It’s been a while but I’m back with Retro Corner and today’s game is the legendary Blast Corps. Yeah I know to most people they probably don’t even know about Blast Corps let alone use the word legendary to describe to us Blast Corps fans, that’s pretty much how we choose to remember the game. Blast Corps was awesome in 1997 and it’s actually still pretty awesome in 2013, badass games don’t age as far as I’m concerned.
Right we’re taking a look at a Rare game so I imagine your brain is uttering words “BACK WHEN RARE DIDN’T SUCK” and yeah that’s a fair point but let’s try to stay focused on Blast Corps and less about Rare’s downfall.
Released in 1997 Blast Corps was released for the Nintendo 64 by Rare, it was never the most popular game around but everyone who played it ended up loving it. It’s the very definition of a cult classic but don’t be fooled, this isn’t some blind nostalgic love for a game I played as a kid.
Blast Corps is in many ways my dream title growing up, the game is all about wrecking stuff with no consequences what so ever. In fact if you fail to wreck stuff you actually lose, now that’s my type of game. There’s even a silly storyline to justify all this madness, it’s simple and effective.
EMERGENCY!
SITUATION:
CARRIER LOCKED ON COURSE
SOLUTION:
CLEAR PATH TO GROUND ZERO
AGENTS:
BLAST CORPS
CHANCES:
SLIM
That’s pretty much it for the story, how cool is that? There is NO reason for that carrier to be carrying missiles, there is NO reason for it to be locked on course and the solution of clearing the path to ground zero is basically the same thing as the missiles blowing up. BEST GAME EVER!
The genius behind Blast Corps goes beyond the story with how the game allows you to destroy anything and everything. The Blast Corps agents have all sorts of vehicles and walking robots to help clear that path to ground zero, you start off with bulldozer but quickly move on to cooler stuff. The bulldozer is actually the easiest one to wreck stuff with, just simply drive into anything you want turned into rumble so long as you have a decent speed and consider it done.
Believe it or not the bulldozer is actually one of the more boring things of the game, it’s very effective but a little too easy so let’s take a small look at what else we have here. Shamelessly taken from the Blast Corps Gaming Wikia.
- Skyfall: A small car with turbo jets and good steering. The bottom of the car is extremely well-armored, so the best way to destroy buildings with it is to boost off ramps and fall on them
- Ballista: A three-wheeled motorcycle that can shoot missiles. Its ammo is limited, though, so you have to find ammo crates to refill its missile launchers.
- Sideswipe: A truck with a pair of piston-powered side doors that can shove outward like miniature battering rams. The number of times the side doors can be used is limited, so battery refills must be found.
- Thunderfist: A big robotic suit with a huge fist, that can do a rolling attack into buildings to level them.
- Cyclone Suit: A smaller robotic suit that does super-fast cartwheels into buildings.
- J-Bomb: A robot suit with a jet pack that can fly up and stomp down on buildings.
- Backlash: A dumptruck that can slide very well. The way to bring down buildings with it is to spin so the back of the truck hits them like a wrecking ball.
In addition to those there’s also various cars that are mainly used to get to places quickly or in the time trial events which don’t feature any destroying, it feels like a Micro Machines throwback more than anything. In fact there’s even an actual remote control on the screen, you’ve got to love the sense of humour in this game.
So are we forgetting anything? Oh yeah, CYCLONE IS A ROBOT WHO CARTWHEELS INTO BUILDINGS TO DESTROY THEM. This really is the best game ever.
Believe it or not there’s a structure to the game holding it all together, early levels are simple but later on you’ll have to jump between vehicles and various robots to get the job done. It’s at this point that behind all the carnage Blast Corps emerges as a puzzle game of sorts, your mission is to wreck everything in the way but sometimes you do have to stop and think things over. Blast Corps wouldn’t be out of place as an arcade game, the carrier locked on course basically acts as a timer meaning you’re always under pressure to get the job done. It’s pretty satisfying to figure out what you have to do just in time before the carrier touches anything.
Completing Blast Corps isn’t going to happen for a lot of people, myself included. As mention the game wants you to clear levels as soon as possible to the point where you are awarded medals based on how well you’ve done. I finished the game with everything on Bronze only to have it tell me to do it again but get faster times to get Silver & Gold. Believe it or not as a kid I actually managed to get Gold on every level in the game, an achievement I’m rather proud of but then the game told me to do it on Platinum and it was at this point I gave it. This game is NOT easy and those Platinum medals might as well be world records, you’ve got to be perfect.
Being an early Nintendo 64 game meant Blast Corps isn’t the best looking title on the Nintendo 64 yet it’s perfectly fine. The game is very colourful even down to the explosions and it always maintains a smooth frame rate despite all the stuff you’re blowing up. At the end of the day all graphics age eventually so it’s nice to see Blast Corps hold up nicely, it’s not Perfect Dark but at least as of 2013 the frame rate is bearable.
So here’s something unexpected, the soundtrack in the game is really cool and totally memorable. It’s one of my favourite soundtracks from that era as strange as it sounds and we have Graeme Norgate to thank for that. Yeah I know you’ve never heard of him and that’s a shame, it appears within the games industry the people responsible for our favourite games are not in the public eye very much. Anyway Graeme Norgate, he has done music for Killer Instinct, Goldeneye, Jet Force Gemini, the TimeSplitters trilogy and most recently Crysis 2.
There you have it, Blast Corps for the Nintendo 64. Every kid’s dream game come true, I cannot say enough good things about this game. Actually I can, there’s a Pac-man inspired level in the game.
Blast Corps In 2013
Usually this part ends up being the depressing part and to some extend it is yet I’m okay with it, allow me to explain. Blast Corps was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997 and that’s the last we ever saw or heard of the game. There have been no re-releases and given that it wasn’t as popular as some of Rare’s other titles such as Banjo, Goldeneye and Conker I wouldn’t hold my breath on a re-release, HD remake and sequel any time soon. Part of me does wonder what a Blast Corps 2 would look like on the Xbox 360 or better yet, Xbox 720 but another part of me seems okay with Blast Corps being a one off title.
If you’re interested in playing Blast Corps then you’re going to have to dig out that Nintendo 64 and experience it that way. The game is one of the reasons I became such a Rare fan back in the day, they were an amazing developer who could make something like Killer Instinct, jump to Donkey Kong Country and then make Blast Corps, Diddy Kong Racing and Goldeneye all in the same way. You just don’t see such big name developers be so creative and varied like Rare were and this is why I love them, you never really knew what they might produce but you knew it would be awesome anyway.
I tried to think of a way to finish off this Retro Corner but couldn’t think of anything cool but instead I leave you with a bit of trivia, most Blast Corps fans know about this one. I already mentioned that Graeme Norgate did the soundtrack but did you know he also did the music for Donkey Kong Land on the GameBoy. One of the most well catchy tunes of Blast Corps is actually a remix of the same tune that appeared in Donkey Kong Land.
