Blast Corps (N64, 1997)
Graphics-7 Sound-8 Control-7/6.5/#5.5* Challenge-8 Story-4
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5/9.5** Fun-7/6¤ Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
*The sliding truck called Backlash
**100%
#Motorbike
¤Most of the Hard levels
+
Fairly unique main game mode - clear the path for a carrier truck carrying explosives, usually by destroying buildings in front of it with a vehicle (kinda similar to Rampage and IIRC certain missions in RTS games, vaguely similar to the boulder puzzles in the later Monster Boy)
Decent game mode variety (destroy all skyscrapers in time using different kinds of vehicles, race courses) - overall the game is pretty similar to Pilotwings besides focusing on destruction
Basic puzzles using multiple vehicles (such as moving a train into place in echo marches to let the carrier truck pass a gap, crane for lifting vehicles and TNT boxes)
Can switch between 2+ vehicles in various levels by stepping out of the one you started with and into the new one (bulldozer truck - this one can also push TNT boxes into obstacles, truck that extends battering rams to the sides to destroy obstacles, sliding truck, jetpack equipped robot that stomps into buildings, silver robot that rolls into buildings, small robot that uses a cartwheel move to destroy obstacles, dune buggy which can jump or ram using turbo, motorcycle with dual missile launchers mounted on either side; there are also some for getting a smaller vehicle somewhere or moving to a spot quickly rather than destroying things - three cars, a train and a transportation boat). Some are hidden
Mini-map/radar showing the next sub objective
Somewhat exaggerated physics
Get ranked on several stats in some levels (buildings destroyed, RDU lights activated (by moving near them), people rescued (you simply wreck the buildings and they get to a chopper on their own), time taken; can get gold, silver or bronze medal)
The music becomes more intense and ominous as the carrier truck is about to collide with an obstacle - Street Fighter 2
Hidden bonus levels
The hub map hints at which vehicles can be found in each level
Replays from the perspective of the carrier truck (would've been cool if you could switch to a FP view perspective while playing too)
Pretty satisfying explosions
Some voiced commentary during levels
Your avatar is visible through walls (can also rotate the camera)
+/-
Non-linear structure (choose between 4 different levels on a hub map from the get go then unlock one more per beaten level, )
Save in-between levels (one slot per game?)
Mostly cheesy euro techno/90s dance OST but it does sound good and some tracks are more akin to Goldfrapp or Kraftwerk
In-game tutorial messages pause gameplay and trigger automatically
The backstory is sort of hidden in the mission briefing menu if you flip the pages - very short too
-
Control/interface issues (the sliding truck is a bit too hard to use consistently and efficiently (need enough speed for it to work+it's hard to control your trajectory precisely, sometimes the first 1-2 parts of a building you hit will go down but not the rest), can't view your stats before finishing a level, overly zoomed in view - can (most of the time) use a c-button to get a zoomed out view where the camera also focuses on the carrier truck however it's weird how you can't press the same button to go back to the default view (have to pause and go back), kinda zoomed in mini-map which can't be zoomed out and there's no full map screen for any of the levels - can get an overview of the straight path from the starting point to the goal via the pause menu however this doesn't help much after the first few levels (should've just let you move the camera around freely), somewhat slow pause menu, annoying how you have to be a certain distance from a building for cartwheels or roll moves to work+can't adjust the length of these moves, the silver robot walks too slowly, no twin stick controls for the robots, too much knockback when moving into buildings with the motorbike even at low speeds, inconsistent turning angle for the dune buggy - much bigger in slopes)
Using the jetpack robot to stomp or the sliding truck to slide into larger buildings can get tedious as the building won't necessarily come down if you destroy most of it - could've benefited from an extra move you could do (or being able to carry small gas tanks or TNT with some vehicles) while hitting the building and if timed right it would take out the whole thing. It's also annoying how the sliding truck auto-slides if you circle back around after missing something so you have to slowly go backwards and repeat or slow down while turning instead.
