Topic: Newscast Game Club Discussion - Blaster Master: Overdrive

[NWR_Neal]

Here's the start of what will (possibly( be a semi-regular feature for the Newscast crew and our listeners: Newscast Game Club. All three of us will play a recently released WiiWare game, and talk about it at a little more length, hopefully with forum interaction.


Our inaugural game will be Blaster Master: Overdrive, the Blaster Master remake/re-imagining/sequel. It's available for 1,000 Wii Points right now, so pick it up, play it, and tell us what you think.


We're going to talk about it initially this week when we record, and we'll wrap up discussion on the next episode.

[KDR_11k]

I won't be telling you much since it's not out here.

[Jonnyboy117]

I'm down, but I have to reserve my best zingers for RFN. ;-)

[NWR_Neal]

KDR - hopefully it'll come out by you during our time with the game.
Jonny - fair enough, sir

Also, while I can't confirm anything, we're going to try to get someone from Sunsoft to guest on the show.

[Sundoulos]

Cool idea!  I approve of this.  Not that it matters.

[NWR_Neal]

Cool idea!  I approve of this.  Not that it matters.

Of course it matters!

If no one besides Zach, Andy, and I approved of it, then we'd just be talking to ourselves for no reason. At least we're doing it for a little bit of a reason.

[NWR_DrewMG]

I've never actually played the original before (although I've purchased it on VC) so I'll be going into this game with fresh eyes.

[Sundoulos]

I love Blaster Master; it's one of my favorite NES games of all time.  The soundtrack was pretty amazing for an 8-bit game, and I loved the almost Metroid-style of the tank upgrades.   If Overdrive wasn't a sort of remake of the orginial, I would have recommended a VC download.  It's very difficult, though.  Sadly, I never could get to the end of the game without using the grenade-pause cheat to deal damage on some of the vulnerable bosses.

Some time back, I requested it as a selection on Radio Trivia ep. 28 (though I forgot to include my name in the request).  Anyway, I love the music so much that I still have that episode on my mp3.

[Halbred]

I barely remember playing Blaster Master as a kid, though I certainly did, to be sure. I don't think I "got it" at the time. I'm excited to nab the remake. I'm less tempted to buy the original, though, because people tell me it's crazy hard.

[NWR_DrewMG]

I've started playing it now, and boy I can tell you that the lack of continues in the game isn't very fun.  If you don't find a save point, better tread very lightly.  It's a bit too easy to get yourself killed early in the game.

[Sundoulos]

Hmmm... I was hoping that they wouldn't go that route.   The original game was too difficult, and it was frustrating to have limited continues.   I have a more-than-full-time job and a family, I won't have time to keep restarting the game.  Bleh.

There's a big difference between challenging a player and then trying to frustrate and defeat them.  I would think that they would have included continues as an option.

[NWR_DrewMG]

Well, the game has save points, which I'm guessing the original didn't.  If you die, you merely go back to the last save point.

[NWR_DrewMG]

It's also interesting to note that the title screen says Copyright 2009, which means that this game has been done for awhile.

[NWR_Neal]

A while meaning two months? I have a feeling this was finished or damn near close when Sunsoft USA came back from the grave.

This was one of the NES games I got from my cousin when he gifted me and my brother his collection. I remember it being fun, but balls hard. So...I have a decent memory.

[greybrick]

I had a taste of the original BM (blaster master, sickos) through somewhat nefarious means before its VC release and was really taken by the animation. I have been meaning to get it, but Vic's allusion at the time of launch caused me to hold off. I am pleased with my hesitation and will likely be getting this version post haste.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the 1400 points that will be sitting in my account after the purchase 

[Jonnyboy117]

I started a thread for this game over in Nintendo Console Discussion; momentarily forgot about the Newscast Game Club. I set that one up as a sort of official thread, so I'll try to bring more casual comments to this thread to support it.

One thing I want to stress is that Overload is not actually a remake, but rather a new sequel. If you like it, and I think you will, definitely check out the original NES game to see where all these ideas started. Also note that Overload, while challenging, is not as difficult or as punishing (limited continues, scant resources) as the original Blaster Master.

It's hard for me to avoid being hyperbolic when writing about Overload. It basically feels like someone did a brain scan and made the perfect game to suit all my tastes. Other than lacking Classic Controller support, I find it hard to criticize anything about it after three hours of non-stop playing.

[NWR_Neal]

Wait...the game is Blaster Master: Overdrive, right? You keep referring to it as Overload.

Unfortunately, I just got back to my dorm room and I'm too lazy/tired to hook up my Wii and download this. Tomorrow's a new day, though.

[Jonnyboy117]

LOL, whoops. I obviously didn't spend too much time on the title screen (or the shop channel, for that matter) before jumping into the action. I'll correct my other thread.

[Sundoulos]

Well, I played enough to make it past the first boss.   

Once I realized that I could revisit caves for more weapon power-ups, I had an easier time with him.  That's already one major  change from the original game!  I'm sort of surprised that the game doesn't automatically prompt you to save after defeating a boss...I didn't notice a save portal in the cave with the boss, either.

