Blast Corps

Blast Corps has its minor cult following because it’s a one-of-a-kind product. There’s certainly no other reason to like it. The premise is magnificently ludicrous – use a variety of vehicles and mechs to clear the path for a runaway nuclear warhead by either leveling structures or bridging gaps. But it’s been screwed up in nearly every way. The graphics are awful even by 1997 standards, and the controls are somehow even worse. The vehicles handle like toys made of ice or rubber (whichever will be most inconvenient at any given moment), and I honestly don’t know how you’d program walking controls this stiff without going out of your way to do so. The overall challenge is typically regarded as blisteringly difficult, but in actuality, there are quite a few laughably easy levels to go around…which makes the collection of blisteringly difficult ones even more frustrating.

Much of this can be blamed on the vehicles, many of which simply don’t work right. The truck that can only damage things with its rear end at specific angles is the most infamous, but there’s also a missile launcher with no adequate targeting ability, and a mech that only responds to commands if it’s in a good mood. This is also the case any time you’re asked to interact with something in a way that doesn’t immediately cause an explosion. The game’s structure is outright strange. Rare takes a lot of shit for their “collectathons,” but at least most of them have some logic to their layout. Blast Corps’ collectibles are spread across massive empty fields and can’t be seen from a distance because the camera always faces straight down. I also can’t think of any other games that require a minimum of four playthroughs to complete each level.