No coop or vs modes
Some trial & error (oyster harbor block puzzle due to not being able to see the last two blocks, various invisible walls at the edge of a level area where it looks like there's an unblocked piece of road going further, kipling plant (destroy the tanks with missiles) - can't get an overview of the level at all, sleek streets (race track) - again can't get an overview and it's hard to tell what's part of the race track and what isn't, can drive trains (don't think the game tells you earlier, it does repeat some other tutorial messages so could've included this) - echo marches level, the battering rams do more damage if they get to extend fully before hitting something, no level maps+zoomed in view means fumbling around to find other vehicles to solve some levels - you can watch the chopper moving across a level before it starts but this is pretty slow, what counts as a destructible buildings - small staircases apparently (frustrating if going for 100%), no clues to some hidden paths, too hard to find some of the 6 hidden scientists - required to unlock all of the bonus levels)
Kind of ugly and generic human characters
Can drive through buildings but not paper thin arrow signs or trees
Some difficulty spikes (diamond sands, shuttle gulley, outland farm) and dips (skyfall - first dune buggy level, marine quarter - race level)
Bugs:
-Glitchy physics when trying to get the bulldozer onto a train platform - makes you automatically accelerate
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5/9.5** Fun-7/6¤ Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
*The sliding truck called Backlash
**100%
#Motorbike
¤Most of the Hard levels
+
Fairly unique main game mode - clear the path for a carrier truck carrying explosives, usually by destroying buildings in front of it with a vehicle (kinda similar to Rampage and IIRC certain missions in RTS games, vaguely similar to the boulder puzzles in the later Monster Boy)
Decent game mode variety (destroy all skyscrapers in time using different kinds of vehicles, race courses) - overall the game is pretty similar to Pilotwings besides focusing on destruction
Basic puzzles using multiple vehicles (such as moving a train into place in echo marches to let the carrier truck pass a gap, crane for lifting vehicles and TNT boxes)
Can switch between 2+ vehicles in various levels by stepping out of the one you started with and into the new one (bulldozer truck - this one can also push TNT boxes into obstacles, truck that extends battering rams to the sides to destroy obstacles, sliding truck, jetpack equipped robot that stomps into buildings, silver robot that rolls into buildings, small robot that uses a cartwheel move to destroy obstacles, dune buggy which can jump or ram using turbo, motorcycle with dual missile launchers mounted on either side; there are also some for getting a smaller vehicle somewhere or moving to a spot quickly rather than destroying things - three cars, a train and a transportation boat). Some are hidden
Mini-map/radar showing the next sub objective
Somewhat exaggerated physics
Get ranked on several stats in some levels (buildings destroyed, RDU lights activated (by moving near them), people rescued (you simply wreck the buildings and they get to a chopper on their own), time taken; can get gold, silver or bronze medal)
The music becomes more intense and ominous as the carrier truck is about to collide with an obstacle - Street Fighter 2
Hidden bonus levels
The hub map hints at which vehicles can be found in each level
Replays from the perspective of the carrier truck (would've been cool if you could switch to a FP view perspective while playing too)
Pretty satisfying explosions
Some voiced commentary during levels
Your avatar is visible through walls (can also rotate the camera)
+/-
Non-linear structure (choose between 4 different levels on a hub map from the get go then unlock one more per beaten level, )
Save in-between levels (one slot per game?)
Mostly cheesy euro techno/90s dance OST but it does sound good and some tracks are more akin to Goldfrapp or Kraftwerk
In-game tutorial messages pause gameplay and trigger automatically
The backstory is sort of hidden in the mission briefing menu if you flip the pages - very short too
-
Control/interface issues (the sliding truck is a bit too hard to use consistently and efficiently (need enough speed for it to work+it's hard to control your trajectory precisely, sometimes the first 1-2 parts of a building you hit will go down but not the rest), can't view your stats before finishing a level, overly zoomed in view - can (most of the time) use a c-button to get a zoomed out view where the camera also focuses on the carrier truck however it's weird how you can't press the same button to go back to the default view (have to pause and go back), kinda zoomed in mini-map which can't be zoomed out and there's no full map screen for any of the levels - can get an overview of the straight path from the starting point to the goal via the pause menu however this doesn't help much after the first few levels (should've just let you move the camera around freely), somewhat slow pause menu, annoying how you have to be a certain distance from a building for cartwheels or roll moves to work+can't adjust the length of these moves, the silver robot walks too slowly, no twin stick controls for the robots, too much knockback when moving into buildings with the motorbike even at low speeds, inconsistent turning angle for the dune buggy - much bigger in slopes)
Using the jetpack robot to stomp or the sliding truck to slide into larger buildings can get tedious as the building won't necessarily come down if you destroy most of it - could've benefited from an extra move you could do (or being able to carry small gas tanks or TNT with some vehicles) while hitting the building and if timed right it would take out the whole thing. It's also annoying how the sliding truck auto-slides if you circle back around after missing something so you have to slowly go backwards and repeat or slow down while turning instead.
No coop or vs modes
Some trial & error (oyster harbor block puzzle due to not being able to see the last two blocks, various invisible walls at the edge of a level area where it looks like there's an unblocked piece of road going further, kipling plant (destroy the tanks with missiles) - can't get an overview of the level at all, sleek streets (race track) - again can't get an overview and it's hard to tell what's part of the race track and what isn't, can drive trains (don't think the game tells you earlier, it does repeat some other tutorial messages so could've included this) - echo marches level, the battering rams do more damage if they get to extend fully before hitting something, no level maps+zoomed in view means fumbling around to find other vehicles to solve some levels - you can watch the chopper moving across a level before it starts but this is pretty slow, what counts as a destructible buildings - small staircases apparently (frustrating if going for 100%), no clues to some hidden paths, too hard to find some of the 6 hidden scientists - required to unlock all of the bonus levels)
Kind of ugly and generic human characters
Can drive through buildings but not paper thin arrow signs or trees
Some difficulty spikes (diamond sands, shuttle gulley, outland farm) and dips (skyfall - first dune buggy level, marine quarter - race level)
Bugs:
-Glitchy physics when trying to get the bulldozer onto a train platform - makes you automatically accelerate