Other than that, I have no real complaints about the game.  I wonder what other power-ups will be available for the tank.  As long as a hover ability is on the way, I'm cool.  Gotta love the completely trite story setup; I can't argue with a scientist who gets to use big guns and kick buttocks.

[noname2200]

Once I realized that I could revisit caves for more weapon power-ups, I had an easier time with him.  T

Whoa, handn't realized that. Thanks!

I'm enjoying the remake quite a bit. It does have several downsides: the animation seems off to me, I miss the chibi dude in the overhead sections, the strafe and cancel buttons are idiotically placed, and why on Earth did they include that stupid weapon recharge meter with the tank? Also, I wish the tank could jump a bit higher, as right now it feels like it's just doing short hops instead of full blown jumps.

Other than that I think it'll be worth the $10. I've played it for about 40 minutes and just beat the first boss. I really like how the game lets you switch between three types of weapons at your liesure. The ability to shoot diagonally is also an overdue blessing, especially on foot. My favorite feature is the permanent rewards for exploration: in the original I'd hit up one or two caves to max out, and then go straight for the boss, as the loss of weapon level disincentivizes further exploration.

I get a kick out of how deliberately corny the plot is. Has anyone read the Operation Manual? I like how they poke fun at their own plot.  I'm a bit bummed that this is no longer A Boy And His Frog, but I suppose this makes it more in-line with the Japanese original.

They had better include the damned frog boss though.

It's also nice to finally get an idea of what the enemies in the original are supposed to represent. Granted, most of them are still ambiguous blobs of ewww, but it's deliberate this time, so I'm okay with it. One big downer: where are my metroids!? I loved seeing them in the original, but now they're AWOL.  And sure, it's probably because of fears of copyright, but it's not like Nintendo's gotten any more litigious since the 80's, and it didn't stop them then!

That reminds me: are there any water areas? I haven't encountered any yet. I hope they didn't remove them, since they add some nice variety to the game. I really liked how the original Area 5 was aquatic, which forced you to abandon your tank in the side-scrolling area and conquer it on-foot. I hope we get something similar here.

Unfortunately, I probably wont' be able to continue the game for the rest of the week, but I'm really digging it so far, and looking foward to hearing your discussion.

[Sundoulos]

That reminds me: are there any water areas? I haven't encountered any yet. I hope they didn't remove them, since they add some nice variety to the game. I really liked how the original Area 5 was aquatic, which forced you to abandon your tank in the side-scrolling area and conquer it on-foot. I hope we get something similar here.

The teaser trailer indicates that there are.  The original game had a sub power-up for SOPHIA that could be eventually acquired; that snippet of the teaser trailer seems to indicate that the ability is present in this game as well.

I love this game so far!

[Jonnyboy117]

There is plenty of water in the game, and you can still get out of the tank and swim around. Also, I think you'll understand the energy meter as the tank gets new abilities and weapons. It's very unlikely that you'll deplete the meter with the standard gun, so it shouldn't really be a factor in the beginning.

[ejamer]

I'm torn about this idea. 
 
I really want to hear about Blaster Master: Overdrive and find out if the game is worth buying so soon after having recently downloaded the NES version... but I also want to avoid spoilers or too much information about the game so I can "figure it out" myself if it is worth buying.  Tough line to straddle.
 
Either way, I'll probably force myself to finish the NES original before buying the new WiiWare version.

[NWR_Neal]

I'm torn about this idea. 
 
I really want to hear about Blaster Master: Overdrive and find out if the game is worth buying so soon after having recently downloaded the NES version... but I also want to avoid spoilers or too much information about the game so I can "figure it out" myself if it is worth buying.  Tough line to straddle.

Judging by the fact that Zach and I haven't played it yet and we record tomorrow night, I don't think you'll be hearing much spoiled in this week's episode. We'll have a much lengthier/in-depth discussion of the game for the next show (in two weeks).

And then there's that potential developer/producer guesting on the show thing.

[noname2200]

The teaser trailer indicates that there are.  The original game had a sub power-up for SOPHIA that could be eventually acquired; that snippet of the teaser trailer seems to indicate that the ability is present in this game as well.

I love this game so far!

Thereis plenty of water in the game, and you can still get out of the tankand swim around. Also, I think you'll understand the energy meter asthe tank gets new abilities and weapons. It's very unlikely that you'lldeplete the meter with the standard gun, so it shouldn't really be afactor in the beginning.

Thanks guys, it's good to hear.

But regarding depleting the standard gun, you're wrong. I've already depleted that sucker time and again! I'm just too impatient to sit still for a whole half second.  :

I'm torn about this idea. 
 
Ireally want to hear about Blaster Master: Overdrive and find out if thegame is worth buying so soon after having recently downloaded the NESversion... but I also want to avoid spoilers or too much informationabout the game so I can "figure it out" myself if it is worth buying. Tough line to straddle.
 

I think they'll handle it well: you can discuss a game's elements without spoiling it (usually). Plus, the game's not exactly plot-heavy. As long as they don't say what the unrevealed upgrades are, I don't see a problem here.

And I like the feature: it's kind of a "Currentactive" to compliment RFN's retroactive. It's nice to have these discussions without having to wait a decade or two.