Blaster Master Zero
PlayStation 4
I LOVE Blaster Master. It is one of my favorite NES games of all time. While people use the term “Metroidvania” to describe games in this genre, I like to be different and say they’re like Blaster Master instead. That’s how much I love this game.
I first heard they were remaking the original Blaster Master several years ago. While I thought the game looked really cool, it was for the Switch – a system that I do not own. I basically gave up all hope of ever playing that version of the game. Flash forward to a little over a week ago. I was perusing the Spring Sale on the PlayStation Network when, lo and behold, what did I see? Blaster Master Zero for the PlayStation 4. For five dollars. I didn’t even need to think about it. I was buying the game. Its sequel, which I didn’t even know about, was also on sale for five dollars. I bought that too!
How would this game stack up to the original? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out.
Story:
The original Blaster Master's story was extremely simple. A boy chases his pet frog into his back yard, where it gets zapped by radiation, grows into a giant size, and jumps into a hole in the ground. The boy jumps down the hole after the frog, only to find himself in this bizarre underground world filled with all kinds of hostile alien creatures. The boy jumps into a conveniently placed tank nearby and heads off on an adventure to reclaim his lost frog.
This game’s story is similar, but a LOT more fleshed out. Blaster Master Zero takes place in the distant future. The earth had at one point become completely uninhabitable, forcing humanity underground to wait it out until the surface became habitable again. After hundreds of years had passed, humanity emerged from below the surface of the planet and once again resumed living topside. While they were underground, they had created this complex society filled with all kinds of advanced technology and strange creatures created through genetic testing or mutation or some kind of shit. When they returned to the surface, all of that was left behind and forgotten.
Jason, a young scientist, is examining a bizarre frog-like creature when it escapes and jumps into a randomly created wormhole that seemed to come out of nowhere. Jason follows the creature and finds himself in the underground environment where humanity had once lived. He hops in a conveniently placed tank nearby and sets out to explore this strange new (but also old) world.
Jason encounters EVE, an alien robot who is looking for Fred (the frog) – who is also an alien. Eve and Fred were sent to Earth to eradicate the Mutants (led by the Underworld Lord), who had once threatened and attacked their home planet. You team up with these two and explore the underworld, eventually finding the bad guy, killing him, and saving Earth. Yay!
Depending on how you play the game, there are two possible endings. The basic ending consists of Jason and Eve parting ways. Eve, her mission complete, destroys herself. The end.
In the alternate ending, which you obtain by collecting 100% of the game’s items and defeating all of its bosses, you unlock a bonus stage. Turns out there is another powerful Mutant still out there. Eve leaves to battle it herself, while Jason is forced to chase after her in a new version of the tank – the SOPHIA ZERO. Jason arrived just in time to save Eve from certain death and defeat the Mutant Core. The world has once again been saved, and Eve doesn’t destroy herself this time. Yay! A happy ending for all.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is, for the most part, identical to the original Blaster Master. You are in a tank and you drive around and shoot stuff. You occasionally get out of the tank and explore bunkers and dungeons, where you defeat bosses and uncover items you need to upgrade your tank so you can advance to new areas.
If you’ve played the original version of the game, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover that most of the stages and bosses have remained untouched. I was still able to find my way around pretty easily. Aside from some graphical updates and minor gameplay tweaks (like save points and a map), the first half of this game is very loyal to its source material. As I got deeper into the game, the more I noticed things starting to change. I don’t know if it was just my memory being faulty or if they actually did make a lot of changes to the late-game environments, but pretty much nothing from the end of the water level to the end of the game was as I remembered from the original.
The obvious changes were welcomed by me. There are now bosses that you can fight in the tank, which is pretty cool. There are weapon upgrades not found in the original game. A lot of good “quality of life” improvements, among other changes that were necessitated by the direction of the game’s story. All in all, I found the whole game to be the perfect mix of old school Blaster Master and modern day improvements and upgrades. My main issue is that there is little to no consequence for dying. There are save points everywhere you turn. One of the things that made the original Blaster Master so fun, yet so daunting at the same time, was its difficulty.
No way around it, this game is WAY too easy.
Graphics:
This game looks really great. It retains its 8-bit charm while receiving a modern day facelift at the same time. This is what I wanted from the Final Fantasy VII remake. I didn’t want a completely brand new game. I wanted a remake of the original with improved graphics, added story elements, and several “quality of life” changes and upgrades. Blaster Master Zero definitely nailed it here.
Sound:
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I prefer the original game’s music to Zero's. The sound effects are pretty much the same, but I found that the music was too “sped up” in this version of the game. There is more of an electronic dance element to it, as opposed to the original game where the tunes are a lot more basic. They tried to modernize the music like they did with the graphics, but didn’t quite get the job right. Listen to this comparison of the original game’s first level music and Zero’s and hopefully you’ll see exactly what I mean.
That said. I still think the game sounded pretty good.
Overall:
My experience with the game was a little strange for me. On one hand, I really loved the first half of the game, grooving along and revisiting some old, classic game environments. It wasn’t until later in the game that I started to get tired out on this title. It’s just so absurdly easy, and you’re doing the same thing over and over again. Look at the map, find the next bunker you haven’t discovered yet, and raid it so you can upgrade the Sophia. Then move onto the next one. And the next. Occasionally you fight a boss.
The map guides you everywhere you need to go. There was literally NO challenge for me as I played. Like I mentioned earlier, the original game was famous for its difficulty and how it made you think about where you have to go next. This game hands you everything on a silver platter.
To unlock the game’s “real” ending, you have to find 100% of all items in the game, which was a real chore for me with all the backtracking. It wasn’t difficult, just time consuming. It got to the point where it was simply too much Blaster Master. The game was never meant to be this long (although in all reality is still fairly short).
The new stage you play at the end of the game isn’t even any fun to play. It’s just annoying with the weird gravity shit going on and all the changes made to your tank. I would have welcomed with open arms a new, original Blaster Master stage. But what they gave us was just… weird. By the time I was done with Zero, all I could think was thank god it’s over. I should never have those thoughts about a Blaster Master title, EVER. It’s almost sacrilege!
In fact, it made me a little weary of jumping into Blaster Master Zero 2. Is it simply just going to be more of the same? I don’t know if I can sit through that again, so soon. I need a break from this series before I give that game a shot. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say.
While it sounds like I’m harping on this game, overall I did like it. They took what was great about the original Blast Master and modernized it to near-perfection. Unfortunately, most modern games are too easy and loaded with save points galore, so that came with the territory.
Would I recommend this to fans of the original Blaster Master? Absolutely. It is awesome seeing such an underrated classic given the modern-day treatment. Just don't expect this to be better than the original, because it's not.
Final Score:
B
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