EastAsiaSoft delivers yet another spectacular shoot 'em up experience from their onboard indie devs. This anthropomorphic tale of betrayal, and a bounty hunter out for revenge known as Blast'N Bounty has you up against former shipmates gone rogue. This newly formed mafia of 7 generals, each with their own boss-like ship, stand against the former leader and frog-like bounty hunter Quad as he goes in bullets blazing on a quest to exact vengeance upon his previously participating pilot partners.
The game starts off by introducing the player to Quad's dilemma via light storytelling. It seems mutiny was a part of the plan when it came to his old gang. They left him near death in a hostile takeover only for him to recover, and plot their demise as a newly deputized bounty hunter. Dead or alive Quad seeks out his 7 shipmates in any order he pleases. Taking from them drones that add to his arsenal, and aid in his quest for revenge. It is through several stages of vertical shoot 'em up action filled with waves of enemy craft, and the general bosses themselves that Quad must endure to secure the bounties on hand.
As far as gameplay is concerned Blast'N Bounty is a straightforward one mode only shmup experience wherein boss selection kicks off the hunt, and the drones secured and selected from up to three different defeated bosses acts as Quad's means of death dealing. As with any bullet hell or shoot 'em up experience this game has a wave based structure, and final boss fights before you take a go at the next bounty of choice. The catch with the power-ups that drop from fallen enemies though is that they are only tied to ship health/hits, and must be maintained lest you lose your drones and eventually see that dreaded GAME OVER/CONTINUE screen.
The Presentation ...
The developer behind Blast'N Bounty decided to go with a very colorful low poly graphic design that adds a sort of early PlayStation era appeal to it. Added to this are artistic renditions of character avatars used for textual conversations, and for bounty posters as well as boss selection icons. The stage environments are very detailed, and the ship designs noteworthy. The soundtrack has that adventurous edge that compliments the almost wild Western look of this otherwise futuristic shoot 'em up. Effects like bullet hell are easily read among the cornucopia of colors.
The Verdict ...
Blast'N Bounty is a surprisingly short lived shmup whose only deviation from the shmup standards is the power-up system. Otherwise it plays like a very basic bullet hell experience elevated by an impressive presentation that really goes far to carry it beyond the mediocre. At the usual budget price it's a good buy, and compared to most EastAsiaSoft shmups it is an easier to tackle game as power-ups are plentiful, and the bullet hell easily dodged. If you are looking for a more casual friendly starter shmup Blast'N Bounty is a good choice!!!
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