Blaster (arcade game)

Infobox VG
title = Blaster


developer = Vid Kidz
publisher = Williams
designer = Eugene Jarvis, Larry DeMar
released = 1983 (Arcade)
platforms= Arcade Game, IBM PC
genre = 3d shooter
modes = Single player, multiplayer (alternating)
cpu=M6809
sound=M6808, DAC
cabinet=Horizontal
display=Raster, 292 x 240 pixels , 272 colors
input = 49-way optical joystick, 2 buttons

Blaster is an arcade game developed by Eugene Jarvis and released by Williams in 1983. The game is a 3d shooter set in outer space and is a quasi-sequel to "". The objective is to shoot enemies and avoid obstacles in twenty differently-goaled levels in order to reach paradise. The game had advanced graphics at the time of release, that used scaled sprites to display the impression of three dimensional worlds and asteroid fields.

tory

According to the opening demo: :"The year is 2085 and the Robotrons have destroyed the human race. You escape in a stolen space shuttle. Your destination: Paradise. A remote outpost 20 million light years away. Does paradise exist? Can civilization be started again? These questions will be answered at the end of your journey. But first, you must BLAST... OR BE BLASTED!"The introductory text implies that the game takes place after the events of "". However, aside from a few oversized G.R.U.N.T. robots in the first stage, none of the Robotron characters make an appearance in Blaster.

Gameplay

The game is controlled with an optical joystick and two buttons: fire and thrust. The ships weapon fires from a linear bank of four pyramid-shaped shots. Shots do not emanate toward the exact center of the screen; the first shot in the series will be furthest left, while the fourth will be furthest right. The player is given three lives and extra lives are awarded every 100,000 points. The player has a life bar, in likeness to similar games such as "Star Fox"; however in this implementation, the life bar represents three hit points, and not a continuum of health points. When the ship gets hit a second time the text "ENERGY CRITICAL" will be flashed on-screen. Almost everything in the game can be destroyed, from the asteroids to enemy shots. In fact the latter is a critical component of surviving for an extended period of time.

Marooned astronauts can be rescued by interception through the various waves. They are initially worth 1000 points, and are incremented by 200 points for each subsequent rescue during the same life, for a maximum value of 2000 points. Any situation where enemies appear in groups offer additional bonuses for destroying all enemies in the group. In some levels, such as the Saucerland waves, there are conditions which necessitate a certain order for the ships to be destroyed in. In most of the levels a large blue "E" decorated with arcs of lightning can be found. Shooting these E's will completely fill the shields, while colliding with them will cause the player to warp to the next wave. Before warping, every object in the level will turn into E's and the ship will speed against a backdrop of a field of E's.

Levels

There are a total of twenty waves in the game which fall under nine different categories of game-play.

Planetoid waves: (2, 7, 14) These levels are primarily concerned with the evasion of asteroids. Although asteroids can be destroyed, in later waves it becomes much more difficult to evade collision by destruction. There are also several kinds of enemies encountered on these levels.

Robot Grid waves: (1, 5, 12, 18) These levels are the most "3d" of the lot; a ground plane is shown with various structures and enemies that show degrees of perspective. There are archways scattered throughout the levels which can be flown through for additional points. The enemies found in these waves are: large robots and a robot-plane, Saucerland waves: (4, 9) Formations of flying saucer ships will appear intermixed with asteroids. One ship in each formation ship will be a dark red color. Shooting this ship first, presumably a control ship, will prevent the other ships from scattering when it is destroyed. If another ship is destroyed first, the entire formation will scatter making it much more difficult to the destroy the entire lot. Bonus points can be acquired if the whole group is destroyed.

Vampire waves: (3, 10) This wave is composed entirely of enemy ships called "vampires" that appear in different formations. Unlike the Saucerland waves, the formations of ships will undulate and methodically move, making aiming much more difficult. The entire group of ships can be destroyed for additional bonus points.

Time Tunnel waves: (6, 13) This ships involve flying into a cylindrical tunnel and no enemy combat. The goal is to rack points by picking up as many astronauts as possible.

Cat World waves: (8, 16) These levels are similar to the Vampire waves, except with faster cat-shaped ships.

Mastermind Waves: (11, 17)

In addition to these types of waves, there are the two special waves: Armageddon and Paradise. Armageddon features every type of enemy from previous waves. Paradise has no enemies but awards the player with a million points and three extra lives. The player is then transported back to Wave 10.

30-wave version

When "Blaster" was first tested in real-world arcades in 1983 it had a total of thirty waves and allowed continues by expending an additional credit. As a result of play testing, the game was then modified with a reduced level count and a no-buy-in restriction. The dump of ROM image files have since been made. Correspondingly, MAME has added support.

Ports

Being a less popular game, "Blaster" did not receive the numerous remakes and re-releases that "" received. The game was first made available as a part of the "Midway Classics Volume II". The game was also made available on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, IBM PC, and Xbox video game consoles as a part of "Midway Arcade Treasures".

Trivia

*"Blaster" was originally programmed by Vid Kidz for the Atari 8-bit family, and then converted to the arcade version. This computer version was eventually scrubbed during the corporate shuffling that occurred after the video game crash of 1983. In 2004, a prototype of Atari version was found. [http://www.atariprotos.com/8bit/software/blaster/blaster.htm]
*The theme of shooting one's way to paradise (and, in fact, the results thereof) is repeated in Eugene Jarvis's own "Smash TV".
*Like racing games of the time that utilized pseudo 3d graphics, "Blaster" was available in sit-down cockpit. It was also available in standard wood upright cabinets and in black plastic cabinets called "Duramold".
*Only two games were ever made using "Duramold" cabinets. Bubbles was the other one (although a few Sinistar test machines were Duramolds).
*While the Duramold cabinets were a good idea, there is a very good reason why Williams stopped making them. Jarvis notes that they had a tendency to shrink, and cites an incident involving a Duramold cabinet where the internal pressure had increased to a point where the monitor was ejected from the machine, and subsequently destroyed a Donkey Kong Jr. machine. "Fortunately, there were no other injuries", according to Jarvis.
*This game was programmed using a chip that ran at only 1 MHz, "and man did it hurt", says Jarvis. Footage of his discussion is available in the trivia section of the Blaster History page in MAT 1.
*Only 3 sit-down machines were ever produced. One is on display in Palo Alto, California in the home of Eugene Jarvis' father. The second was converted into a machine for "Devastator" a prototype game that was never released (not to be confused with Konami's 1988 title Devastators). According to Jarvis, there have been unconfirmed sightings of the 3rd, but as of the release of Midway Arcade Treasures, its whereabouts are unknown.

References

* [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7145 KLOV's entry on "Blaster"]
*Williams,"Blaster" arcade manual

External links

* [http://www.ionpool.net/arcade/williams/blaster.html Pictures of Blaster cabinets and cockpit]