Upon starting the game, you're treated to what has to be one of the great scenes in all of video games—an animated sequence that shows Jason and SOPHIA rocketing off into the underworld to the beat of the awesome Blaster Master theme song. After experiencing it, you feel totally energized to take on whatever the game throws at you.

Blaster Master distinguishes itself from other action games in just about every way possible, and as a result playing the game is an absolute joy. Sure, everyone fantasizes about getting in a tank like SOPHIA and going to war against a bunch of mutants and robots. There's no doubt about the game's success in that regard, but there's also more to it than that. The gameplay is a flawless combination of platform exploration and shooter thrills. Even though the game centers around vehicle-based action, it behaves like Mega Man or Metroid, or any other of the standard action-hero games. SOPHIA moves fast, it jumps and it goes through doors, just like Samus Aran. And not only are the controls precise, but they have that special touch that really pulls you in. You can "feel" SOPHIA's weight and power as you move and jump across the game's landscapes. Blaster Master also features non-linear gameplay, so progressing through the game involves as much backtracking as going from left to right. At one point in the game, after getting the hover modification for SOPHIA, Jason has to go all the way back to the first level's starting point and fly up to a high plateau, which leads to the next level and beyond.

However, what surprised me the most about Blaster Master when I first played it so many years ago is the ability to actually exit SOPHIA and move around on foot. At the time, such a concept hadn't really been tried before, much less executed so successfully. Even today we don't see such dynamic gameplay in action games. However, while the idea of a shooter that lets you exit your war vehicle to continue the battle on foot is novel, it wouldn't mean anything unless it blends with the game thematically. In this case, acquiring the various modifications and special weapons for SOPHIA that Jason needs to get through each stage is done by leaving the comfort of the tank and meeting the enemy head on.

Enhancing SOPHIA's capabilities is not easy, however. Each power-up item must be obtained by defeating each stage's boss character, who hides out in areas behind small doors big enough only for Jason. Upon entering these doors, a whole new game world opens up as the perspective switches to an overhead, up-close-and-personal view. In what is essentially a completely different game, you navigate through labyrinth-type stages and recover new parts for SOPHIA by defeating many bizarre boss critters. In these levels, Jason can power-up his little gun to high degrees and toss hand grenades. This part of Blaster Master eventually evolved into the basis for a future Sunsoft game—the Addams family adventure, Fester's Quest. That in itself is a great example of how much Sunsoft put into Blaster Master—you can take one aspect of it and make into a totally separate game.