The N64 was an under-rated system. If you disagree with me, you are wrong. A lot of great games came out on the N64 that you simply could not play elsewhere. The system helped shape the state of gaming that we now know and love: the birth of the analog stick (an idea for which Nintendo was ridiculed in the beginning by the way), the birth of the first truly great 3D platformer, the dawn of decent console FPS's that offered 4-player split screen, and the first console to come out of the box with four controller ports. The thing I love about Throwback Tuesdays is that it gives us a chance to point out great games of the past that many of you may have missed out on, and today, that game is Blast Corps, the first game Rare put out on the little cart based console. I suppose it's relatively easy to see why the average gamer would pass this up as it looks, judging by the cover and screenshots, more like a Tonka truck game for kids than a must-have title for the die-hard gamer, but those that gave it a shot were treated to one of the most addicting and entertaining games to come out during the last generation of videogames.
Blast Corps' story is a simple one: A transport truck carrying a nuclear payload has malfunctioned and become unstable, and could be detonated if it comes into contact with any other objects, such as trees and houses. This is obviously a bad thing, and to make things worse, the driver of said truck was on break or something when it happened, so there is no one behind the wheel to steer it out of harms way. So, what do we do when things are in our way? We smash them of course, and that is precisely your purpose in Blast Corps: You take an assortment of heavy machinery built for demolition purposes and lay waste to anything and everything in the path of the truck to avoid a nuclear explosion. Yes, the story is rather absurd, but it sets the stage for an absolutely brilliant gaming experience.
Since your primary objective in Blast Corps is to clear a path for the truck to pass through, you will need to use a wide variety of machines. Each of the twelve or so machines is outfitted to be effective for specific tasks. For example, the bulldozer is great for quickly knocking down most buildings. One of the mechs is fitted with rocket-boosters so that you can fly up above and then use gravity to crush buildings that may be too large for the bulldozer. The two-wheel speeder is equipped with missiles so that you can fire into areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Others might not make as much sense, such as the dump truck. In order to do any damage with the dump-truck, you will have to build momentum and then power-slide into buildings: the sides of the bucket do ten times as much damage as the front. I actually found using the dump-truck to be one of the most enjoyable methods of toppling buildings in the game; however, there were many times that I cursed Rare and wondered, "Why can't I just take the damn bull-dozer: Isn't the world at stake here?"
Basically, the variety of vehicles adds a puzzle-game element to the mix, which is the main reason I call this game brilliant: It is an action/puzzle game hybrid, and it pulls it off flawlessly. You race against the clock, strategically destroying the buildings that are directly in harm’s way, all the while taking into consideration that there may be another vehicle parked nearby that might be a little bit better suited for the job. There may be moments where the truck is headed straight for a loading ramp on a railroad track. Obviously, you need to find a way to plug that gap so that the truck doesn't fall in between the loading ramps, so what do you do? Haul ass down that railroad track until you find the train, drive it all the way back and stop it so that one of the flatbeds is sitting on the ramps. Now the truck can safely pass over the railroad tracks, so you can continue flattening all of the buildings beyond the railroad track. This is only an example of one of the more simple puzzles you will come across in Blast Corps: The game has quite a large variety of puzzles that will keep your problem solving skills hard at work. It does a nice job of keeping you on your toes at all times.
There are also a huge handful of mini-games in Blast Corps. Many of them are there to help you get acquainted with each of the unique vehicles in the game, but there are also a lot of mini-games that may have you doing races with regular cars, playing Pac Man with a Blast Corps twist, or even soccer with construction machinery. It's a lot of fun, but the races can be somewhat frustrating due to the cars' tendencies to bounce off of walls and other stationary objects. Add to this the fact that some of these races are played from a fixed perspective and you could be looking at some fairly aggravating moments.
Control-wise Blast Corps works well. It's rather simple: There are buttons for gas and brakes, you steer with the analog stick, and activate special actions with the triggers. The controls are very responsive, and the sensitivity of the superior N64 analog stick is perfect. You will also have to manually rotate the camera with the c-directional buttons just as in Mario 64, and this is one of the few complaints I have about this game: Considering that you are playing with an isometric 3/4 viewpoint, tall buildings can get in the way of your vision and you may get frustrated when you have to re-adjust the camera in the heat of the moment. Trying to operate the stationary cranes can be a hassle as well, but overall, everything works very well.
Level design is also superb: Every level has many secrets to find, and many of the levels are quite large, making for some truly challenging moments. Each puzzle is very closely tied in with the maps to make each puzzle seem very unique. The folks who designed these levels obviously had a sense of humor too because you find some pretty funny stuff if you look hard enough. For example, when you find the police cruiser, you will find it parked outside a doughnut shop. It's not sidesplitting hilarity, but it does make you chuckle. I appreciate a little bit of light-hearted humor in my games from time to time.
The visuals have actually withstood the test of time rather well. The color palette is very pleasing to the eye, explosions are fun to watch, and each vehicle looks pretty good. Obviously, everything has that familiar N64 "sheen" to it. Slowdown is rarely an issue no matter how many explosions are going off at once. Even the trees look very good. Since the game is shown from a fixed perspective from high up, the resolution always looks good and sharp. Most games that I go back to from this time period look absolutely awful compared to today’s games; there is nothing on this earth that is more ugly than the poorly shaded, pixilated polygon models that plague most games from this time period, and fortunately, Blast Corps does not suffer the same fate. It still looks good, even by today’s standards.
Blast Corps comes from an era where composing your own soundtrack was still normal (yes, kids, not too long ago, developers actually wrote all of their own music for their games rather than license whatever crappy band is on the radio at the time). It's about as perfect as you could ask for in a game like this. It's upbeat when it needs to be, it is calm and serene when you are flying high in the sky with a mech, and when you don't do your job fast enough, the music will speed up to heighten the mood of the increasingly grave situation. You will be humming the tunes to yourself (just as I am as I write this) for weeks after you are done playing the game. The sounds of cinder blocks crumbling and wood splintering are spot-on, as well are the sounds of explosions and shattering glass. Even the little snippets of sound are entertaining: Your character lets out the infamous "Doh!" just as Homer Simpson would when he can't get out of his vehicle, and if you are lucky enough to find the A-Team van, honk the horn and Mr. T will yell "Outa' my way!" Little touches like this are icing on an already tasty cake. This game is a perfect example of how much audio can add to the overall experience by heightening a sense of urgency, giving you satisfying sounds, and music that sticks with you for days on end. It really makes the game that much more enjoyable.
Replay value is very high given the fact that, even after you clear the way in any given stage, you can still go back and finish off the rest of the buildings, get all of the beacons and try to find more mini-games. You can also find vehicles hidden in certain places that can be used later in the races. Even then, when you complete the game with 100%, you will no doubt go through it again someday: I am sure I have played through and beaten the game at least 15 or 20 times since the first time I played it, and coming from me and my short attention-span, that says a lot.
Believe me when I tell you this game is worth your trouble to find. Blast Corps is the main reason I still have my N64 hooked up in the living room with all of my newer toys. Sure, Mario 64, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark are great games, but now we have new and improved FPS's and platformers on the newer hardware. Blast Corps stands tall with not so much as an attempt to recreate its addictive game play and charm. With intelligent puzzles, good fast action, and a huge variety of things to do (like blow things up), you can't help but to fall in love with this game. It truly is the Katamari Damacy of the N64: Blast Corps is one of the best games that you have never played.
