Game creation has obviously favored the computer crowd with little software/tools available on home systems, with exception of course to the shooter genre. Since the 8-bit era Japanese developer Athena's Dezaemon has provided more and more robust tools for shmup fiends, peaking finally with 32 bit releases across PSone, Saturn, and Nintendo 64 (sorry Jag fans). Though the Saturn's Dezaemon 2 has sustained a cult following to present day the last gen went dry with no sign of Athena's series and no one bothering to take up the cause. Blastworks, originally nothing more than a freeware licensing joke has emerged to fill the void.
The decision to pursue Kenta Cho's Tumiki Fighters was intelligent and cheap, cheap, cheap. The game's tilt mechanics and ample fodder for shielding a smart way to ease new players in that would be otherwise leery of the most hardcore of arcade gameplay. Though it shares the same general color and taste for abstraction, Blastworks Tumiki is built entirely with the editing tools included in the package. Focused shmup fans will enjoy the various campaigns for scavenging ideas; understanding background spatial relations, picking apart bullet patterns, and seeing just how much junk can be crammed on screen at once without faltering (answer: a lot). The clear gem of these samples is Paper Jam, a black and white romp through a household of office supplies gone mad. As a non-bonus several Kenta Cho games can be unlocked. Gameplay uses a side-ways Wiimote or the Classic Controller. Oddly (or thankfully if you will) Majesco opted not to map the ship's tilt ability to the motion controls. Another grievance is the lack of detail and general clutter quality of bullets; of course this can be tackled in the editor......
3D is a tricky beast to mold into accessible form. It's not fair to compare Blastworks to the past few Dezaemon outings as they contended with poly pushing hardware limitations without even going into the primitive nature of their tools. Blastworks approach is joyously simple. Use the Wiimote to grab one of several boldly outlined 3D geo forms, drag it to the grid and proceed to mash, connect, rotate, stretch, and color at will. While no substitute for a mouse, the Wiimote works beautifully with the layout provided, even though your tools are essentially a beginner's Photoshop. In addition to altering any game piece you can build set pieces, enemies, player ships, and bullets from scratch. A myriad array of dip switches and sub-options show some research on Majesco side. It's not perfect though. Sins of omission include music/texture editing, plus the animation options come up short. Granted, player creativity may tiptoe around these faults in the coming months, it's still a marvel to see some of the games crafted with the Saturn's decade old shooter tools.
Another very appealing aspect is a online hub for sharing creations among the Blastworks community. With both Wii and PC functionality, it's a welcome change from haggling with Saturn RAM carts and PC cables in the old days. Competitive and cooperative spirit may fuel some great ideas though thus far most have paid homage to gaming past with classic ships and 8-bit meshed art.
Some of the Wii's best games have come from the simplest take on the hardware, among them; Williams Pinball, Boom Blox, and now Blastworks. Using your waggle brush to drum up a creation then flipping it for a faux NES pad for play is a rare and intelligent take on a controller typically associated with flailing. From an economic viewpoint the game fits as well. Too ambitious for a XBLA download, lacking the glitz and glow of a 360/PS3 retail, it calls to casual players with a family-friendly exterior and will drive seasoned gamers to create the perfect shooter. *-neo
I bought this but I can't seem to get into it. I don't seem to be a fan of the whole "expanding heap of crap for a shield" mechanic, and the editor is a bit less versatile than I was hoping for.
No question, it is parred down, but accessable and fun to goof around with, a virtual legos for shmup developement. I agree that Tumiki can be dismissed easily though. *-neo
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