Blast Wind

Created by staff members who would later work on Thunder Force V. Produced by Naosuke Arai, it was originally developed as an arcade game, but the plan changed during production and was postponed until it was released as an original title on the Saturn. The soundtrack was composed by Hyakutaro Tsukumo. Working Designs planned to release the game in North America under their "Spaz" label, but cancelled the deal with Technosoft and dropped support for the Saturn following a dispute with Sega. Although it was not officially published outside Japan, an English fan translation was released in 2024. Wind received average reviews, with critics praising the frenetic pace, soundtrack, and controls, while others were mixed regarding the overall presentation and path-switching mechanic. Some reviewers also criticized the game's graphics, its short length, and low difficulty.

• Title — Blast Wind • Developer — Technosoft • Publisher — Technosoft • Producer — Naosuke Arai • Artist — Taisuke Kanasaki • Composer — Hyakutaro Tsukumo • Platforms — Sega Saturn • Released — January 17, 1997 • Genre — Vertically scrolling shooter • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer

• Illustration — Hayate shooting enemies with a switch to change path to the right in the Atlantis stage Blast Wind is a vertically scrolling shooter game. The premise takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth after a nuclear holocaust nearly decimated the entire population. A handful of people managed to escape thanks to a prophet named Noa who gathered them aboard an ark and emerged after the residual radiation dissipated to build a new civilization. However, they were attacked by an invading culture called Gorn, who survived the nuclear winter by migrating within the Earth's crust and evolving before re-emerging on the surface. Humanity unearths an ancient weapons program as a last resort to fight against Gorn. The player can choose one of two ships: Hayate and Reppu (piloted by the artificial life forms Kyo and Forn respectively). Each ship has a forward-firing shot, a homing shot, and bombs capable of damaging enemies on-screen when deployed. The weapons can be upgraded by collecting power-up icons (P) that drop from defeated enemies, which surround the player's ship with lightning bolts that damage enemies and grant temporary invincibility. The player earns points by shooting enemies and collecting items such as a shield orb that blocks enemy shots before disintegrating, extra lives, bombs, and bonuses. The player can take an alternate path by pressing switches on each stage, altering its difficulty with different waves of enemies and boss patterns, as well as changing scoring opportunities.

Blast Wind was developed by Technosoft, best known for the Thunder Force series. It was created by personnel who would later work on Thunder Force V. Naosuke Arai oversaw production as head of development under the pseudonym "Yunker Matai". Taisuke Kanasaki, who later worked at Cing as director and character designer for Another Code: Two Memories, Wish Room: Angel's Memory, and Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku, illustrated the introductory sequence during his time at Technosoft. The music was composed by Hyakutaro Tsukumo. The game was originally developed as an arcade game and a prototype was tested at Sasebo, with a planned release for 1993. However, the plan changed during production and was postponed for a time until it was released as an original title on Sega Saturn. Tsukumo found it difficult to arrange and rewrite the songs because FM and PCM sound sources were the basis. A light-hearted revision titled Inazuma Saber, with selectable ships and comical dialogue between pilots, was reportedly tested and scheduled for release in 1994 but was scrapped. Technosoft published Blast Wind in Japan on January 17, 1997. Working Designs planned to release the game in North America as a bundle along with the Thunder Force Gold Pack compilations and Hyper Duel under their "Spaz" label. Following a dispute at E3 1997 with Sega of America, Working Designs cancelled the deal with Technosoft and withdrew support for the Saturn. In 1997, Technosoft released the game's soundtrack as part of the Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 7: Reincarnation, with arrangements from Thunder Force IV. In 2010, the Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 7: Reincarnation album was re-released. Although it was not officially published outside Japan, an English fan translation was released in 2024, providing narration for the opening sequence, a new voice actor for the game's antagonist, corrected text, and audio rebalancing.