Mega Blast (World)

In Mega Blast, players pilot space fighters in a horizontal scrolling shooter set far into the future. The game casts two players as members of an organization dedicated to protecting Earth, who embark on a mission to rescue abducted women from the planet Zancs. These women have been taken as replacements for a lost generative power afflicting that distant world. Players navigate through enemy formations and challenging environments utilizing their spacecraft, equipped with advanced technology developed on Earth. Gameplay involves maneuvering the fighters using an eight-way joystick and firing at waves of alien adversaries to progress through increasingly difficult levels. Originally intended to feature additional controls and a player versus player ending sequence, Mega Blast ultimately released with standard shooter mechanics. The game runs on Taito’s F2 system hardware and features music composed by Yasuhisa Watanabe. Released in 1989 by Taito Corporation of Japan, Mega Blast was distributed with limited success; many arcade boards were quickly withdrawn from circulation. A soundtrack for the game can be found on the “Taito Retro Collection 5.” The title subsequently appeared as part of a compilation for the Sony PlayStation 2 in 2007.