Your destination: PARADISE
A remote outpost 20 million light years away. Does Paradise exist? Can civilization be started again? These questions will be answered at the end of your journey.
But first, you must blast... OR BE BLASTED!"
Developed once again by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar and published by Williams Electronics, Blaster is an arcade game that acts as a sort of sequel to Robotron: 2084.
Although the last human family was killed, and "the last hope of mankind" has been destroyed, it wasn't actually.
You, as the last remaining human, hijack a space shuttle and take off to Paradise, in hopes of escaping the Robotrons and restarting civilization once more.
Unlike Robotron 2084, which was a twin stick 2D shooter, Blaster is a First-Person Shooter where you fly a space ship with 4 front facing cannons, shooting any aliens or robots that get in your way, rescuing stranded astronauts, and picking up any Power Ups you can find to help you on your quest. And believe us when we say this, you'll need all the help you can get.
The game was noteworthy for having advanced (for the time) graphics that simulated the illusion of objects moving closer to the player by having sprites (rather than just vector graphics) that scaled as the player's ship moved forward. This created a very convincing 3D effect that stood out against the vector line based competition, and this technique would be adopted for many future games.
Blast these tropes!
- Anti-Frustration Features: Because you can't see your own space ship, the game has a reticule which shows your range of shooting, as well as your hitbox.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Human race is all but extinct, but Paradise is real. If you survive for 20 waves, you make it there and are greeted by a galaxy's worth of women. And while the game only gives you a 1 million point bonus for doing so, it is stated that civilization gets started again if you reach Paradise.
- Broken Faceplate: If your ship is shot when its shields are down, the canopy cracks.
- Every 100000 Points: You get an extra space shuttle.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Averted actually. Your ship's energy shields can take 2 hits, and you can pick up energy batteries (shaped like giant electrified "E"s) to recharge them and go to the next wave.
