Screenshots from Game Spot

Year released: 2001 (Playstation)

Number of Players: 1

Graphics: I've read that they are bad. The graphics seem on par with earlier Playstation games I've played... I suppose, then, that 1995 graphics for a 2001 Playstation game would classify as bad graphics. Everything is easily visible, though. In tank mode, the camera is always behind you; in Roddy mode (I'll explain those modes later), you use R2 and L2 to adjust the camera left and right 90 degrees (think NiGHTS [when you're Eliot or Claris] or Burning Rangers if you can).

Play control: A 3D representation of the old NES Blaster Master gameplay. The tank feels just like it always did (even though the wheels don't scrunch up when you jump). X for jump, square for shooting (you can hold down and it will do rapid fire automatically), O for special shots, and triangle for action gauge abilities (floating in the water, hovering, etc.--you have to earn those abilities as you progress through the game). You can also use R1 to side jump to the right and L1 to side jump to the left (without chainging your tank's direction), but I didn't use those... ever.
The special shots are: a more powerful shot, a short-range electric current, lock-on missiles, and a shield that attacks only enemies. The only one that's awkward to use are the lock-on missiles, because you have to hold down the O button in order for them to lock on. Ugh.
When you press select, the tank's driver, Roddy, hops out. In Roddy mode, you have to keep an eye on the camera with your L2 and R2 buttons, because the camera does not automatically change direction (but it does follow him, as it should). The X and square mean the same thing as they do in tank mode. However, the O drops a bomb on each of four sides of Roddy (north, south, east, west), and the triangle activates a mode where Roddy just runs around like a maniac, invincible (he always returns to where he started, though).

Sound: Techno music of varying attitudes. Some tunes are energetic, some are calm, and all of the stages run the gamut. Sound effects are great and can even help one discern what an enemy is doing when one can't see the enemy.

Challenge: Make it through the various stages by exploring every room, facing enemies and setting off switches (so that you may progress further upon setting off all switches) along your way. It's like the first Legend of Zelda for NES: basically fill up your map and you're set. You can only save at a maintenance terminal, which seemed to show up just when I needed them (sometimes after a half-hour of gameplay). The bosses are awful, being both tedious and easy. Try to ignore them.

Gameplay: Like I said, you have to fill up each stage's map, setting off whatever switches along the way. The same basic enemies are kept throughout the game, but are constantly renewed by new platforming situations (and it doesn't hurt that the small enemies take about two seconds to deal with). The game involves a lot of back-tracking and reexploring rooms to find new passages, too, but this aspect lends itself to the terrain you explore and enemies you deal with. That is to say, the platforming and battling is so simple that it doesn't get old, whereas backtracking through a contorted game would be clunky. Not to mention it's all the more exciting when you have to slip past some big boss that's randomly in the area. More than once will you run across some random boss that is inconsequential to the game as a whole. (Don't worry, you'll know the real level bosses when you see them.)
Roddy gameplay is more structured in its room layout (that is, when you hop out of the tank to go inside of some building, which you will have to do frequently), and as a result is even simpler. You see, almost every room is a perfect square. However, it pulls some tricks in its own right, requiring you to strategically use your invincible mode (the triangle button), since once you use it, you have to let it recharge on its own.

Bottom line: Alright! The Zeldas past Zelda II turned me off because of their complexity. That being the case, Blaster Master: Blasting Again was right up my alley. If you can ignore the awful story, I'm willing to bet Blaster Master: Blasting Again's simplicity makes its enjoyableness (is that a word?) universal.
Oh, yes, and I can't forget to make one distinction: Croc was redundant. Blaster Master: Blasting Again is simple.

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