Blast Corps

So Blast Corps is this game for the Nintendo 64 where you go around demolishing buildings and such. It's good fun, until you become good at it. Then it becomes an all-consuming obsession.

Call me Ishmael

My obsession has sent me to the depths of the web, to terrible (mostly GeoCities-sponsored) web pages devoted to Blast Corps "secrets and tricks." There's really only one secret trick, and it's amazing how many people believe they're the only ones who know it. However, there are are helpful things to say about the game, and I think I can say some of them, despite the fact that apparently no one else on the web has.

I must mention a site which I just recently found which has made me eat some of my previous words. This is the real deal, and the creator of the site has in fact got all the platinum medals. I have to tip my hat to him, and hope that I will soon finish the game myself (without help from the site, I might add). Anyway, go here to see that rarity of rarities, a good Blast Corps page.

Overview

The game is divided into some parts. I'll give a brief rundown:

The beginning. In the beginning, you go around trying to clear the levels denoted by the big circles on the world map by demolishing buildings in the path of a nuclear carrier. After you do this, you go back to those levels and search around until you find every last little secret on them.

There are also lots of little bonus levels, some of which you find in communications points on the main levels (or even communications points in other bonus levels). The game lets you know when you haven't found a communication point by the color of the circles on the world map. The object of these is usually to race around some track really fast, or sometimes to destroy buildings or do other stuff really fast. The faster you get, the better the medal you get.

The middle. Once you get all the gold medals (doing all the bonus levels fast enough and totally completing the big levels as well) and get the six scientists, the moment of truth arrives and you think you've won the game. Thankfully, there is then an epilogue with a space shuttle and a few bonus levels on various other stars (the Moon, Mercury, etc.) Moreover, you are asked to go back to the carrier levels you already cleared, and do them faster, so now they become race levels as well. Once you get all the gold medals on the stars, and all the newly created gold medals from the carrier levels, the fun really starts.

The end. When you finally think you're done, a new message says, "Now go for platinum!" Not all that motivational, but if you get this far, you're already hooked. You are then asked to do the unthinkable; a new "platinum medal" is created, which you must get on all 57 levels. The times required to get these are often insanely fast, much worse than the gold medal times. This is about where the account of the game on most other web pages leaves off, and where mine really begins.

The search for platinum

I have finally completed my quest to get all the platinum medals. This required patience and free time, and I had enough of the former and way too much of the latter for my own good. I will put up a list here of the levels, the time required to get the platinum, and my observations/hints about each level. Hopefully this will help anyone else trying to get all the platinums.

Some preliminary observations

There are a few key things to keep in mind while playing. First is the ubiquitous "Z-button trick" which everyone on the web already knows. It is occasionally very useful. Drive your vehicle up next to a building which you want to blow up, then stop and hold the Z-button. If you hear a repeated sequence of "Doh!"'s because your little green man can't get out, you'll be extremely happy when three seconds later the building blows up (and your man gets out). This trick is mainly useful when there's no TNT handy and you need to blow up a building that usually requires TNT.

Secondly, the key to clearing the carrier levels quickly is only blowing up the parts of the buildings you need to blow up. It's hard to stress how important this is. It's often a good idea to go through once or twice just blowing up buildings piece by piece so you can tell exactly what is necessary.

Third, on almost all the levels, it is very important to get a Mario Kart-style turbo boost by hitting the accelerator just as the level begins. Any vehicle can do this, except for Sideswipe, the train, the Cyclone Suit, and Thunderfist. So whenever you start a level not in one of those vehicles, make sure you get a turbo boost at the beginning, with one exception--the Backlash tutorial. (You'll see why.)

Lastly, the built-in feature that the game has on the race levels is very helpful; if you complete the four laps in the allotted time, and immediately race the same course again, you'll be racing against a ghost car which runs the race you just ran. Very nice way to gauge your progress.

