Software:Sonic Blast Man

From HandWiki
Short description: 1990 arcade game
Sonic Blast Man
Promotional sales flyer
Developer(s)Taito (arcade)
I.T.L (SNES)
Publisher(s)Taito
SeriesSonic Blast Man
Platform(s)Arcade, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player
Arcade systemTaito B System

Sonic Blast Man[lower-alpha 1] is a video game franchise by Taito starring the titular superhero, Sonic Blastman. The game originally started as an arcade video game in 1990, but eventually made its way to the SNES in 1992, with much different gameplay. Both versions received a sequel.

Arcade version

The arcade version consists of hitting the enemies and targets. In order to win, each target has a set number of tons of resistance. Once they are depleted, they will be defeated. To hit the target, the game features a pair of gloves and a mechanical punch pad that rises when it is time to attack. The player must wear the gloves and punch the pad strongly enough to deal damage. Only three hits are allowed.

The game features five stages. Within each stage, there are fairly typical scenarios that most super heroes encounter. Each level is progressive in terms of difficulty.

The stages in the game:

  • A woman being assaulted by a thug.
  • A baby carriage pushed in the middle of the freeway by accident, and a truck will soon run over it.
  • An armed group took control of a building that is now its center of operations.
  • A giant crab is terrorizing a cruise ship.
  • An asteroid is set to crash into Earth.

In March 1995 Taito recalled Sonic Blastman machines after reports of players who sustained injuries by playing the game. A year later, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Taito had agreed to pay a fine of $50,000 (United States dollar ) for failing to disclose these injuries.[1]

SNES version

The SNES version is a beat 'em up. In this version Sonic Blastman must save the Earth from diverse kinds of evil forces, from street gangs and terrorists, to aliens and robots and finally, an evil clone of himself under the name of "Heavy Blast Man". The fight starts on a construction site in Earth and ends up in outer space.

The game is only for one player. As in any beat 'em up, the game consists of defeating the enemies on screen before continuing in the stage. Sonic Blastman can punch, jump, and grab his enemies, too. He also uses a special attack that knocks any enemy nearby, but it dizzies him temporally. Another particular feature is the way Sonic Blastman holds his enemies: When he approaches his enemies, he is able to grab them in order to shake them and throw them back from him, or unleash a series of punches. However, if he punches them repeatedly, he will eventually hold them, so that he can blast them with a sonic wave, hit them with a whirlwind punch or throw them backwards. All of these throwing effects depend on the direction the d-pad is being pressed when pressing the punch button. His most powerful attack is his D. Punch, which must be charged with a certain button, which can be discharged. The D. Punch is also a limited attack.

The bonus levels are an adaptation of the arcade version. The major difference is that since there is no punch pad, the player must charge strength by repeatedly rotating the d-pad.

Like with most beat 'em-ups of the era, the Japanese version had female enemies which were replaced by male ones in the American and European versions, mostly because of Nintendo of America's strict censorship issues at the time. Only the first two stages of the game feature human enemies.

Legacy

Both versions received a sequel. The arcade sequel entitled Real Puncher is similar to the original game, but with new levels and a photo camera mode for faces of people in each level of the game. Outside of Japan, the game was released as a ticket redemption game.[2] In the United States, Sonic Blastman was the highest-grossing novelty arcade game on the RePlay redemption charts in February 1995.[3]

The SNES sequel, entitled Sonic Blast Man II, plays similarly to its predecessor, as well, and adds more options, such as new playable characters "Sonia" and "Captain Choyear," two-player modes, and others.

Sonic Blast Man also made a few appearances in other games as a guest character, such as Puzzle Bobble 3 (released on consoles as Bust-A-Move 3 in America and Europe).

Taito revealed another sequel titled Sonic Blast Heroes at the AOU 2010 conference in February; it was planned to hit arcades at the end of that month. The game was called Real Puncher 2 outside of Japan.

Arcade connections

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings72% (SNES)[4]

In North America, it was the top-grossing new video game on the RePlay arcade charts in 1991.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ソニックブラストマン

References

  1. ↑ CPSC Announces Taito America Corp. to Pay $50,000 Civil Penalty | CPSC.gov
  2. ↑ Real Puncher cabinet
  3. ↑ "Players' Choice: Redemption Chart". RePlay 20 (5): 3. February 1995. https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-20-issue-no.-5-february-1995/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2020%2C%20Issue%20No.%205%20-%20February%201995/page/n7. 
  4. ↑ "Sonic Blast Man Review Score". https://www.gamerankings.com/snes/588671-sonic-blast-man/index.html. 
  5. ↑ "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay 16 (10): 4. July 1991. https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-16-issue-no.-10-july-1991-600dpi/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2016%2C%20Issue%20No.%2010%20-%20July%201991/page/4. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari





Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Sonic_Blast_Man&oldid=687566"