Blast Wind - Sega Saturn - Intro & 1CC arcade playthrough with Kyo's ship and route A [1080p 60fps]
60Full playthrough / longplay / trueplay of Blast Wind the ST-V arcade game that never was. For this video we use Kyō who is the pilot of the blue ship used by player 1 in game. Blast Wind allows you to select your route though each level and for this video we hit the switch on each level. The difficulty you pick has no bearing on the ending for the game, but the first time you finish the game on one credit you unlock Freeplay mode. A playthrough as the red ship controlled by Forn, selecting the other level routes in-game is available here to watch: https://youtu.be/vlG9Jrwz1kQ
Blast Wind started life as an ST-V arcade title called Lightning Saber, which may have just being a working name for the game. The ST-V arcade version never appeared, however, as you can see from the option menu and the fact that it shows off all the various dip switches in-game. It may well have been almost complete, before Tecno Soft decided to only release the home port.
The story for the game is rather interesting as it sees two forces battling over a ruined Earth for survival, one of these fractions is called GORN and these are the villains of the game. The other sees Ultimate Destroyers Kyō and Forn battle to stop them. While some of the backstory is included in the manual and intro, the ending sees the players depart a dying Earth to start a new life in space. The thing is, in Tecno Soft's Thunder Force series the humans live in space and are pursued by an ancient enemy called ORN, GORN just missing the G and at some point the remaining human now in space form the Galaxy Federation . Meaning that Blast Wind might just be Thunder Force 0 and a prequel to the popular series. One of the songs in Blast Wind “The Justice Ray” got a second part called “The Justice Ray Part 2” in Thunder Force V, another possible link between the two.
So Blast Wind appears to have sold rather poorly on release in 1997 in Japan. As a result these days it will set you back a fair amount to purchase a copy. Which is a real tragedy as Blast Wind is a top notch shooter, while the sprites look fantastic, graphically you could argue the Mega Drive / Genesis could have done them. The soundtrack is Tecno Soft trademark style of synthesised rock and the gameplay is much like the Thunder Force series. Blast Wind is a fast vertical shooter that allows up to two players. The route selection also allows you to mix up how you play, as different bosses and enemies appear pending on which route you pick. Player 1 & 2 ships also have different weapons, so there is far more replay value than at first glance. The scoring system is also rather in-depth and better than some of Technosoft's previous attempts.
It's easy to see why Blast Wind didn't stand out from the huge shooter crowd on Sega Saturn when it was released in 1997. Once you sit down and spend some time with it, we found it to be a very addictive game and one of the better shooters on the system if underrated. There's a Japanese blog post on the game here that details how it works and a bit on the unreleased arcade version: http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89
Also known as: ブラストウインド (Japan) Inazuma Saber (Incorrect arcade working title) Lightning Saber (Correct arcade working title) 稲妻セイバー (Japanese arcade working title)
Release: 1997
Developer: Technosoft / Tecnosoft / テクノソフト
Publisher: Technosoft (Japan)
Format: Sega Saturn (SS) / セガサターン
Blast Wind has never been re-released on any other console.
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All footage in this video is captured directly from the Sega Saturn console, via an Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro using a RGB Scart to HDMI upscaler.