Blast Corps (N64): A
Posted: April 6th, 2016, 11:13 pm
If you ever thought Rare was only about first person shooters and 3D platformers, you owe it to yourself to play Blast Corps. A truly one of a kind title, this game won me over from the very beginning, and I'm not sure any game has had as great of a first impression as it has.
The game is simple; clear buildings out of the way of a nuclear carrier or it explodes destroying everything. At first, I was worried that the game would be too complex and frustrating for me to get a grasp on it, but thankfully that wasn't the case. You get a wide variety of vehicles including a Ramdozer, a Optimus Prime-esque robot that does shoryukens (ThunderFist), a small buggy that attacks buildings by catching big air (Skyfall), a motorcycle with rockets (Ballista), and my personal favorite, the J-Bomb, which lets you destroy buildings by flying in the sky and smashing them from above. Each vehicle handles differently, giving them a unique feel.
After a slight learning curve, I was in full control of the vehicles (well, most of them), and there's fewer gaming moments as satisfying as destroying a block of buildings. There's a perfect combination of tension and destruction as you try to clear a path for the carrier, and as well as being furiously addicting, there's great payoff when you complete your mission, as you're allowed to explore the level after beating it to clear more buildings, free prisoners, and find many secret items. Rare's always been masterful at creating exploration in their games, and this stands as one of their best examples. You'll find something new each time you play this game, and finding radars allows you to access fun training levels as well as some awesome racing ones.
Later in the game, you'll have to solve a puzzle or two in the levels to complete it, but this game does the impossible by not only eliminating the tediousness of it, but also makes it fun. You'll ram TNT crates into buildings or objects on the road, use cranes to lift vehicles onto previously unreachable areas, and even make new paths for the carrier, amongst other things. It's thrown in perfectly and the game's pace does not suffer one bit.
So what's not to like? I have just a few minor grips. The backdrift vehicle is infuriating to control compared to the rest of the vehicles, and I really wish the game implanted multiplayer. The building destruction and races would've made this a potential multiplayer phenomenon up there with Goldeneye and Super Smash Bros. Still, I'll take what I can get, as we can only have one Blast Corps.
The graphics are excellent, with detailed environments and no distance fog, and the music is top rate, though that's to be expected with Rare games. Blast Corps was made at a time where there was a healthy balance between arcade style and realistic games (of course, this is more arcade style), and it's insane how well it's aged. Crazy addicting and crazy fun, Blast Corps is an amazing game that will appeal to anyone just looking to have fun. This is one of Rare's best games not just on the N64, but in the company's history.
Kudos to Rare: You're just trying to impress me.
FINAL GRADE: A
The game is simple; clear buildings out of the way of a nuclear carrier or it explodes destroying everything. At first, I was worried that the game would be too complex and frustrating for me to get a grasp on it, but thankfully that wasn't the case. You get a wide variety of vehicles including a Ramdozer, a Optimus Prime-esque robot that does shoryukens (ThunderFist), a small buggy that attacks buildings by catching big air (Skyfall), a motorcycle with rockets (Ballista), and my personal favorite, the J-Bomb, which lets you destroy buildings by flying in the sky and smashing them from above. Each vehicle handles differently, giving them a unique feel.
After a slight learning curve, I was in full control of the vehicles (well, most of them), and there's fewer gaming moments as satisfying as destroying a block of buildings. There's a perfect combination of tension and destruction as you try to clear a path for the carrier, and as well as being furiously addicting, there's great payoff when you complete your mission, as you're allowed to explore the level after beating it to clear more buildings, free prisoners, and find many secret items. Rare's always been masterful at creating exploration in their games, and this stands as one of their best examples. You'll find something new each time you play this game, and finding radars allows you to access fun training levels as well as some awesome racing ones.
Later in the game, you'll have to solve a puzzle or two in the levels to complete it, but this game does the impossible by not only eliminating the tediousness of it, but also makes it fun. You'll ram TNT crates into buildings or objects on the road, use cranes to lift vehicles onto previously unreachable areas, and even make new paths for the carrier, amongst other things. It's thrown in perfectly and the game's pace does not suffer one bit.
So what's not to like? I have just a few minor grips. The backdrift vehicle is infuriating to control compared to the rest of the vehicles, and I really wish the game implanted multiplayer. The building destruction and races would've made this a potential multiplayer phenomenon up there with Goldeneye and Super Smash Bros. Still, I'll take what I can get, as we can only have one Blast Corps.
The graphics are excellent, with detailed environments and no distance fog, and the music is top rate, though that's to be expected with Rare games. Blast Corps was made at a time where there was a healthy balance between arcade style and realistic games (of course, this is more arcade style), and it's insane how well it's aged. Crazy addicting and crazy fun, Blast Corps is an amazing game that will appeal to anyone just looking to have fun. This is one of Rare's best games not just on the N64, but in the company's history.
Kudos to Rare: You're just trying to impress me.
FINAL GRADE: A