The story behind Blaster Master is a confusing one. Originally titled Chô Wakusei Senki Metafight, the game originally featured a blue haired hero named Kane defending his planet from the invading emperor Goez. Anyone who has ever watched Japanese cartoons or the Power Rangers will immediately recognize this formula. As I have mentioned before, early Nintendo games were fraught with poor attempts to westernize titles when they are being translated for American audiences. As a direct result of localization, Blaster Master was no longer about Kane. As the attract animation rolls, players are presented with a brown haired boy named Jason affectionately pointing at his pet frog who is wedged in a glass bowl slightly larger than the poor, captive amphibian. In the first and probably only “leap” of logic (that pun was horrible) in the entire game, the frog decides to make a break for it. During his frantic escape the frog encounters a large box of what I can only assume is weapons-grade plutonium in Jason’s front yard, grows to an epic size, and then falls into a cavernous hole conveniently located under the box. Jason leaps in after his pet mutant only to find a large tank, named Sophia the III, which is well equipped to destroy anything that gets in his way. It is at this point that we are to believe that somehow there is a lush forest with blue skies under the earth’s crust, which is populated by bomb puking robots and homicidal monsters bent on eviscerating anything that moves.

Yes, the game is preposterous. I’m sure that Sunsoft took a page from Pac-Man and Super Mario and munching some stuff when they came up with that idea. Aside from it’s obviously flawed story, the game was fantastic. The world was large and non-linear, requiring players to revisit areas past forgotten, using newly aquired tools to reach places previously inaccessible.

Sunsoft managed to rectify most of the shortcomings in the story by releasing a novelization in the World of Power series (popular in the late 80s and early 90s). I unfortunately have not procured a copy of this, and to this day I’m kicking myself for not writing a 1 next to it on my Scholastics Books order form. While it was originally not canon, it supposedly explains the majority of the quirks to the original game and it is also used as the basis for what I consider the only other worthwhile game in the series. Most importantly the book introduces Eve, Jason’s future love interest.

It is at this point that the story gets a little rocky. Sunsoft realized that they had a fantastic franchise on their hand and were going to milk it for all it's worth. In an attempt to cash in on the previous success of Blaster Master, the decision was made to repackage an otherwise unrelated and equally unimpressive Gameboy title. Bomber King 2 was renamed to Blaster Master Boy for a US release. It plays similar to Hudson Soft’s Bomberman, with revised arcade style play-control and a lot less fun. The story focuses on a mysterious radioactive energy which is destroying all life on the planet. Jason, now unable to use his tank, must battle through a series of levels and various bosses in an attempt to save the world.

The series continued on its downhill progression. Developed by Software Creations for the Sega Genesis, Blaster Master 2 was released. Jason this time is retired, enjoying his quiet life. A freak bolt of lightning destroys the barn where Sophia is hidden and knocks Jason unconscious.

After regaining consciousness Jason discovers Sophia in shambles, looted by the mysterious lightning beings. With the underground world enhancements he found in the missing Jason decides to rebuild Sophia from scratch. Improving her design from the ground up, Jason returns to action in a quest to save the world from sure destruction. The game featured updated graphics, large sprites and vibrant colors. As a saving grace also completely ignored the hiccup that was Blaster Master Boy side story. The game play was revised allowing the players to control also control the tank in a top down view similar to the indoor areas seen in the first title. Unfortunately, the game’s faults quickly squashed the hope for this title. The controls were stiff and hard to play, aiming with Sophia was an unnecessary challenge, and nearly all the sprites were disproportionately large compared to the screen. The game also felt unfortunately linear, making players move in a relative straight line in comparison to the other games.

I was initially confused and excited by the next release in the Blaster Master series. At the time, companies were rather keen on re-releasing previous NES titles on the new Gameboy Color. The systems had similar capabilities in performance and display, with the only major difference being the total display size. When I saw Blaster Master: Enemy Below, I was certain this was a remake of the original title. All the screenshots and game play footage corroborated with this, but it was in fact a brand new game. Much of the graphics and level design was taken from the original game, even the upgrades remained vastly unchanged, but with a new story, bosses, and a few interesting updates added. ow required to locate keys, players are now forced to explore outside the tank Sophia than ever before. Everything about this game was worth being called Blaster Master. The story revolves around a secret subterranean lab, hidden from the world. After recovering a tissue sample, scientists recreate the Plutonium Boss (big baddy from the first game) who escapes and begins recreating his underground lair. One of the scientists, in a desperate plea, contacts Jason for help. Jason once again suits up and takes to Sophia to save the world. This was the first game to mention Eve, previously known only to readers of the novel. She however does not become a major part of Enemy Below’s story until the next and final installment in the series.

The final chapter in this saga ends on somewhat of a sad note. As with most of the other poor installments, Blaster Master: Blasting Again was developed by Crave. The game picks up after the end of the genesis title. Eve is dead and Jason was killed by the lightning beings but not after siring two children, son Roddy and daughter Ellfie. Roddy picks up where his father left off on a journey to destroy the lightning beings. As the pilot of the latest version of the Sophia, with Ellfie as his remote navigator, Roddy ventures to the core of the Earth. This was the only game to be updated to next-generation consoles, and the 3D world. Most of my distaste for the title is simply personal preference. The transition was relatively smooth, only offering a few irritations like the inability to walk and shoot in different directions, terrible camera angles and obnoxious voice acting. After about 20 minutes, I found myself wanting to mute the game as your sister says “Roddy” nearly 5 times when she wants your attention. The game was a budget title, however. Retailing for $10 (procured at a Blockbuster of all places), the game was worth what I paid for it. If you want to play a 3d tank game it is a good title, but hardly the caliber one would hope for a game that started so strong.

As I’m sure you have noticed, the history of this saga is unapologetically long. It has certainly fallen from grace, and almost complete disarray over the course of its lifetime and is unlikely that we will see another any time soon. I will not be caught speaking too soon on this, as I have been proven wrong before, but I don’t really see it happening. This is one of those games that I will always love, regardless of how tarnished and outdated it may become, there is not a year that has gone by in recent memory where I have not dusted my copy off, loaded it into my toaster NES and watched Sophia blast out of that cave into the deep blue underbelly of the earth. Like a fading child star, I will remember it for it’s prosperous youth, not its tragic Bonaducesque adulthood.