Blast’N Bounty is a five-dollar EastAsiaSoft published vertical shooter with an interesting and player friendly gimmick. The campaign can be cleared in under an hour and there isn’t much replay value, but the responsive controls, fluid visuals, and shorter stages end right before the quest starts to get too repetitive.

This bullet hekker (at times) takes a note from classic Mega Man as the player can choose to take down any boss at will. Then, when the boss is bested, a new companion drone gets unlocked, sort of like acquiring the robot master’s power. This approach is unique and appreciated but isn’t even the best part.

Sure, experimenting with drone loadouts depending on which boss has been defeated is cool, but it is the mixture and approach of offensive powers and defensive layers that truly make this indie developed shooter stand out. Defeating certain enemies might cause them to drop a power-up icon that can disappear over time. If collected, a drone will add to your firepower, adding a nice boost to offensive capabilities. However, taking damage destroys the outermost drone. If there are no drones attached to the ship, damage results in the loss of one life. Lose too many lives and a continue must be used. In comparison, fireball Mario is stronger offensively but also adds a layer of defense. It is basically the same concept here. Each pod increases offensive firepower while also adding another defensive barrier. Taking a hit also results in a two-second slow-mo effect, giving the player a chance to recenter themselves before continuing the fight. Since the screen can be filled with bullets at times, this feature is appreciated and keeps things balanced in the player’s favor.

The Mega Man style approach, in combination with the drone attachment buffs, results in a fun, fluid player experience especially for a five-dollar shooter developed by a very small indie team. At the same time, there are a couple counterpoints that should be mentioned. For example, there is no tutorial or explanation regarding the game’s mechanics, which is weird and confusing. Even though the game uses only one button, having some instruction would make the experience more intuitive right from the start instead of learning through trial and error with observation. Also, outside of a couple of Achievements, the point system doesn’t mean anything; there isn’t even a leaderboard. Other than bosses, enemies and their projectiles repeat throughout the quest so there is some desire to fight something new by the end. Also, the narrative text enters the screen with a jerky animation and the game soft locked on the character select screen once, forcing a full restart. It isn’t perfect, but again, it is only five bucks and still fun.

Blast’N Bounty is a shooter that will sadly, probably, fly under the radar despite implementing an offensive/defensive power system that I would like other shmups/sequels to steal and refine. It doesn’t last long but given the low price-to-fun factor ratio, this shooter offers high value and is easy to recommend.

By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

X/Twitter: @ZackGaz

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