Final Blaster

It is the third and final game in Namco's Bosconian series. Development of the game was originally by Namco subsidiary N.H. System, but following their bankruptcy earlier in 1990 development was then handed to Japanese developer Nova. Aisystem Tokyo assisted with programming. Blaster received mostly favorable reviews, being praised for its colorful graphics, unique gameplay mechanics and soundtrack, although was criticized for being too difficult and for being unable to stick out from other shooters on the system. It was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in 2008.

• Title — Final Blaster • Developer — Nova • Publisher — Namco • Series — Bosconian • Platforms — PC Engine • Released — September 28, 1990 • Genre — Scrolling shooter • Modes — Single-player

• Illustration — Screenshot Final Blaster is a vertically scrolling shooter. Controlling a starfighter, the Blaster Mark II "Phoenix", the player is tasked with wiping out the Bosconian forces before they destroy all of mankind. The Blaster starts with a "vulcan gun" to fire projectiles at enemies — collecting red "power pods" dropped by certain enemies will increase the amount of shots that the player can fire. Blue-colored power pods can also be found, giving the player access to new weapons such as piercing lasers or zig-zagging ring shots. By holding down the fire button, the Blaster can charge up energy and eventually morph into a raging firebird, capable of destroying anything in its path. The game spans seven stages, featuring landscapes such as mechanical bases, asteroid fields and organic-like structures. Each stage also features a boss that must be defeated in order to progress. The player can also control the speed of the stage scrolling by moving up and down, which will respectively increase or decrease the scrolling. A "difficulty" meter is presented at the end of each stage, which determines how hard the next stage will be. Some of the enemies are taken from other Namco games, such as the invincible Bacura boards from Xevious.

Final Blaster was released for the PC Engine by Namco in Japan on September 28, 1990. Development was originally being handled by Namco subsidiary N.H. System, who previously developed the arcade game Märchen Maze, but was later transferred to Japanese studio Nova after N.H. System was dissolved earlier in 1990. Aisystem Tokyo, a "group company" of Aisystem, assisted with programming. It is the third and final entry in Namco's Bosconian series, taking place after the events of the 1989 arcade game Blast Off. Final Blaster was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console on September 8, 2008. The game's soundtrack, compiled with music from Märchen Maze and Blast Off, was released by Japanese company Sweep Records on November 30, 2018.