Blaster Master

Blaster Master arrived in 1988 for the NES and fused two distinct play styles into one game: side-scrolling platforming sections inside the armored tank SOPHIA III alternated with on-foot action in underground corridors the hero, Jason, had to explore after leaving the vehicle, since the tank itself could not fit through every passage. Its premise - a boy chasing an escaped frog down into a subterranean world of mutants - combined with tense exploration of sprawling cave complexes and gradually unlocked tank weapons and upgrades, along with the need to backtrack to previously inaccessible areas, placing it among the forerunners of the metroidvania style.

The series then went quiet for years, and the next entry, Blaster Master: Enemy Below, only arrived in 2000 on Game Boy Color, carrying the same tank-and-foot formula into a smaller handheld format with reworked graphics and a somewhat simplified level structure. A console return followed a decade later with Blaster Master: Overdrive (2010) on WiiWare from developer Inti Creates, which modernized the visuals and gameplay, added new enemy types and weapons, while sticking to the familiar switch between driving the tank and walking on foot.

Though Blaster Master was never a top seller and long gaps separated its entries, its inventive genre mashup, challenge and distinctive subterranean sci-fi atmosphere earned it lasting cult status among NES-era fans, one that later inspired unofficial spiritual successors within the genre.