Cruise Chaser Blassty

Last updated
Cruise Chaser Blassty
Developer(s) Square
Publisher(s) Square
Designer(s)
Composer(s)
Platform(s) PC-8801, PC-9801, Sharp X1
Release
  • JP: April 30, 1986
Genre(s) Role-playing game
Mode(s) Single player

Cruise Chaser Blassty [lower-alpha 1] is a 1986 role-playing video game developed by Square for various Japanese computers, including the NEC PC-8801, PC-9801, and Sharp X1. The game had an unusual battle system, which involved the player controlling a customizable mecha robot from a first-person view. It followed a group of young people from Earth caught up in a war between a solar-system spanning government and a group of rebels. After release, the game's story was adapted to a manga and serialized, then released as a pair of standalone books. Cruise Chaser Blassty was the first video game worked on by composer Nobuo Uematsu.

Contents

Gameplay

The game is played through a first-person perspective, with a role-playing battle system and the ability to customize the player's mecha. [1] The bottom of the screen shows various gauges and power levels of the mecha's systems, while the majority of the screen shows the current view of the mecha. The player flies the mecha through space, coming across groups of enemy spaceships. Battle in these cases is handled through a series of text boxes, in which the player decides how much of their available power to spend on an attack, and then the results of the attack are displayed. [2] When the player encounters an enemy mecha instead, the main screen is split into two, with each half showing either the player or enemy mecha. The player selects their attack type via a menu, and simple animations play out on each half of the screen, one at a time, to show the attack and the results. [2]

Plot

The game's story focuses on a group of young people from Earth caught up in a war between a group of rebels and a government controlling the solar system. The game is set in the future, where the majority of humanity is ruled by a group, called the Commune, that lives giant space station named Ondina orbiting the Earth, which oversees the development and expansion of humanity throughout the solar system. A group of rebels called the Inverse, based on Mars, are rebelling against what they see as an oppressive government. [2] The primary weapons in the fight are space fighters called Cruise Chasers, which can transform into giant robots using the "Blassty" system; other types of space fighters are also used. The player may choose whether the Inverse or the Commune win, giving the game two different endings.

Development

The game was designed and written by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Kazuhiko Aoki. [3] The graphics were made by Hiromi Nakata and Bruno Miki, and the original designs for the mecha were done by Mika Akitaka. [2] The programming for the game was done by Shun Saigusa for the PC-8801 version, Makoto Wakamatsu for the PC-9801 version, and Takashi Koyama for the X1 version. Project EGG, a licensed emulator for home computer games, included Cruise Chaser Blassty in its limited edition "Classic PC-Game Collection" on September 8, 2013, alongside The Death Trap , Will: The Death Trap II , Alpha , and Genesis—other Square games released between 1984 and 1987. [4] They released the game to their web-based emulator as well on May 2, 2014. [2]

The soundtrack to Cruise Chaser Blassty was Nobuo Uematsu's debut project, which he composed with Takashi Uno. [5] A vinyl album was included with the release, containing three tracks from the game. [6]

Reception and legacy

The game was the fifth game published by Square, and their third developed internally. In 1987, the game's story was adapted into a manga and was serialized in Hobby Japan magazine from 1986 to 1987. [7] The chapters were collected into two tankōbon volumes labeled "Part I" and "Part II" released in December 1990 and April 1991 respectively. [8] [9] A sequel to the manga, titled Cruise Chaser Blassty 2, was released in April 1992. [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: クルーズチェイサー ブラスティー, Hepburn: Kurūzu Cheisā Burasutī

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobuo Uematsu</span> Japanese composer and keyboardist (born 1959)

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the Final Fantasy video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton John as one of his biggest influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PC-8800 series</span> Series of computers sold in Japan by NEC

The PC-8800 series, commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PC-98</span> Series of PCs by NEC, sold primarily in Japan

The PC-9800 series, commonly shortened to PC-98 or 98, is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more than 18 million units had been sold. While NEC did not market these specific machines in the West, it sold the NEC APC series, which had similar hardware to early PC-98 models.

