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Blast Wind

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Blast Wind
Developer(s)Technosoft
Publisher(s)Technosoft
Producer(s)Naosuke Arai
Artist(s)Taisuke Kanazaki
Composer(s)Hyakutaro Tsukumo
Platform(s)Sega Saturn
Release
  • JP: January 17, 1997
Genre(s)Vertically scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Blast Wind[a] is a 1997 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Technosoft for the Sega Saturn. In the game, the player controls one of two artificial life forms piloting ships to fight the invading Gorn culture. The player can take an alternate path by pressing switches in each stage.

Blast Wind was created by new members who would later work on Thunder Force V. Produced by Naosuke Arai, it was originally developed as an arcade game, but the plan changed during production and was postponed until it was released as an original title on the Saturn. The soundtrack was composed by Hyakutaro Tsukumo. Working Designs planned to release the game in North America under their "Spaz" label, but cancelled the deal with Technosoft and dropped support for the Saturn following a dispute with Sega. Although it was not officially published outside Japan, an English fan translation was released in 2024.

Blast Wind received average reviews, with critics praising the frenetic pace, soundtrack, and controls, but others being mixed regarding the overall presentation and path-switching mechanic. Some reviewers also criticized the game's graphics, its short length and low difficulty.

Gameplay

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Hayate shoots enemies with a switch to change path to the right in the Atlantis stage in Blast Wind

Blast Wind is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up game.[1][2][3] The premise takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth after a nuclear holocaust nearly decimated the entire population. A handful of people managed to escape thanks to a prophet named Noa who gathered them aboard an ark and emerged after the residual radiation dissipated to build a new civilization. However, they were attacked by an invading culture called Gorn, who survived the nuclear winter by migrating within the Earth's crust and evolving before re-emerging on the surface. Humanity unearths an ancient weapons program as a last resort to fight against Gorn.[2][4][5][6]

The player can choose one of two ships: Hayate[b] (piloted by the artificial life form Kyo) and Reppu[c] (piloted by the artificial life form Forn).[3][4][5] Each ship has a forward-firing shot, a homing shot, and bombs capable of damaging enemies on-screen when deployed.[3][5][7] The weapons can be upgraded by collecting power-up icons (P) that drop from defeated enemies, which surround the player's ship with lightning bolts that damage enemies and grant temporary invincibility.[2][3][4][5] The player earns points by shooting enemies and collecting items such as a shield orb that blocks enemy shots before disintegrating, extra lives, bombs, and bonuses.[3][4][5] The player can take an alternate path by pressing switches on each stage, altering its difficulty with different waves of enemies and boss patterns, as well as changing scoring opportunities.[3][4][5][7]

Development and release

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Blast Wind was developed by Technosoft, best known for the Thunder Force series.[7][8][9] It was developed by new members who would later work on Thunder Force V.[10] Naosuke Arai oversaw production as head of development under the pseudonym "Yunker Matai".[8][11] Taisuke Kanasaki only participated in the opening sequence during his time at Technosoft.[12] The music was composed by Hyakutaro Tsukumo.[4][11] The game was originally developed as an arcade game and a prototype was tested at Sasebo, with a planned release for 1993.[7][4][13] However, the plan changed during development and was postponed for a time until it was released as an original title on Sega Saturn.[7][4][8] Tsukumo found it difficult to arrange and rewrite the songs because FM and PCM sound sources were the basis.[13] A light-hearted revision titled Inazuma Saber,[d] with selectable ships and comical dialogue between pilots, was reportedly tested and scheduled for release in 1994 but was scrapped.[4][9][14]

Technosoft published Blast Wind in Japan on January 17, 1997.[15][16] Working Designs planned to release the game in North America as a bundle along with the Thunder Force Gold Pack compilations and Hyper Duel under their "Spaz" label. Following a dispute at E3 1997 with Sega of America, Working Designs cancelled the deal with Technosoft and withdrew support for the Saturn.[4][17][18] In 1997, Technosoft released the game's soundtrack as part of the Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 7: Reincarnation, with arrangements from Thunder Force IV.[19][20] In 2010, the Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 7: Reincarnation album was re-released.[21] Although it was not officially published outside Japan, an English fan translation was released in 2024, providing narration for the opening sequence, a new voice actor for the game's antagonist, corrected text, and audio rebalancing.[9]

Reception

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Blast Wind received average reviews.[1][22][15][23][24] The game reached into the top ten best-selling Sega Saturn titles of that week, and it received a score of 8.1351 out of 10 in a 2000 readers' poll conducted by the Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine, ranking among Saturn titles at the number 351 spot.[25][26] Two Saturn Fan editors recommended it for those who enjoy retro-style shooters and praised the catchy soundtrack, but noted its lack of innovative mechanics, lackluster presentation, and short length.[23] Reviewers from the Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine commended the game's frenetic pace, but found the branching paths to be underdeveloped and criticized its dated mechanics, specifically the lack of uniformity in enemies and monotonous power-ups.[24]

