Retro #002 – Blast Corps
One of Rare’s Finest Back in the Shelf
… and another one! Blast Corps is just another game that falls in the same category as many other retro games: Sold as a kid, re-bought as an adult.
Thinking of Blast Corps, I can specifically remember that I was super addicted playing it. The game was very challenging, but I tried to 100% complete it and unlock everything. Did I achieve it? That’s something I am not fond of remembering, but what I know for sure:
At a point where I felt that I have seen everything Blast Corps has to offer, I just wanted to play a new Nintendo 64 game. That’s when I simply sold this masterpiece - in order to be able to afford a new game. Or maybe I traded Blast Corps in - I am not that sure anymore. But what I do remember is that I was using the classifieds of a big German Nintendo print magazine.
Videogame Classifieds & eBay
Somewhere around 1999 or the early 2000, I was actually very busy using classifieds in my favorite German dedicated Nintendo magazine, N-Zone. To sell, buy or trade Nintendo games. Blast Corps was one of these games. The classifieds may have been even one of the reasons why I subscribed to the magazine - meaning I did get it delivered directly to my parents house every month. By consequence I could browse through the classifieds earlier than any other retail buyers. Subscribers did get the magazine some days earlier as the magazine was available in stores, so I had a competitive advantage and could already make some some deals - via phone. That's how we sold, bought or traded games back in the days.
Fast forward to nowadays: I bought Blast Corps via eBay for €25 in January 2019 and am very happy with the condition the game (CIB) is in.
Finally Blast Corps is now, almost 19 years later, back in my the shelf.
No Ports So Far, but Soon for Nintendo Switch?
All the years I was hoping that Blast Corps will be ported to one of Nintendo’s Virtual Consoles or eShops. But unfortunately, due to the IP belonging to Rare and Rare being a first-party developer for Microsoft since 2002, the game was never re-released for any Nintendo console ever since its initial launch for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. Just one more reason to add it again to the Nintendo 64 collection and actually own this gem!
The only way to currently enjoy Blast Corps in HD is to play it via the Rare Replay collection for the Xbox One: A 2015 compilation of 30 video games from the 30-year history of developers Rare and its predecessor, Ultimate Play the Game.
Taking into account the current close collaboration between Microsoft and Nintendo and bringing the Microsoft Exclusive title “Cuphead” to Nintendo Switch, I have high hopes that we will see a Rare Replay version for Nintendo Switch in the near future.
BK’s Fact Sheet on
Blast Corps:
Platform: Nintendo 64
Developer: Rare
Publisher:
Nintendo
Category: Action, Puzzle
Release Dates:
JP: March 21, 1997
NA: March 24, 1997
WW: December 22, 1997
In BK's Collection: 01/2019
Trailer and Footage of My Collector's Item
Let’s have a look at a Blast Corps trailer and at some footage of the game’s box, cart and its manual.
