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Company Hudson Soft ESRB Rating E for Everyone Release Date US - May 21, 2007 Controllers Wii Remote Classic Controller Gamecube Controller Wii Points 600 Review by: Corbie Dillard ©2008 Virtual-Turbo

There were a lot of great shooters available for the TurboGrafx-16 and we're beginning to see them released at more frequent intervals on the Wii Virtual Console. While Soldier Blade and Super Star Soldier have both already been released, it's Blazing Lazers that takes the top spot on the Hucard shooter list. This game may look and feel very similar to the Star Soldier series of games, but Blazing Lazers just executes everything so much better and makes for a much more balanced shooter experience. Instead of slapping you in the face with a high level of difficulty right from the start, Blazing Lazers allows you a chance to get your feet wet first. It might not be the best shooter visually and it might not even be the best shooter musically but as a complete package, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better or more enjoyable shooter on the TurboGrafx-16 system. Luckily for Wii gamers, this little gem is now available for download on the Virtual Console. With some shooters you get a pieced-together storyline because some developers just feel the inherent need to add a plot to their games. The developers of Blazing Lazers skipped this step and decided to focus their attention on the game itself and we should all be thankful for it. Who needs a storyline in a shooter anyway? Fly your ship, save the galaxy, and become the hero. That's really all the story you need in this type of game. As was mentioned above, Blazing Lazers will immediately remind gamers of the Soldier Blade and Super Star Soldier titles that have already seen a release on the Virtual Console. In fact, one could even go so far as to say that a hefty lawsuit could have come out of this one. Continuing in the Soldier Blade tradition, you can press the Select button in order to toggle between 4 different ship speeds. In some levels it's better to have the pinpoint control that a slower speed provides and in later levels where it begins to become more intense, it's nice to be able to speed up the ship response in order to outmaneuver the enemy fire. It's a small touch, but a useful one nonetheless. As with most other shooters out there, you'll be thrown power-ups at every turn during each level, each with its own unique pros and cons. Blazing Lazers marks these power-ups with Roman Numerals and Letters. Roman Numerals I-IV are used to distinguish between the 4 different firepower styles, and then you have several letter variants for Homing Missiles and Multi-Fire. You'll quickly learn that some types of firepower work better in certain situations, and luckily you generally have tons of power-ups flying around at any given moment to choose from. What becomes more difficult than anything is avoiding accidentally picking up an unwanted power-up when they're scattered all around your ship. The levels are pretty straightforward and you'll fight a mini-boss at the midpoint of each level and then an end of level boss that's generally a little more challenging. The bosses in the game aren't too tough, it's generally reaching the boss that's going to give you the most difficulty. The use of your smart bombs will take some of the edge off of the tougher bosses so it's generally a good idea to save them up if you can. Now for the question that's likely on most people's minds. Is Blazing Lazers as difficult as Soldier Blade and Super Star Soldier? Honestly, Blazing Lazers is a much easier and forgiving game, especially in the earlier levels. Now let it be known that once you reach level 6 and beyond, it's every man for himself and the difficulty does ramp up quite a bit, but it's still nothing that could be considered unbearable. It won't take you very long to begin to appreciate just how well everything works in Blazing Lazers and make you wonder why Soldier Blade and Super Star Soldier couldn't have been more like this game. Visually, Blazing Lazers varies in terms of graphic quality. Some levels look absolutely phenomenal, and others tend to look bland and lack detail. Most levels have a parallax effect that gives the backgrounds a good degree of depth and it makes the backgrounds move at slightly slower speeds than your ship furthering this neat visual trick. The firepower is also quite impressive visually and was one of the big draws of this title back during the TurboGrafx-16 days. The bosses are impressive and very detailed with the only slight drawback being that they're not very large in size. In a world where shooters have become so well-known for their screen-filling boss fights, Blazing Lazers sticks with the "less is more" mentality, but still manages to look good doing so. It's also worth noting that there's very little slowdown in this game even when the screen is chock full of moving sprites which is yet another testament to the TurboGrafx-16's incredible prowess when it comes to shooters. It's difficult to put a finger on, but there's just something extremely catchy about the music found throughout Blazing Lazers. Much like everything else in the game, it's very reminiscent of the Star Soldier titles, but it has a much catchier feel to it. No matter how long I go without playing this game, the moment it's fired up I can tell exactly which game it is without even looking. Most of the tracks are upbeat and go a long way in conveying the action that's going on onscreen. The boss music is easily the standout of these musical pieces and these tracks really bring the boss fights to life. The addition of speech to announce when you pick up a new power-up is a nice touch, but at times it sounds a little too muffled to understand. Much like the other sound effects in the game, it's good but nothing to get too excited about. It's clear that the musical soundtrack was the focus of this game and it shows.