François Garnier of Consoles + praised the game's overall presentation, lack of slowdown, soundscapes, and branching paths, but felt that it was a bit easy and graphically lacking.[1] Fun Generation's Holger Gößmann and Stefan Hellert considered the game very playable and gave positive comments about its precise controls and music, but found it visually average and saw its short duration as a flaw.[22] Hardcore Gaming 101's Nick Gibson wrote that the solid sprite artwork and energetic soundtrack encouraged replayability when playing for points. Gibson found the switching mechanic interesting, but noted the game's short stages, low difficulty, and restrictive weapon system.[4] Retro Gamer's Darran Jones called Blast Wind a very entertaining shooter, citing its exceptional music and the ability to find new paths through a stage via switches, but felt it was rather ordinary compared to other Technosoft shooters such as Hyper Duel and Thunder Force V due to its chunky graphics and simple scoring system.[27]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: ブラストウインド, Hepburn: Burasuto Uindo
  2. ^ 疾風 (Hayate)
  3. ^ 烈風 (Reppū)
  4. ^ 稲妻セイバー (Inazuma Seibā)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Garnier, François (March 1997). "Test Saturn: Blast Wind". Consoles + [fr] (in French). No. 63. EM-Images SA. p. 132.
  2. ^ a b c "Tecno Soft Shooting Game — Special Report: ブラストウインド". Sega Saturn Magazine (in Japanese). No. 18. SoftBank Creative. October 25, 1996. pp. 66–67.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "New Shooting: ブラストウインド". Saturn Fan [ja] (in Japanese). No. 1. Tokuma Shoten. December 27, 1996. p. 190.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gibson, Nick (October 20, 2013). "Blast Wind". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 2018-04-14. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Sega Saturn Press! Coming Soon Soft: ブラストウインド". Sega Saturn Magazine (in Japanese). No. 1. SoftBank Creative. January 17, 1997. pp. 166–167.
  6. ^ ブラストウインド (マニュアル). Technosoft. January 1997.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Continue To Report Zokuhou!! ブラストウインド". Saturn Fan [ja] (in Japanese). No. 22. Tokuma Shoten. October 18, 1996. p. 107.
  8. ^ a b c Szczepaniak, John (February 21, 2018). "Tecno Soft, Compile, Fupac, and 8ing". The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers. Vol. 3. S.M.G. Szczepaniak. pp. 136–250. ISBN 978-0992926083.
  9. ^ a b c McFerran, Damien (June 10, 2024). "Super-Rare Saturn Shmup Blast Wind Gets English Patch". Time Extension. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on 2024-06-11. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  10. ^ Manami, Rei (October 8, 2016). "『サンダーフォースIII』はいかにして『セガ3D復刻アーカイブス3』に収録されることになったのか？　元テクノソフト新井氏を交えてのスタッフインタビュー". Famitsu (in Japanese). Gzbrain. Archived from the original on 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2024-08-22. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2016-10-27 at the Wayback Machine).
  11. ^ a b Technosoft (January 1997). Blast Wind (Sega Saturn). Technosoft. Level/area: Staff. (Ending screens by VGMuseum [The Video Games Museum]. Archived 2016-06-18 at the Wayback Machine Transcription by Raido's Staff List Archive. Archived 2020-02-02 at the Wayback Machine).
  12. ^ Kanazaki, Taisuke [@kanayan2929] (January 4, 2018). "まだ僕がテクノソフト時代の26年ぐらい前UMMO_CHAN中心となって開発していたBLASTWIND。急に思い立って何となく描いてみました。僕はOPだけしか携われてないんですが自分が過去に携わったアナザーやウィッシュ以前のゲームもたまには振り返って今後描いてみようかなと思います。" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ a b Tsukumo, Hyakutaro (May 1, 1997). "LINER NOTE". Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 7: Reincarnation. Technosoft. p. 2.
  14. ^ Okutei MGR (2000). "「稲妻セイバー」テクノソフト：1994年". おくてぃねす. Archived from the original on 2001-02-18. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  15. ^ a b c "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: ブラストウインド". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 423. ASCII Corporation. January 24, 1997. (Transcription by Famitsu.com. Archived 2019-08-15 at the Wayback Machine).
  16. ^ "セガサターン対応ソフトウェア（ライセンシー発売）- 1997年発売". SEGA HARD Encyclopedia (in Japanese). Sega. Archived from the original on 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  17. ^ Semrad, Ed (September 1997). "EGM Wraps Up E3: Working Designs to End Publishing for Sega". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 98. Sendai Publications. p. 73.
  18. ^ Sewart, Greg (August 5, 2005). "Sega Saturn: The Pleasure And The Pain". 1Up.com. IGN Entertainment. pp. 1–6. Archived from the original on 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  19. ^ "テクノソフトオリジナル音楽ＣＤ通信販売のお知らせ". Technosoft. 1998. Archived from the original on 1999-04-23. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
  20. ^ "Technosoft Game Music Collection Volume 07 ~ Reincarnation". Game Music Revolution. Archived from the original on 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  21. ^ "Vol. 7 Reincarnation". Tecno Soft. May 28, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  22. ^ a b c Gößmann, Holger; Hellert, Stefan (April 1997). "Spiele Tests: Blast Wind". Fun Generation (in German). No. 15. CyPress [de]. p. 92.
  23. ^ a b c "Now On Sale Saturn Soft Impression!! ブラストウインド". Saturn Fan [ja] (in Japanese). No. 2. Tokuma Shoten. January 17, 1997. p. 186.
  24. ^ a b c "Sega Saturn Soft Review: ブラストウインド". Sega Saturn Magazine (in Japanese). No. 2. SoftBank Creative. January 31, 1997. p. 220.
  25. ^ "Ranking Street". Saturn Fan [ja] (in Japanese). No. 5. Tokuma Shoten. February 28, 1997. pp. 98–103.
  26. ^ Dreamcast Magazine (March 2000). "セガサターン (Sega Saturn Magazine): 読者レース Final" (PDF). サターンのゲームは世界いちぃぃぃ! ~サタマガ読者レース全記録~ (in Japanese). SoftBank Publishing. pp. 8–15. ISBN 978-4-79731173-0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  27. ^ Jones, Darran (May 11, 2023). "Retro Revival: Blast Wind". Retro Gamer. No. 246. Future Publishing. pp. 76–77.
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