776]

I died so many times to the boss just trying to get up to the top, and as frustrating as that was, using the acceleration blast made all that worth it

[@TheDarkUmbreon8623]

Acceleration Cannon: *Fires* Me: Ka, me, ha, me, HAAAAAA

[@MusicoftheDamned]

So having listened to the original game's song for Level 7 after finishing this video, I must agree that it *is* a bit jarring how much the song in this version is slowed down by comparison. Oddly, I still like this version better, especially the cave theme of this area. They almost make up both for the unnecessary stealth elements and the boss's actual name undermining its title (again)--almost. Oh well. At least for an unnecessary stealth element tacked onto a game, this game still does it better than so many others that try to add stealth, even games that make it more central to their actual gameplay.

[@ToastyMozart]

They at least had the sense to make the relevant information clear with the vision cones, which is a bit of a rarity with these sorts of crowbarred-in stealth mechanics.

[@MusicoftheDamned]

@@ToastyMozart Yeah. That and there is at least a sensible in-story reason that stealth would be in this section, especially given what happened with Fred earlier, even if it's still ill-fitting for the game overall.

[@K-o-R]

Sounds like Area 8 got a remix of its original theme!

[@darkregin2]

I'm saying this as I just bought it - Blaster Master Zero is currently half price on Steam right now, £5.50 or $7.50

[@mrsora16]

Big lasers are awesome.

[@GmodPlusWoW]

Area 8 looks like it's gonna get Gigery.

[@NaiblistheCurious1]

I was under the assumption when playing this stage that the lights were a case of a death sentence alarm. Like the whole room would lock down and endless waves of powerful enemies would swarm Sophia. That or it'd instantly kill you the moment you were caught. But just four of those tiny worms? Pathetic and inconsequential. Wow.

[@LexSchilperoord]

For a stealth section where the enemies are supposed to be a threat when they spot you, they go down really quickly

[@TMan5636]

I sure do love a good "Fuck-You Laser."

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

I feel like the name of A. Blast is entirely chosen to draw as many connections to what is happening when you use it as possible. It is one of those things that is so close to what is happening it is hard to believe it was coincidental.

[@shis1988]

Question for the PS4 version... If we press X, do we Jason?

[@FalconPain]

The Lair Of "The Planet Eater" J. D. ROTH

[@emperorshark888]

Wave Motion Gun, FIRE! 36:00

[@shadowsa2b]

I think a large room with multiple enemies in close proximity might be a good place for turret. Just an idea

[@Lebon19]

26:43 Kamehame... HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@Lebon19]

Could say the same for the giant ass laser Sophia-III does at the boss of the area too.

[@1MoreSonicRobot]

Recklessness and Video Games go hand in hand 🤝

[@iqskirby]

This probably would've been a decent area to better show off the Shield Mine. Also, at the very least, Destroyer Mode makes the stealth more mandatory than not.

[@a1goldenrunner]

The lava in the stage is really distracting. Game looks fun though

[@BHS289]

Devs: We have added a V E C T O R C A N N O N, is this cool Y/N?

[@gmrman4665]

in hard mode those trap bypasses are almost mandatory as most of the larger enemies are damage sponges, to the point that you will most likely die before they do.

[@joshyboy1983]

With THAT BLAST....I need a new monitor & Desk! LOL

[@Roebey]

Video seems to be rendered a bit weirdly in comparison to the other episodes. Not sure what caused it, i suspect the sequence at 29:46 caused it, but it's somewhat noticeable throughout the vid. Will still watch tho because the content is stellar.

[@williamjeffery9653]

Stealth mechanics are generally only good in games that are built around stealth, rather then it being tacked onto an action game. For example, the old Thief games, where things like snuffing out light sources, audio cues from wandering enemies, and the sound you make walking on different kinds of floor all are incorporated into the gameplay (and combat is discouraged by making Garret only on par with an average guard in terms of swordsmanship).

[@homuraakemi103]

Always appreciate a good Master Spark...

[@Harmless_Music]

Man, I got stuck 100%ing this game for the longest time, because I was trying to figure out how to get to the room past the lava-fall. It took me so long to get the last bit I needed, before I accidentally ran into the lava, thought I would get damaged... and then was extremely confused when Sophia entered the room! Oops.

[@sofern2681]

Stealth is bad when you have to walk slow, get sent back to the start after being caught or you have to wait a bunch for the pattern to be right.

[@tsukikagenoknight7915]

Granted it's only a theory, but I'm still surprised that jon didn't mention that since area 5, some mutants have been mimicing Jason. In Area 5, those purple ones that fire pink shots (at Jason) and missiles (At SOPHIA) look a lot like Jason's overworld sprite and even have an almost identical shot to Jason's own blaster rifle. In Area 7, the "stealth" enemies that wrecked Jon/Jason's ass are also clones as Jason, but much stronger (They have his Level 1 Gun), almost as fast, almost as sturdy and just better attempts to mimic the man who is tearing through their ranks like Jon when Emile makes a bad pun.

[@acamera367]

Jason is the Apex, so naturally his foes will try to mimic him.

[@tsukikagenoknight7915]

@@acamera367 pretty much exactly.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

Well to be fair the Area 7 theme was also the final boss theme of the original blaster master while it isn’t here

[@IcePhysicsGaming]

Electrocute to death's redundant, Jon. (Oops, I copy pasted a smirking emoji to indicate that I was kidding around with it but it doesn't go in for some reason so it looks like I was being way too serious. I'll just use old reliable emoticon instead) ;P

[@ProtonJon]

You can survive electrocution. It doesn't just mean "Killed by electricity"

[@IcePhysicsGaming]

@@ProtonJon I thought the word "electrocute" literally meant "death by electricity", like "excecute". Let me look thus up real quick... And I'm back. According to Wikipedia it originally meant the legal execution by electricity when the electric chair was introduced. Eventually people started using it for accidental death as well. Colloquially, it is often includes mere injury, according to some folks on English stack exchange. english.stackexchange.com/questions/73880/if-someone-is-electrocuted-do-they-have-to-die-or-can-they-just-be-injured/73883 So it seems like it depends on how pedantic you wanna be. For my purposes, of being annoying because I get to point out a technicality, I think I'm correct. But depending on how loose with the language one is being it seems like you're also right. So we both get to be right. Yeah...

[@Anoro]

Sorry, best the moment of the video is the hand pulling the screen back at 29:50

[@ZenoDLC]

One change can make the stealth matter, have Sophia get scanned each time it got spotted, and with each scan, the area boss gets stronger

[@donweiss2326]

I disagree slightly, that sounds like a good thing to make Stealth matter more, but it is more punishing to people that might just be bad at the stealth sections. Maybe they make a mistake or mis-judge something, get caught in the lights a few times, and suddenly they have a harder time with the boss as punishment for trying to do the stealth and just having trouble. What might be better to help emphasize stealth as a thing would be to reward you by removing some of the difficult enemies along the way. Justified by saying the security is not as high since you have evaded being seen so far. In a sense, rewarding you with an easier time for playing how the designers would like you to. It isn't perfect, but considering they might design the area around making a few mistakes anyway, I think it would be good

[@ZenoDLC]

@@donweiss2326 The wording might be nicer, but functionally, the result is about the same, in your case caught = more enemies, while mine might be worse design-wise, it's still about the same. Why don't we mix it? If Sophia gets caught by the spotlights, she gets scanned. Then at the final boss, the platforming is extended and the more Sophia gets scanned the more enemies appear here to hinder Jason from reaching Sophia as the boss knows how strong this little tank is and tries to make sure it can't fight