Blaster Master is one of my favorite games for the original NES. The visual style and challenge level make it a title that makes me come back again and again. What I didn’t know was SunSoft had developed but never released a direct sequel made for Nintendo’sPlayChoice-10 arcade machines.
According to a press release sent out today, that lost sequel, Blaster Master: Destination Fred, will be arriving on the Wii Virtual Console April 26th for 500 Wii points. Picking up where the events of the first game leave off, Alex and his battle tank Sophia, become miniaturized to once again save Fred, Alex’s pet frog.
It’s all lies. LIES. The only other reference available to note the existence of such a thing that I’ve been able to find is on Wikipedia and was a revision made today (no doubt down by now). And Nintendo never lets anybody say when their games are coming out on Virtual Console.
And Virtual Console… that’s fishy too. I mean, nothing’s really fundamentally different between a PlayChoice version of a game and the home console one, but why would it be considered an NES game at all? Never seeing prior release, it would be WiiWare. Which is what happened with that Dark Void Zero thing which had a similarly unbelievable and ultimately marketing-driven story. But at least they came through with a game! You’re just cruelly getting my hopes up!
You see? This is why I can’t deal with this day. Even if the press release were true, any joy that I could possibly have in the news is ruined by the day it happened to be released on. I’m going to go cry in a corner now. I hope you’re all happy with yourselves.
BLASTER MASTER™: DESTINATION FRED COMING TO WII VIRTUAL CONSOLE
Redding, CA – April 1, 2010 – Sunsoft, a division of SUNCORPORATION (JASDAQ: 6736), has today announced that Blaster Master™:Destination Fred will be released for the Wii Virtual Console on April 26th.
Originally created for the Nintendo PlayChoice-10 arcade system, and tested in only a few locations in and around Los Angeles, CA during 1989/1990, Destination Fred is a continuation of the story started in the original Blaster Master™, and a proper sequel to the beloved NES classic. The game has been lost to the market since the original test market timeframe, and was never released for the home NES. “I was blown away when I saw these”, said Victor Ireland about the PlayChoice-10 cartridges stored away at Sunsoft Japan’s office. He then continued, “When I was going through boxes of stored code, promotional items, and ROMS to see what we had on hand to release for the US Virtual Console market, finding these nine completely unknown cartridges literally stunned me. I knew it had to be put up on the Virtual Console as fast as we could make it happen.”
The game centers on Fred, Jason’s pet frog that was rescued in the original Blaster Master™ game. The Plutonium Boss intended to inject microbots into Fred and Jason so they would be destroyed even if Jason defeated him, but he only managed to inject Fred. After the opening story, the game begins with Jason and Sophia being miniaturized and injected into Fred to seek out and destroy the microbots and the diabolical structures they are creating inside Fred that will soon prove fatal. “It’s a pretty clear video game spin on Fantastic Voyage kind of adventure.”, Ireland stated.
Kiharu Yoshida, President of SUNCORPORATION added, “I am happy that we can offer such a satisfying game to fans in the US. Perhaps now this will not seem too hard to complete. Please enjoy it.”
The lost treasure of Sunsoft’s archive, Blaster Master™:Destination Fred will be released for the Wii Virtual Console on April 26th for a completely reasonable 500 Wii points.
About SUNCORPORATION. Located in Aichi prefecture in Japan, SUN CORPORATION has been innovating electronic equipment and software for almost forty years. Their corporate slogan, “Dream, Challenge, and Creation” perfectly summarizes the spirit that gave birth to their software company Sunsoft. Worldwide, Sunsoft has developed or published almost 100 games for both consoles and arcades. They also publish for iPhone and Windows mobile platforms.
About GAIJINWORKS. GAIJINWORKS was founded by Victor Ireland after spending more than 15 years as President of console game publisher Working Designs, where he innovated deluxe packaging, special premiums, pack-in soundtracks and game documentaries for their RPG product. Many of the practices he innovated have become standard in the RPG segment, and console video games in general. GAIJINWORKS is focused on continuing a tradition of fanservice for game fans.
