0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Blast Radius

       

Blast Radius is an action space combat simulation developed by Pitbull Syndicate who developed previously covered game Big Air. The game was published by Psygnosis and released on the Playstation in North Europe in July of 1998. The game would not release in North America until the 28^th of February the following year

The game has a total of 9 playable spacecraft, with a total of 13 types of weaponry for you to arm them with, this includes Torpedoes, Rockets, Seeker Missiles and Fusion Nukes. The game takes you through a total of 40 missions spanning 10 different worlds.

 

The game sees the player facing off against 35 different enemy types, from Bounty Hunters, and Criminal Organization to Kotan-Kai military ships. Additional hazards also litter the levels with asteroid, cloaked planets, satellites, wormholes and kamikaze drones.

Prior to starting a mission your are given a briefing for the mission, this gives a brief description of the upcoming mission. For example the first mission the Kotan-Kai have been conducting experiments on a primitive warp technology.

 

This represents a worrying development for the Vorn, they task you with destroy any enemy craft in the system so the Vorn engineers can terminate the treat. One the briefing has finished it will show you your primary and secondary targets.

 

 When you start your mission you control your craft with the D-Pad or left analogue stick, to fire your primary weapon the X button is used, your secondary weapons are controlled with the circle button, to select your weapon the square button is used.

 

If you select the wrong weapon you can deselect it by pressing the triangle button. Forward and reverse thrust iis controlled by the L1 and R1 shoulder buttons, to roll the ship left or right the R2 and L2 shoulder buttons are used, pressing the select button will chance the camera view. In addition to the single player mode, the game offers a two player death match mode, this mode I think requires a link cable.

In Blast Radius you play as the last member of an elite Wolf squadron, alienated and angry you as Kayne the sole survivor are approached by the Vorn, a peaceful and docile race who are under attacked from the evil empire of the Kotan-Kai. In return for your help and flying skills the Vorn will reward you with access to their most powerful and advanced spacecraft available.

Blast Radius earned itself a very good review score from one publication, largely though the game rated as decent to above average, with one reviewer finding the game particularly poor. As usual though we will start with the best of them, this comes from Absolute Playstation who rated the game at a very good 88.

The reviewer commenting on those who rushed out to buy Colony Wars may have already pre ordered this game, the reviewer warns those people that, while the game is darn good fun, it doesn’t have the same gameplay depth of Colony Wars, and more like a selection of bonus arcade levels.

A large drop in review score for the next one, as we head over to Germany and Mega Fun who rated the game at a decent 73. the review called the game fun as opposed to the rather moderate Xenocracy, with the game leaving an overall better impression.

The reviewer found the game to be straightforward into space action, with good graphics and analogue control. The review also praised the good mission variety, as well as weapons, enemy and ship variety. The reviewer concluded by saying the review score would have been higher but for the lack of story content, overall though the game is a stylish space shooter which sweetens the wait for Colony Wars Vengeance.

NowGamer are next up with a 72 rated review, the review finding the game doesn’t measure up to Psygnosis’s  previously released Colony Wars, the reviewer finding simply blasting ins a good looking a swiftly moving environment is pretty good fun for the first few levels, but you quickly tired of it soon after.

The review also found the game to be very linier, unlike Colony Wars which alters the stories path when failing a mission, the game just comes to an end. The review found the game seems like a step down in all respects.

GameSpot also rated the game at a 72, with the reviewer finding Blast Radius to be a bit of a throwaway title or rather it feels like the company is cashing in on its own success. Even so the reviewer found the game to be a worthwhile way to kill some time.

The reviewer found that if you are a fan of Colony Wars and looking for more of the same high quality space shooting action, then Blast Radius is going to be your best option. They concluded by saying, weather it is worth a purchase largely depends on how much you really need it, a rental instead maybe your best first move.

Back over to Germany now and to Video Games who scored the game at a decent 71, the reviewer calling it a game with breathtaking special FX, but it is not immune from small weaknesses, with too monotonous attack strategies from the enemy ships and meagre power up equipment miss a bit of variety. They concluded however by saying the game should be especially captivating for hardcore shoot’em-up fans.

Another German publication up next in Bravo Screenfun, who rated the game at an above average 60, the reviewer calling the game a challenging space shooter that focuses on gaudy action, rather than epic atmosphere or great render sequences. They continued by saying, solo players are served an average game, but Psygnosis have provided link fans with fresh food for their coupled Playstations.

The penultimate review comes from IGN, who also rated the game at an above average 60. the review finding the game to be just a made for tv version of Colony Wars. The reviewer finding the developers hacked away the story, and anything else that would get in the way of a straightforward shooter.

Concluding the review said, Colony Wars is the better game, with more and cleverer weaponry and crafts, as well as being a much more satisfying experience. The reviewer however said, if you are looking for a jump in quick action title, give this one a rent.

The final review comes from Game Revolution, who rated the game at a poor 33. The reviewer finding nothing in the game that would make them want to blow $40 on it. Value wise the reviewer said, if you like playing the same Joe-Shmo four missions over and over, then hey go for it. But for the normal people who like varying missions and outstanding graphics and gameplay, run from Blast Radius.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude, where if you are looking to trade in your copy of Blast Radius, you will be looking at just 5 cents for your copy at trade in. If on the other hand you are in the market for a copy from Gamedude, you will be looking at an outlay of $3.

Next we head over to Retrogames.co.uk, where we find one copy of the game available, this being a co.uk site the copy that is available is the PAL version of the game. This copy is complete, with a disc quality rating of 7.5/10 and will cost you £7. remember this the PAL version of the game so won’t work on North American or Japanese consoles.

Moving on to eStarland.com where we find one copy of Blast Radius available, this is the North American version of the game. This copy comes with no manual and is priced at $4.88. Also on offer at eStarland is a trade in for the game, with up to $2.25 being paid for a complete copy of the game.

Lastly we have Amazon.com where we find a decent supply of the game available, we soon find a complete copy of the game in good condition, this copy is priced up at $5.97. following this copy were find several incomplete copies of the game.

Moving on to the second page of listings the first on offer here is a very good condition copy for $8.49, and a like new copy next in the listings for $9.03. Another very good condition copy follows for $.9.57, with the first new copy available for just $10.40.

Used prices remain pretty competitive with a majority not going past the $17 mark, a few new copies of the game are also mixed into this price range. There are a few copies of each that do go beyond this price point, with a like new used copy priced at $33.83, and a new copy for $49.62, these are a rarity though.

  

Written by

P J Gibbon