Blast Wind
A Saturn shooter with branching paths and a cult following.
Blast Wind is a 1997 vertically scrolling shooter developed and published by Technosoft for the Sega Saturn. The game was originally planned as an arcade release before being shifted to the Saturn.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Technosoft
- Producer
- Naosuke Arai
- Artist
- Taisuke Kanasaki
- Composer
- Hyakutaro Tsukumo
- Platforms
- Sega Saturn
- Released
- January 17, 1997 (JP)
- Genre
- Vertically scrolling shooter
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Blast Wind is a vertically scrolling shooter set on a post-apocalyptic Earth after a nuclear holocaust. Survivors led by a prophet named Noa built a new civilization, but were attacked by the Gorn, an evolved culture that survived underground. Humanity reactivates an ancient weapons program to fight back. The player chooses between two ships, Hayate or Reppu, piloted by artificial life forms Kyo and Forn. Each ship has a forward-firing shot, a homing shot, and bombs that damage all on-screen enemies. Power-up icons (P) dropped by enemies upgrade weapons and surround the ship with damaging lightning bolts that grant temporary invincibility. Points are earned by shooting enemies and collecting items such as a shield orb, extra lives, bombs, and bonuses. Pressing switches in each stage opens an alternate path, altering enemy waves, boss patterns, and scoring opportunities.
Development and release
Blast Wind was developed by Technosoft, known for the Thunder Force series, and created by staff who later worked on Thunder Force V. Naosuke Arai oversaw production under the pseudonym Yunker Matai. Taisuke Kanasaki, later a director and character designer at Cing, illustrated the introductory sequence. The music was composed by Hyakutaro Tsukumo, who found it difficult to arrange songs because FM and PCM sound sources were the basis. Originally developed as an arcade game, a prototype was tested in Sasebo with a planned 1993 release, but the plan changed and it was postponed until its release as an original Saturn title. A light-hearted revision called Inazuma Saber, with selectable ships and comical dialogue, was reportedly tested and scheduled for 1994 but scrapped. Technosoft published the game in Japan on January 17, 1997. The soundtrack was released in 1997 as part of the Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 7: Reincarnation, with arrangements from Thunder Force IV, and was re-released in 2010. An English fan translation was released in 2024, adding narration, a new voice for the antagonist, corrected text, and audio rebalancing.
Reception
Blast Wind received average reviews. It reached the top ten best-selling Sega Saturn titles that week and scored 8.1351 out of 10 in a 2000 readers' poll by Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine, ranking 351st among Saturn titles. Two Saturn Fan editors recommended it for retro shooter fans, praising the soundtrack but noting a lack of innovation, lackluster presentation, and short length. Reviewers from Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine commended the frenetic pace but found the branching paths underdeveloped and criticized dated mechanics, including inconsistent enemies and monotonous power-ups. François Garnier of Consoles + praised the presentation, lack of slowdown, soundscapes, and branching paths, but found it easy and graphically lacking. Fun Generations Holger Gößmann and Stefan Hellert considered it very playable with precise controls and good music, but visually average and too short. Retro Gamer's Darran Jones called it entertaining, citing exceptional music and path-switching, but found it ordinary compared to other Technosoft shooters due to chunky graphics and a simple scoring system.
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