<i>Exile</i> (1988 video game series) Video game series

Exile (エグザイル, Eguzairu, originally stylized XZR) is an action role-playing video game series developed by Telenet Japan. The first two games in the series, XZR and XZR II were both released in Japan in 1988, with versions available for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, MSX2 and the X1 turbo (for the first game only). In 1991, a remake of XZR II simply titled Exile was released for the PC Engine and Mega Drive. These versions were both released in North America the following year, with Working Designs handling the localization for the TurboGrafx-CD version, while Renovation Products published the Genesis version. A sequel exclusive to the Super CD-ROM2 format, titled Exile: Wicked Phenomenon, was released in 1992, which was also localized by Working Designs for the North American market.

<i>The Death Trap</i> 1984 video game

The Death Trap is a text adventure developed and published by Square for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, and Fujitsu FM-7 in 1984. The game and its supporting computer platforms were only released in Japan. The Death Trap is the first game developed by Square, created before they were even an independent company. At the time, Square was a software branch of Den-Yu-Sha, a Japanese power line manufacturing firm; it was not until 1986 that Square was independently established.

<i>Bokosuka Wars</i> 1983 video game

Bokosuka Wars (ボコスカウォーズ) is a 1983 action-strategy role-playing video game developed by Kōji Sumii (住井浩司) and released by ASCII for the Sharp X1 computer, followed by ports to the MSX, FM-7, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-8801 and NEC PC-9801 computer platforms, as well as an altered version released for the Family Computer console and later the Virtual Console service. It revolves around a leader who must lead an army in phalanx formation across a battlefield in real-time against overwhelming enemy forces while freeing and recruiting soldiers along the way, with each unit able to gain experience and level up through battle. The player must make sure that the leader stays alive, until the army reaches the enemy castle to defeat the leader of the opposing forces.

<i>Thexder</i> 1985 video game

Thexder is a run and gun video game from Game Arts, originally released for the NEC PC-8801 in 1985. It was ported to many systems, including the Famicom, MSX, Apple II and DOS. It was a commercial success, selling over one million units worldwide.

<i>Popful Mail</i> 1991 video game

Popful Mail: Magical Fantasy Adventure is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Nihon Falcom. It was originally released for the NEC PC-8801 home computer in 1991 and the PC-9801 in 1992. The game was later ported to the PC Engine CD-ROM by NEC Home Electronics, to the Sega CD by Sega, to DoJa mobile phones by Bothtec, and to the Super Famicom and Microsoft Windows by Falcom.

<i>Xak: The Art of Visual Stage</i> 1989 video game

Xak: The Art of Visual Stage (サーク) is a 1989 role-playing video game by Microcabin. The first game in the Xak series, it was originally released for the PC-88 computer system, with subsequent versions being developed for the PC-98, X68000, MSX2, PC Engine, Super Famicom, and mobile phones. The first four versions were re-released for Windows on the online store Project EGG. An English translation of Xak: The Art of Visual Stage was also released in 2007 on the now-defunct retro gaming service WOOMB.net, and became available on Project EGG.

<i>Valis II</i> 1989 video game

Valis II is a 1989 action-platform video game originally developed by Laser Soft, published by Telenet Japan and NEC for the PC Engine CD-ROM²/TurboGrafx-CD. A home computer version was released for PC-8801, MSX2, PC-9801 and X68000. A super deformed-style remake was also released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the second entry in the eponymous series. It stars Yuko Asou, a Japanese schoolgirl teenager chosen to become the Valis warrior by wielding the titular mystical sword, after defeating the demon lord Rogles. The dream world Vecanti fell under the rule of emperor Megas, whose hatred towards his brother Rogles and bloodthirsty tendencies seeks to wipe out traces of the former tyrant, including his supporters. Gameplay varies between each version but all share similar elements, as the player explores and search for items and power-ups, while fighting enemies and defeat bosses.

<i>Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II</i> 1992 video game

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II is a 1992 role-playing video game by Nihon Falcom. It is part of the Dragon Slayer series and the second entry in The Legend of Heroes subseries. The game first released for the NEC PC-8801 before being ported to the NEC PC-9801, FM Towns, PC Engine, Mega Drive, Super Famicom and MS-DOS.

