Blazer/Walkthrough



Namco's Japan-only 1987 isometric shooter arcade game Blazer is composed of ten missions; for the first, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth missions, you have to take control of the tank "Vanguard", for the second, sixth, and eighth missions, you have to take control of the helicopter "Maiheriko", and for the tenth, final mission, you have to take control of the boat "Maiboto". The above image is of the opening cutscene from the game's attract mode, which shows an enormous aeroplane exploding over an ocean - this is the one that Vanguard and four other tanks emerge from the wreckage of at the start of the game, but the other four will be killed off by four bullets that have been fired at them by four Hyper Tanks (however, just before they die, they will fire one of their own bullets at each of the Hyper Tanks to kill them back for 80 points apiece, totalling 320) before Vanguard even comes under your control.

Vanguard has a limited amount of fuel and possesses the ability to kill the game's ground-based enemies by driving over them as well as firing bullets at them; however, killing them in the first way drains a small amount of fuel, and when it is down to three squares of fuel, a warning sound effect will start to be heard from the Namco CUS-30. Unless Vanguard has its normal shot (so it possesses the ability to fire anti-aircraft missiles) and an air-based enemy leaves an "Oil" powerup behind when killed, it is impossible to avoid running out of fuel and the text "FUEL EMPTY" will appear upon the screen, costing it a life as a result - and even if it is invulnerable after collecting a "Shield" powerup that an air-based enemy has left behind when killed, it can still lose a life if it runs out of fuel. It must also collect one "Extend" powerup for every square of its fuelmeter in order to gain an extra life outside of the two that are earned by reaching the game's predetermined point values (it is initially thirteen, but can be increased to sixteen by the collection of "Full Oil" powerups).

Maiheriko moves forward of its own accord and does not need any fuel of its own as a result; it possesses the ability to kill the game's air-based enemies by firing bullets at them but also possesses the ability to kill other ground-based enemies by dropping bombs on them. Maiboto also moves forward of its own accord and again does not need any fuel of its own as a result - however, it only possesses the ability to kill the game's sea-based enemies by firing bullets at them, and pressing the Bomb Button while you are controlling it will have no effects (like with Vanguard when it is in its 4-way and torpedo shot incarnations; this can be a disadvantage, because the air-based enemies will still be able to drop bombs on Vanguard regardless of what incarnation it is in, but you can watch the bombs' shadows on the ground to see where they are going to land. If one of them is right on top of Vanguard, it will land on it).