Sonic Blastman
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| Sonic Blastman | |
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| Developer(s) | Taito |
| Publisher(s) | Taito |
| Release date(s) | 1992 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Super NES |
| Media | 8-megabit Cartridge |
Sonic Blastman is a franchise by Taito starred by the titular superhero. The game originally started as an arcade game, but eventually made its way for the Super NES, with a different gameplay. Both versions received a sequel each.
[edit] Arcade version
The arcade version featues five stages. In each one there different kinds of situations, each one being more difficult than the previous one:
- A woman is being assaulted by some common thug.
- A baby wheelcart is in front of the vehicles road by accident, and a truck will soon run over it.
- An armed group took control of a building, which is its center of operations.
- A giant crab is terrorizing the coasts.
- An asteroid is set to crash on Earth.
The game consists in hitting the shown targets (the thug, the truck, the building, the crab and the asteroid). In order to win, each target has a set a numeber of tons (t) of resistance. Once they are depleted, they will be defeated. To hit the target, the game features a mechanic punch pad that rises when it is time to attack and a pair of gloves. The player must wear the gloves and with it ounch the pad strong enough to deal a fair amount of damage. Only three hits are allowed.
[edit] Super NES version
The Super NES version is a beat 'em up. In this version Sonic Blastman must save the Earth from diverse kinds of evil forces, from street gangs and terrorists, to aliens and robots and, finally, an evil clone of himself. The fight starts on a construction site in Earth and ends up in outer space.
The game is only for one player. As in any beat 'em up, the game consists of defeating the hordes of enemies before continuing in the stage. Sonic Blastman can punch, jump, and grab his enemies, too. He also uses an special attack that knocks any enemy nearby, but it reduces some of his energy and dizzies him temporally. Another particular feature is the way Sonic Blastman holds his enemies: When he approaches his enemies, the is able to grab them in order to shake them and throw them back from him, or unleash a series of punches. However, if he punches repeatedly them, he will eventually hold them, so that he can blast them with a sonic wave, hit them with a whirlwind punch or throw them backwards. All of this throwing effects depend on the direction the d-pad is pressed when pressing the punch button. His most powerful attack is his D. Punch, which must be charged with a certain button, which can be discharged, and then punch. The D. Pucnh is limited.
The bonus levels are a adaption of the arcade version. The major difference is that since there is no punch pad, the player must charge strength by rotating repeatedly the d-pad.
Like with most beat 'em-ups of the era, the Japanese version had female enemies which were replaced by male ones in the American and European versions, mostly because of Nintendo's strict censorship issues at the time.
[edit] Sequel
Both games received a sequel. The arcade sequel is similar to the original game, but was only released in Japan.
The Super NES sequel, entitled Sonic Blastman II, plays similarly to its predecessor, as well, and adds more options, such as new playable characters, two-player modes, among others.
Sonic Blastman also made a few cameos in other Taito games such as Bust-A-Move.