<i>Alpha</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Alpha (アルファ) is an interactive fiction game developed and published by Square, released for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, Fujitsu FM-7, and Sharp X1 systems in 1986. Alpha uses a text parser to interpret the player's instructions and displays the results on screen.

<i>Xanadu</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Xanadu, also known as Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II, is an action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom and released in 1985 for the PC-8801, X1, PC-8001, PC-9801, FM-7 and MSX computers. Enhanced remakes were later released for the Sega Saturn, PC-9801 and Windows platforms. It is the second entry in the Dragon Slayer series, preceded by Dragon Slayer and followed by Dragon Slayer Jr: Romancia, which, as most games in the Dragon Slayer series, have very little relation with each other.

Secret Chaser is a Japanese manga is written and illustrated by Tamayo Akiyama. The manga is licensed for an English-language release in North America by Tokyopop, licensed for a French-language release in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D4 Enterprise</span> Japanese video game publisher

D4 Enterprise Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game publisher currently specializing in content delivery services like Project EGG, EGGY and PicoPico over the Internet. The company has also collaborated with Nintendo to re-release Neo Geo, MSX and arcade titles for the Wii, and MSX titles for the Wii U, as part of the Virtual Console services on both consoles.

<i>Shiens Revenge</i> 1994 video game

Shien's Revenge is a 1994 rail shooter video game developed by Almanic Corporation and originally published by Dynamic Planning for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan and later in North America by Vic Tokai. In the game, players assume the role of the titular ninja to fight against monsters coming from a time portal in order to face against an entity known as Undertaker and rescue his companion Aska. Co-designed by Takashi Shichijo and mangaka Go Nagai, the title was created by most of the same team that worked on previous projects at Almanic such as E.V.O.: Search for Eden. It was met with mixed reception from critics since its release.

<i>Denjin Makai</i> 1994 video game

Denjinmakai (電神魔傀), or Denjin Makai, is a 1994 side-scrolling beat 'em up developed by Winkysoft and published by Banpresto that was originally released as a coin-operated arcade game. It was later ported to the Super Famicom under the title Ghost Chaser Densei (ゴーストチェイサー電精). The Super Famicom release is Japan-only. A sequel, Guardians, was released in 1995.

<i>Chain Chronicle</i> Japanese media franchise

Chain Chronicle is a tower defense role-playing game developed and published by Sega for iOS, Android, and PlayStation Vita. It was released in Japan on July 26, 2013, for iOS, August 1, 2013, for Android and on July 16, 2014, for the PlayStation Vita. The game is licensed in Asia by SNDA released in China, MobiMon for both Taiwan and Macau, Actoz Soft for South Korea and Gumi Asia for both Southeast Asia and North America, however the game was closed down in North America and Southeast Asia on February 29, 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier". Hardcore Gaming 101. p. 2. Retrieved 2011-03-29. Reprinted from Retro Gamer , 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "プロジェクトEGGで「CRUISE CHASER BLASSTY（PC-8801）」が配信開始". 4Gamer.net (Press release) (in Japanese). 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  3. ↑ Iwata, Satoru (2011-01-25). "Iwata Asks: In Conversation with Takahashi & Sakaguchi". Nintendo of Europe. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  4. ↑ "限定生産『CLASSIC PC-GAME COLLECTION -THE DEATH TRAP・WILL・ALPHA・BLASSTY・GENESIS-』好評販売中！/ レトロゲーム総合配信サイト プロジェクトＥＧＧ" (Press release) (in Japanese). Project EGG. 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  5. ↑ Mielke, James (2008-02-15). "A Day in the Life of Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-22. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  6. ↑ "CRUISE CHASER BLASSTY". VGMdb. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
  7. ↑ 第35回：クルーズチェイサー・ブラスティー（前編、後編） (in Japanese). Hobby Japan. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  8. ↑ クルーズチェイサー・ ブラスティー〈前編〉 (ソノラマ文庫) [文庫] (in Japanese). ASIN   4257765291.
  9. ↑ クルーズチェイサー・ブラスティー〈後編〉 (ソノラマ文庫) [文庫] (in Japanese). ASIN   4257765496.
  10. ↑ クルーズチェイサー・ ブラスティー〈2〉 (ソ ノラマ文庫) [文庫] (in Japanese). ASIN   425776595X.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.