Shadow Blasters 1990 By: Sage's Creation

Overview:

     Four humans are chosen to defend the world against an evil force. And not a single one of them is a NASCAR driver. What goes on here? Sure they know Ninjutsu, but can they use a ginsu knife to cut apart a cola-can?
     The game has a varied selection of battle scenes and solvable puzzles. The action is not too fast to require unreasonable skill to advance. With four characters to fight with, Leo, Tiffany, Horation and Marco, you almost have a chance to succeed.


     The background music has different tunes mixed together so that although it naturally repeats, it doesn’t have that “hip-hop rap” thud, thud, thud sound that most games have. There are three weapon action sounds, with two of the Warriors sharing a sound, relative to the particular weapon being used.
     The characters, scenery and backgrounds are well designed. The characters are intricately drawn such that each is easily distinguished from the others. The scenery is complex providing a textured look. As an example, the crates have an almost real look to them. The backgrounds are basically flat scrolling scenes, but they are drawn with visually interesting detail. The grass has texture, not just “greenness”.
     The action, such as attacks from various enemies, is not too furious that you do not have a chance to defeat them. They don’t simply drop out of the sky, well the spider does, without an opportunity to defend yourself. And your weapons are fast acting and quite effective.
     The manual doesn’t provide any information regarding the strength levels of the various Bosses that you will encounter on your adventure, but you can assume that they will progressively get worse.

Directions:

     Shadow Blasters has nine stages and you can choose the sequence of play of the first six stages. You have a choice of four Warriors. You will see their capabilities when you make your choice. Choose wisely. I chose Don Knotts. Not too wise. Actually you can use the Start-Button to change Warriors during the game. If you are wondering the names of the standard weapons that each Warrior uses, so am I. Nothing that I can find gives them names. But they have great sounds and exciting effects.

     Each Warrior has a Special Weapon that will kill all opponents on the screen when you press the C-Button. But each Warrior can use their Special Weapon only once in each round. So don’t press the C-Button casually. Which means, if my math is right, that you actually have four Special Weapons in each round. Just change Warriors when you need some really heavy artillery. And if you make it through the round, voila: each Warrior gets a new, freshly minted, hot off the press Special Weapon!
Emblems: Taken when Certain Enemies Are Defeated:

     Red          Increases speed but can only use three at a time

     Blue          Increases jump height

     White          Nine will increase power

     Crimson     Adds one life

     Explosive     Complete recovery


Battle Sites and the Monsters Who Love Them:

     Mountain          Boss Skeltar

     Street               Boss Brutus

     Glen               Boss Kallus

     Harbor               Boss Tarman

     Forest               Boss Vallevo

     Future               Boss Gyrrina

     Wicked World          Boss Hawkus

     Heavenly Sky          Boss Wortan

     Space               Ashura