When Blaster Master first released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, its only competition in the 2D action-platformer genre at the time was Metroid. ‘Metroidvania’ games didn’t exist as a genre the way they do today.
Blaster Master Zero does a great job of modernizing a NES classic series to make it more playable and available to today’s gamers, but if you’ve played more modern titles in the genre, you might be underwhelmed by what it has to offer. It gets by, but doesn’t do much more than that.
Blaster Master Zero plays a little like Metroid-lite. It’s a 2D action-platformer somewhat like NES Metroid, but with a lighter, funner atmosphere and story. You play as a kid named Jason Frudnick who is looking for his pet frog and stumbles into an underground world of aliens and mutants. There’s minimal backtracking and you’ll never get lost with the map always telling you where to go next. As you explore the different caves, you’ll acquire power-ups for your vehicle that allow you to more effectively liquidate enemies and traverse the map. It’s pretty standard. In fact, there’s so little backtracking, it might not even qualify as a ‘Metroid-like’ game. However, there were enough similarities that it was hard not to draw the comparisons.
The primary mechanic that sets Blaster Master apart is the ability for Jason to leave his vehicle and move around on foot. He’ll have to do this frequently in order to explore the many caves and obtain power-ups for SOPHIA (his tank). During the on-foot sequences, you’re controlling Jason and taking on enemies with his gun and bombs. The map layout is similar to the NES Legend of Zelda dungeons, but more bite-size, with a power-up or item usually at the end to help you on your way in the main world.
The on-foot missions don’t differ that much from cave to cave. Some caves have nothing in them other than life and item drops. The major caves have a mutant boss of some sort at the end, after which Jason will get a power-up for SOPHIA. As he explores the caves in the world, he’ll accrue power-ups that will gradually make him and his vehicle more capable and more powerful.
The bosses aren’t that difficult. The NES Blaster Master was known for its difficulty. Blaster Master Zero feels like a cakewalk by comparison. None of the bosses posed much of a challenge, and I was able to beat most of them on my first try.
The visuals look great in the 3DS version, although it has no 3D function of any kind. Adjusting the 3D slider on your 3DS does nothing. It’s not needed, but worth nothing for anyone who likes the 3D cranked on their games.
Musically, Blaster Master Zero has a few tracks that will get your blood pumping. However, the cave music is the same almost all throughout the game. Although it’s a really good track, hearing the same song every time you enter a cave gets repetitive. A little more variety would’ve been appreciated.
Blaster Master Zero is a great reboot of the Blaster Master series, but only an above average game overall. If Hollow Knight, the SteamWorld Dig games, the Ori games, and Metroid Dread are at the top of the 2D action-platformer ‘Metroidvania’ hierarchy, Blaster Master Zero is down a few rungs. It’s not a bad game by any stretch, it just doesn’t do enough to stand out compared to the titans of the genre. I kept waiting for the gameplay curve to really take off, but it never really did. It was always good enough to keep me engaged and playing, and I certainly don’t regret my time with it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a lot of unrealized potential waiting to be unlocked. It’s a reboot of a NES game, so maybe Inti Creates didn’t have a lot of leeway to inject their own ideas into it, and perhaps that potential is more fully realized in Blaster Master Zero 2 and Blaster Master Zero 3. We shall see.
In the meantime, Blaster Master Zero is worth your time if you’re a big fan of the original Blaster Master, or anyone curious about the series if you can get it on a sale.
The Gamer's Standard 