Blazing Lazers
A fast-paced shooter based on the film Gunhed.
Blazing Lazers, known as Gunhed in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter game co-developed by Hudson Soft and Compile for the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16. It was based on the Japanese film Gunhed and was one of the first titles released for the TurboGrafx-16 in North America. The game has been critically praised for its graphics, lack of slowdown, intense gameplay, and sound.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Compile
- Publisher
- Hudson Soft (JP); NEC (NA)
- Director
- Masamitsu Niitani
- Designer
- Koji Teramoto
- Hiromichi Sueyoshi
- Kazuyuki Nakashima
- Programmer
- Takayuki Hirono
- Platforms
- TurboGrafx-16
- Released
- July 7, 1989 (JP); November 1989 (NA)
- Genre
- Scrolling shooter
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The player controls the Gunhed Advanced Star Fighter through nine vertically scrolling areas, tasked with destroying the Dark Squadron and its eight Super Weapons. Each area contains one or more bosses that must be eliminated to proceed. A life is lost upon contact with an enemy or projectile, and the game continues from a previously crossed checkpoint unless a flashing orb is collected, which destroys all on-screen enemies and allows continuation at the point of destruction. The game ends when all lives are exhausted, but extra lives are awarded at certain score thresholds. Four continues are provided, allowing restart at the current level if the system remains on. The main cannon fires rapidly and can be upgraded or changed by collecting numbered power-ups and purple gel capsules. Optional power-ups include multibodies that shadow the player's actions, homing missiles, shields, and full fire. A limited supply of cluster bombs can be deployed to clear enemies and damage bosses. The ship's speed can be toggled among five settings via a button, with the current speed indicated by triangles below the score.
Development and release
Blazing Lazers came from a collaboration between Hudson Soft and Compile. The directing team included Compile president Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, who created Zanac, The Guardian Legend, and Puyo Puyo; Mikio Ueyama, known for directing the Super Bomberman series on the Super NES; and Tadayuki Kawada, designer of the Super Famicom title DoReMi Fantasy. It first appeared in Japan on July 7, 1989 for the PC Engine under the name Gunhed, tying into the film of the same name. When it reached North America that November, the movie references were stripped out and it was retitled Blazing Lazers. This non-Gunhed version later hit the Wii Virtual Console in North America on September 5, 2007, then Europe on January 5, Australia on June 7, and Japan on June 17, 2008. It also came to the Japanese PlayStation Network on July 21, 2010. During Super Star Soldier's development, NEC briefly considered calling it Blazing Lazers II because the two games played so similarly. Electronic Gaming Monthly previewed Blazing Lazers in November 1989, calling it "a total blast from start to finish."
Reception
The game received critical acclaim and is considered one of the better shoot 'em ups and one of the best games on the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16. Famitsu gave Gunhed a score of 30 out of 40. Unofficially imported to Europe, it received highly positive reviews from British publications Computer and Video Games, Zero, and ACE, with ACE rating it the fourth best PC Engine game of 1989. Electronic Gaming Monthly's four critics gave scores of 9, 9, 7, and 6, with praise for graphics, animation, and intensity, though one found it repetitive. Dragon gave it 5 out of 5 stars. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment called it one of the fastest games for the TurboGrafx-16. In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked Blazing Lazers number 77 on its 100 Best Games of All Time, citing its constant stream of power-ups and enemy onslaught.
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