The rare PlayChoice-10 arcade release is coming to Virtual Console at the end of April. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=22834 Sunsoft announced today that Blaster Master: Destination Fred, a rare arcade-only sequel to the NES classic Blaster Master, will be releasing on Virtual Console on April 26.
Blaster Master: Destination Fred was originally released as an arcade-only title for the Nintendo PlayChoice-10, a stand-up arcade cabinet released by Nintendo in 1986 that allowed arcade gamers to choose from a pre-programmed selection of 10 NES games. Destination Fred was a late test release on the system, appearing only briefly in select locations around Los Angeles, California in 1989/1990. According to Victor Ireland there were only nine cartridges of the game in existence, all of them in storage at the Sunsoft Japan offices.
The sequel has Jason and his tank "Sophia" being micronized and injected into Fred, the pet frog rescued in the original game. The goal is to eliminate microbots that have been injected into Fred before they kill him.
Blaster Master: Destination Fred will cost 500 Wii Points.
BLASTER MASTER™: DESTINATION FRED COMING TO WII VIRTUAL CONSOLE
Redding, CA – April 1, 2010 – Sunsoft, a division of SUNCORPORATION (JASDAQ: 6736), has today announced that Blaster Master™:Destination Fred will be released for the Wii Virtual Console on April 26th.
Originally created for the Nintendo PlayChoice-10 arcade system, and tested in only a few locations in and around Los Angeles, CA during 1989/1990, Destination Fred is a continuation of the story started in the original Blaster Master™, and a proper sequel to the beloved NES classic. The game has been lost to the market since the original test market timeframe, and was never released for the home NES. "I was blown away when I saw these", said Victor Ireland about the PlayChoice-10 cartridges stored away at Sunsoft Japan's office. He then continued, "When I was going through boxes of stored code, promotional items, and ROMS to see what we had on hand to release for the US Virtual Console market, finding these nine completely unknown cartridges literally stunned me. I knew it had to be put up on the Virtual Console as fast as we could make it happen."
The game centers on Fred, Jason's pet frog that was rescued in the original Blaster Master™ game. The Plutonium Boss intended to inject microbots into Fred and Jason so they would be destroyed even if Jason defeated him, but he only managed to inject Fred. After the opening story, the game begins with Jason and Sophia being miniaturized and injected into Fred to seek out and destroy the microbots and the diabolical structures they are creating inside Fred that will soon prove fatal. "It's a pretty clear video game spin on Fantastic Voyage kind of adventure.", Ireland stated.
Kiharu Yoshida, President of SUNCORPORATION added, "I am happy that we can offer such a satisfying game to fans in the US. Perhaps now this will not seem too hard to complete. Please enjoy it."
The lost treasure of Sunsoft's archive, Blaster Master™:Destination Fred will be released for the Wii Virtual Console on April 26th for a completely reasonable 500 Wii points.