Game:

Blazer (1987)

Duration: 23:51

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6

A 1-credit clear of the arcade game Blazer [blazer], played with WolfMAME 0.251. Obscure but super-legit for 1987. Soundtrack is solid, and it feels great to get the hang of the stages. It can be extremely frustrating though - your tank isn't super-agile, although I guess that fits the theme of a giant tank. Enemy planes keep swooping by during big parts of the game and dropping insta-kill bombs that you have just a moment or too to dodge - mostly punishing you for holding still. You can shoot them down, but more keep coming, so tank-1's ability to fire up is mostly just notable for shooting down helicopters that may contain items. You can pick up a sword-and-shield icon for temporary invincibility (incredibly powerful if it comes at the right time), or collect 5 tank icons for a 1up. Helicopters can also drop gas-can icons that boost your maximum fuel, but you'll pick up plenty of those along the way. The main item to watch for is an OIL icon that refills your fuel; your fuel serves as a time limit, thankfully refilled if you lose a life.

I found three 1cc videos online and reviewed those to help find a route through the game. One of the first things to learn is about fire angles - sometimes you can hit a turret who can't hit you (and vice versa). Another trick is that if you drive into a wall and you're near a corner, your tank will "autocorrect" to the side so it can move forward; this is very useful but can also get you killed off if you strafe into the line of fire. One other trick is that you can often go to the right of the GIANT TANKS, turn left, and mash the fire button to rack up lots of damage quickly and safely.

Enemy spawns have some RNG: sometimes a certain place will have a turret, sometimes it won't; sometimes fire shoots out of that bit of wall, sometimes not. So it sometimes takes a couple of approaches to a section to learn everything you need to deal with. Savestate practice is still incredibly helpful.

There are two extends (at 40K and 100K) points, and a pretty good possibility of getting a 1up from tank icons if you use tank-1 and spend some time milking at places where helicopters (and not planes) spawn. There are three tank icons dropped just before the final mission. The final mission is a fun but mean last touch - there's pretty much no way anyone will clear that on their first time there, but once you know the route it's an easy "high speed stage".

With a total of five (maybe six) lives to work with, it's not THAT hard of a clear - you can afford a death on the pier, a death in the big maze, and a couple of deaths to random bullshit.