Topic: Newscast Game Club Discussion - Blaster Master: Overdrive

[Seacor]

That's odd. One of the game's North American publisher said that they were originally going to add a voice over for the intro, but they had to cut it because they'd hit the 42 meg limit. Maybe I just don't understand how the block system works, but if there are still a hundred left free, that explanation stops making sense.

The Wiiware size cap limit is 40 MB (Nintendo, time to raise the cap).  Roughly 320 blocks would be the largest a Wiiware title can be.

Blaster Master: Overdrive is 232 blocks.

I've seen titles using up to 319 blocks (Tales of Monkey Island - chapter 5).

[GoldenPhoenix]

Just beat the second boss, I'm really enjoying the game too! For a game that came out of nowhere it feels pretty polished and more importantly it is FUN. That first boss took me two tries, the tedious pattern wears you out after a bit but I finally beat him. The second boss battle went by so fast though.

[Sundoulos]

Having a bit of trouble in Area 4.  I died 4 or 5 times in a row trying to navigate past those guns.   Also, I'm having difficulty finding the boss.   I'm sure there's something obvious that I missed.

[Crazyjoe]

I just found the level 4 boss.  It's up in the very top right of area 4, in the room that looks like a long rectangle on the map.  To get up there, you have to make a precise jump up from the level below.  The room below has three of the green satellite looking things.  Get past them and go to the next room on the far right. Use your hook and go up and to the left, back into the room with the satellites.  Get on top of the last satellite on the left and use you hook to attach to the ceiling above and to the left.  Hook on and then hover down and to the left to get to the path that leads to the boss. 


Hope that helps, it took me hours to figure this part out.  Let me know if you have any luck on the boss, he kicks my ass every time. 

[Sundoulos]

Thanks, I  finally happened to find it earlier today.  I also found that using the drill on the satellites works pretty well in that room.

I've lost against the fourth boss three times so far, and I think I almost had him one of those times because his attack pattern changed.   I just alternate between hitting the boss with the laser and grenade launcher, and switch to the spread shot when the little bats show up.  I usually try to save at least one flash bomb in case I get in a tight spot with all the little bats that appear.

[Rize]

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.

I just beat it... that last boss is one tough cookie.  It's an interesting diversion for only ten bucks, but honestly I think the original smokes this game in almost every way (the exceptions being that this one has much better boss fights and slightly better over head cave design and gameplay (if you can forgive the terrible choice of using the B button for strafing)).

What makes the first game so much better is the level design and graphics.  Overdrive is just caves and more caves. It's so lame.  And most caves were just a big rectangle with platforms going back and forth across the span of it (whether vertical or horizontal).  I don't know how well you recall the original game, but it had levels with a variety of shapes.  It had so much more personality.  Just look:

http://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/NES/index.htm#BlasterMaster

Meanwhile, can we stop ripping off Castlevania's whole-castle-on-one-screen map and start ripping offSuper Metroid's method of having individual areas with their own maps instead?  That's how the original BM was designed (though with no map screen) and it allows for more freedom since the bits andpieces of the levels didn't have to meet up exactly.

You know, I think they butchered most of the original music too. The newinstrumentation is gaudy, and the old melodies are sometimestranscribed incorrectly (perhaps deliberately) or else smothered with new melodies that sound out of place.  And at the end of the game over music, that "noise" used to make me think of Jason's pet Frog... now it sounds like a fart.


I guess it's worth 10 dollars, but man I would have gladly paid 40 for a real Blaster Master sequel on the DS or something.

[Sundoulos]

Finally!...Finally beat that bat boss!!!  Argh.  I had to play it five or six times to do it.  It would have been nice to have a save point at the beginning of that cave.

[Mop it up]

Does anyone else find the grenade weapon to be mostly useless? When it could be used alongside of the regular gun in the original, it meant getting in close was an opportunity to cause more damage. Since it is now independent, and there is a delay before it can fire when switching to it, it isn't usually worth it to try and use it. I also can't tell what increasing its level really does.

[broodwars]

Does anyone else find the grenade weapon to be mostly useless? When it could be used alongside of the regular gun in the original, it meant getting in close was an opportunity to cause more damage. Since it is now independent, and there is a delay before it can fire when switching to it, it isn't usually worth it to try and use it. I also can't tell what increasing its level really does.

It's hard to say for certain, but I experimented with the Grenade Launcher when I was first leveling it up and it looked like the AoE increased as the weapon leveled.  As for its usefulness, it's the only weapon I've found that can destroy those little circular spawning points and I've found it useful (maybe essential in the case of the Area 2 boss) against the Areas 2 and 3 bosses.  But yes, it is practically useless in general combat.

[Mop it up]

What is "AoE"?

Those two instances you mentioned are the only times I would ever use it. But the circular spawning points were annoying, because it was difficult to shoot all of the enemies that came out and have enough time to switch to the grenade launcher and get a shot off before more came out. I usually ended up using the blue bomb item that sometimes appears from defeated foes.

[broodwars]

What is "AoE"?