The list

  1. Angel City, 1:35. Use the bumps.
  2. Argent Towers, 0:28. Pretty difficult, but no secrets here.
  3. Baboon Catacomb, 0:45. The trick is to hit the RDUs on both sides of some of the passageways without actually going down them. My pattern takes me around the inside, then the outside. Pretty tough level.
  4. Backlash, 0:11. Don't get a turbo boost. Kill the buildings clockwise. Pretty hard.
  5. Beeton Tracks, 1:15. Easy with the Z-button trick on the big building. Hard otherwise.
  6. Bison Ridge, 1:07. Use the red car.
  7. Blackridge Works, 0:23. The blue building and the middle and right smokestacks take two hits, and they come in two parts. Gain time by hitting both parts simultaneously. This is extremely important.
  8. Carrick Point, 0:36. Get Thunderfist, and only destroy what you must.
  9. Cobalt Quarry, 0:36. Identical to Marine Quarter. I use the police car here. The key turn to take well is the big turn near the end.
  10. Cooter Creek, 0:25. Red car.
  11. Corvine Bluff, 0:46. Police car. One of the toughest race courses.
  12. Cromlech Court, 0:22. Again, only destroy what you must.
  13. Crystal Rift, 0:57. Take the shortcut down the hill (stay left off the train). Ignore the buildings and go to the end, where Ramdozer is waiting. Work backwards, going towards the carrier. Ignore the warnings--if you can't reach the closest building to the carrier before it does, you're not going fast enough anyway.
  14. Dagger Pass, 0:50. The easiest of the J-bomb bonus levels.
  15. Dark Heartland, 0:44. I still don't know how I did this one, since I bettered my previous best time by 10 seconds to get the platinum. Conserve ammo and make sure to get the stairs (especially the ones that you can't see before you destroy one of the last buildings; it may be best to go around to that side of the building and shoot from there).
  16. Diamond Sands, 2:35. To destroy both halves of the second building, destroy the two blue oil silos by hugging the wall behind them.
  17. Ebony Coast, 1:12. Either get J-Bomb using the Z-button trick, or back up the train and ride Ramdozer down the tracks. Both ways are faster than putting Ramdozer on the train and going to the end of the line.
  18. Echo Marches, 0:45. Don't bother with the train or the boat, just the buildings.
  19. Ember Hamlet, 0:40. Get the Cyclone Suit from the building on the right.
  20. Falchion Field, 0:21. It is extremely important to start with the blue silo on the BOTTOM left of the area and go clockwise from there.
  21. Geode Square, 0:20. Get the balls nearest to the house first.
  22. Gibbon's Gate, 1:15. You really have to find a pattern that works for you. Mine starts by circling around the middle and then going to the bottom part of the maze.
  23. Glander's Ranch, 1:33. Red/white/blue car. There is a minor shortcut in the sand after the first big block. Cut to the right of the second block, through the grass.
  24. Glory Crossing, 0:40. Tough but doable. The third building is key.
  25. Havoc District, 0:28. Destroy only what you must.
  26. Ironstone Mine, 0:54. Destroy only what you must. Get Thunderfist at the end.
  27. J-Bomb, 0:30. Don't go all the way to the tops of buildings. Go clockwise.
  28. Jade Plateau, 1:13. Red car. After the second bridge there is a building-filled "shortcut." Hug the left wall (the far wall). You should go right through the first house and the oil silo. Keep hugging the wall as it curves left. You should go through the little three-part building with relative ease. The first lap needs to be under 0:22.
  29. Kipling Plant, 0:12. Go clockwise. Shoot from far away.
  30. Lizard Island, 1:30. Start to the left and go clockwise.
  31. Magma Peak, 1:00. Do the bottom five, get the two spheres near the bottom, then go straight up to the topmost beacons and get the rest by going counterclockwise around the volcano.
  32. Marine Quarter, 0:36. Police car. Identical to Cobalt Quarry, with a different (easier) view.
  33. Mars, 1:45. Pretty tough. After you go on a big jump to get the high ones, try getting the lower ones on the bounce (this is how I got the platinum time when I thought I was doomed for sure).
  34. Mercury, 1:10. Ramdozer. Cut corners and avoid big hills.
  35. Mica Park, 0:30. The last of the 57 levels that I completed. Not actually so hard. The key is not to run into anything. Go slower than you think you need to go. No need to conserve ammo here; just blast away.
  36. Moon, 2:20. Try not to get airborne, except when taking out the big rectangular houses next to the big hills.
  37. Moraine Chase, 1:01. Red car. Big shortcut after the third set of side stones.
  38. Morgan Hall, 0:35. Go clockwise. Start in reverse. The small brown building on the center right should be the last one, and you can kill it by jumping down from the road; there's enough of a hill that you don't need to slide.
  39. Neptune, 1:28. The big jump at the beginning is key. You should bounce three times and end up on the backstretch. Avoid the hills; they slow you down.
  40. Obsidian Mile, 0:55. Hit the gas pump at the beginning. Destroy only what you must.
  41. Orion Plaza, 0:30. Pretty hard. Don't worry about the TNT blocks blowing up early; they have extremely long fuses.
  42. Outland Farm, 1:00. Z-button the last silo. Use the bump to take care of the first and second buildings.
  43. Oyster Harbor, 2:55. Use the Z-button trick at the end to make the level extremely easy. Ignore the blocks and the ships.
  44. Saline Watch, 0:45. Not too tough. Watch your shadow.
  45. Salvage Wharf, 0:37. Ramdozer. Go down the hill, then right, then turn around and go left. Turbo is essential. This is pretty difficult.
  46. Shuttle Clear, 0:54. Get Thunderfist immediately.
  47. Shuttle Gully, 0:44. You don't need a burst of speed to kill the first house. The next nine buildings are a lot tougher.
  48. Sideswipe, 0:12. This is tough. Stay on the red line (though you can cut some corners).
  49. Silver Junction, 0:30. I start going forward and then go counterclockwise.
  50. Simian Acres, 0:14. Turbo essential. Avoid the swamp towards the end.
  51. Skerries, 1:35. Police car. Hug the right wall for a shortcut at the top, and take the hidden shortcut after the second bridge.
  52. Skyfall, 0:04. Not a typo! Take the silos out two at a time.
  53. Sleek Streets, 0:40. Van.
  54. Tempest City, 0:27. Shoot from far away. Stock up on ammo early.
  55. Thunderfist, 0:15. Concentrate on the small boxes. Go clockwise.
  56. Twilight Foundry, 0:29. Ramdozer. Go clockwise. Turbo essential. Start by turning left. Cut corners.
  57. Venus, 2:15. Attack from the air. Often, the greatest challenge is to keep the camera on the target.
The ending of the game was definitely a disappointment; you are promoted to a new level, which, instead of the usual "Armageddon Adept" or "Captain of Carnage"-type moniker, is the blunt "You can stop now." I guess the only thing left to do is to try to beat the Platinum Splash times, which is probably pretty tough.

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