Blaster Master Zero is a reboot of Blaster Master released on March 9, 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch, and on PC via Steam on June 14, 2019. The game later released on PlayStation 4 on June 29th, 2020, and then on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on July 1st, 2021.
It is a collaboration between Sunsoft and Inti Creates that uses a retro style mimicking the Turbo-Grafx 16's style of art and sound, rather than the original NES game with an expanded scenario and gameplay.
Development[]
During E3 2015, Inti Creates localizer Matt Papa had a back injury that rendered him immobile for the day, resulting in Inti's staff, as well as CEO Takuya Aizu, without a translator for that time. This caused the staff to have no set plan for the day and thus did whatever they wanted. During that day, Aizu saw a Japanese Sunsoft representative he had met before who was trying to set up a meeting with Nintendo. Aizu managed to call a bilingual industry associate to help translate, and together they were able to help the representative get to the meeting. Later, Aizu happened upon this meeting, which involved reviving the Blaster Master IP for western market. The talks seemed to be stalling, so he asked if there was anything he could do to help out. After some more talks, he suggested for Inti Creates to help develop the game, to which both the Sunsoft representative and Nintendo agreed.[1]
Story[]
Endless human conflict plunges the Earth into a new ice age. In order to survive, the human race flees below the planet's surface and builds an underground ecosystem. During this time, a strange meteor falls to Earth, but it goes unnoticed due to humanity focusing its efforts on restoring the planet. After several hundred years, humans have restored the surface of the Earth and abandoned their underground world for the ages.
Scientist Jason Frudnick discovers a frog-like creature, which he captures and names Fred. Fred escapes and leaps into a strange hole, and Jason gives chase. Inside, Jason discovers the technological wonder SOPHIA III. Surprised to find the ancient underworld intact, Jason uses the tank's receiver to explore it and track down Fred. While in the old Residential Area, Jason comes across Eve, a mysterious girl with missing memory that possesses knowledge of SOPHIA III.
As the hunt for Fred continues, Eve eventually recovers her memory and reveals that she, Fred, and SOPHIA III are from a far off world sent to Earth with the goal of eliminating mutants. Eve wants Jason to not be involved any further, but Jason continues to offer his help in defeating the Mutant Lord.
Eventually, Jason defeats the Mutant Lord, and Eve claims that the fight is over, when in reality, the Mutant Core within superdimensional space still needed to be destroyed. Not wanting to put Jason in any more danger, Eve renders him unconscious and leaves with SOPHIA III, intending to fight the Mutant Core alone. However, during the battle, the Mutant Core had taken over SOPHIA III. Eve tries to trigger the self-destruct mechanism and destroy the mutant core along with the tank and herself. Unfortunately, the mutant core's infection progresses too rapidly, and Eve is trapped.
Fred, who was left behind, leads Jason to an upgraded Sophia, the Sophia Zero. With its power, Jason manages to track down the corrupted SOPHIA III, now known as Invem Sophia. Jason manages to free Eve from Invem Sophia and destroys it and the Mutant Core once and for all.
There is a bad ending that can be attained if a player completes the game without collecting all the upgrades for Jason and SOPHIA III. In this ending, Eve simply leaves with SOPHIA III without rendering Jason unconscious and attempts to fight the Mutant Core alone. Like the true ending, she still plans to activate the self-destruct mechanism once the Core had taken over the tank. It is left ambiguous whether or not she succeeds.
DLC[]
The DLC for Blaster Master Zero are EX Character that changes the gameplay of the game with no story element. Whenever a EX Character is announced, they are free for the first two weeks. There are a total of four different EX Character to chose from with Gunvolt and Ekoro from Inti Creates, Shantae from WayForward and Shovel Knight from Yacht Club Games.
The Steam Version comes with both Gunvolt and Ekoro.
The Physical Copies comes with all DLC.
EX Character[]
Reception[]
Blaster Master Zero received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic holding a metascore of 78/100 on Nintendo Switch.[2] It also received "mixed or average" reviews on 3DS with a metascore of 70/100.[3]
As of May 10th, 2017, sales of Blaster Master Zero had reached 80,000 downloads on Switch and 3DS e-Shop.[4]
Physical Copies/Limited Run Release[]
Limited Run has made physical copies for both Blaster Master Zero & Blaster Master Zero 2 available for per-order starting on Friday, May 29th for four week. Both physical copies are for Nintendo Switch and PS4 with two Editions to choose from.
Classic Edition[]
The classic edition comes with a reversible poster, original game soundtrack, and a retro cartridge-sleeve to fit your game case and all four DLC.
Collector’s Edition[]
The Collector’s edition comes with both BMZ and BMZ2, a certificate of authenticity, SOPHIA III and Gaia-SOPHIA metal tanks, soundtracks, a Art Print, a Commemorative Non Functioning NES Cartridge and everything from both classic editions.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://gamerant.com/blaster-master-zero-3-inti-creates-origin-interview/
- ↑ Metascore for Blaster Master Zero on Nintendo SwitchMetacritic, Retrieved April 2, 2020
- ↑ Metascore for Blaster Master Zero on Nintendo 3DSMetacritic, Retrieved April 2, 2020
- ↑ https://www.4gamer.net/games/314/G031464/20170512116/
External Links[]
| Blaster Master Series | |
|---|---|
| Games | MetaFight · Blaster Master · Boy · 2 · Enemy Below · Blasting Again · Overdrive · Zero · Zero 2 · Zero 3 |
| Media | Worlds of Power · Comic |
| Companies | Sunsoft · Aicom · Software Creations · Crave Entertainment · Inti Creates |