It's an RPG term that means "Area of Effect".  In other words, the blast radius of the weapon.

[Sundoulos]

The grenade launcher can destroy the heavily armored turrets in one shot, even at a low level, but a fully powered-up laser can take it out fairly easily, too.   I have used the grenade on some of the bosses 2, 3 and 4 when the opportunity presents itself, and it's pretty effective.

If nothing else, if I'm about to get hit, I sometimes switch to the grenade so that the power of that weapon will be decreased instead of either of my lasers. 

Edit:  Just saw IGN's score for the game.  The game has a few hiccups, but, man, 6.5 seems really low.

[Rize]

While the game is worth playing, I think 6.5 is about right.  It almost seems unfinished.  The art in Areas 1 to 4 is just a palette swap (it's probably a place holder for real art).  The art in the cave systems is mostly identical except for the ice and fire levels (and the last level which has a palette swap for darker colors).  The game is visually monotonous for much of the time.  Classic Controller support seems downright obvious, but didn't make the cut.  Then when you look at the gameplay, itself the enemy and level design on the side scrolling portions is fairly questionable.  Once you get past the controls and visuals, the overhead sections are relatively well designed with steadily increasing challenges and good boss fights (they did very well considering that they stuck with the original game's method of weapon upgrades which is highly questionable).

[Halbred]

I'm still annoyed with the controls, but what's really starting to grate on me is that the screen moves forward poorly--more than half the screen is BEHIND you, which makes running into enemies a near certainty in many situations. It's also annoying, as Andy pointed out on the podcast, that you can't shoot down.

I got around to beating the fourth boss last night, and after looking around in vain for the 5th area, I decided to quit and play RE5 instead.

[NWR_Neal]

I'm having similar problems as Zach. It's fun, but there's too many things blocking it from being great. The controls, the slow scrolling, the save points, the boring cave level design, etc.

[Crazyjoe]

Seriously, has anyone here beat the level 5 boss?  I've spent hours trying to beat it, and it just seems impossible.  I've been playing video games for 15 years now, and this may be the most difficult boss I've ever went up against.  Please help!!

[Halbred]

I seem to remember Jonny saying to use the bomb on the 5th boss...

[Crazyjoe]

Wow, thanks for pointing that out, just beat the 5th area boss.  I got so frustrated I watched a Youtube clip of how to beat it, and the guy used a combo of the bombs and the other guns, which is totally wrong.  I used the same strategy, and would have fights that went literally ten minutes before I lost all my life.  You have to shrink the boss, and if you aren't fast enough, it grows back.  The thing is, you can only shrink it by using the bombs.  The first two guns DON'T DO ANY DAMAGE, despite the fact that the boss flashes as if it's hurting him!!.  WTF!!  Why do they make it look like you're damaging it when you're not??  I guess that's what I get for cheating and looking on Youtube. 

[broodwars]

Wow, thanks for pointing that out, just beat the 5th area boss.  I got so frustrated I watched a Youtube clip of how to beat it, and the guy used a combo of the bombs and the other guns, which is totally wrong.  I used the same strategy, and would have fights that went literally ten minutes before I lost all my life.  You have to shrink the boss, and if you aren't fast enough, it grows back.  The thing is, you can only shrink it by using the bombs.  The first two guns DON'T DO ANY DAMAGE, despite the fact that the boss flashes as if it's hurting him!!.  WTF!!  Why do they make it look like you're damaging it when you're not??  I guess that's what I get for cheating and looking on Youtube.

I had the same issue with the second boss, where he was flashing when I was shooting him with 2 of the guns but didn't actually take damage till I hit him with the grenade launcher.  What can I say?  Sunsoft got lazy with this game.  It's not like this is the only instance where they were.

[Halbred]

So when you guys say "bomb," you mean "grenade launcher," right? Because I meant the single-use full-screen affecting bomb.

[Crazyjoe]

Oops, yeah I meant grenade instead of bombs.  The single use bomb works well on the 5th level boss, but mainly as a defensive move when there's too many things trying to kill you. 

[Mop it up]

Rize, are you davidst439 on GameFAQs? Because if not, somebody is copying you:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=988753&topic=53510040

[vudu]

Rize is former staff member David Trammell, so it's a pretty good chance they're the same person.

[Rize]

Rize is former staff member David Trammell, so it's a pretty good chance they're the same person.

Yep    That was self plagiarization.  My account for rize there was lost.  I no longer have the email associated with it.

I'm still annoyed with the controls, but what's really starting to grate on me is that the screen moves forward poorly--more than half the screen is BEHIND you, which makes running into enemies a near certainty in many situations. It's also annoying, as Andy pointed out on the podcast, that you can't shoot down.

I got around to beating the fourth boss last night, and after looking around in vain for the 5th area, I decided to quit and play RE5 instead.

The original game featured secondary weapons for the vehicle which provided downward attacks.  It apparently didn't make the cut in Overdrive.

[Sundoulos]

Yeah, I do kind of miss the homing missiles.