I got Blaster Master Zero 3 the other day and got the Bad Ending (judging by the lack of a credits roll and (more crucially) the tepid-for-a-final-boss music). I haven’t been able to figure out how the trigger the good ending, even after looking it up. The best answer I could find is “do [thing] during [event] after some currently unknown condition has been met” — however, the trigger to [do the thing] hasn’t appeared for me, and as far as I can tell I’ve collected every permanent upgrade in every area, so heaven knows what the unknown condition is (alternatively, I could be really dumb (please tell me it’s not a speedrun)).
Anyhow, with all of that said, as much as the stories of these games are a wash (the Lore is the main appeal for me), I actually rather liked the Bad Ending. Coping with a messy break-up felt more poignant than I was expecting from a series that rehashed the save-the-girl plot point three games in a row. (At this point I don’t expect the Good Ending to actually be good — I’m just going for it for completeness’ sake tbqh.)
Anyhow, enough about the plot — let’s talk about the Lore.
Blaster Master Zero 1 was essentially a remake of the NES Blaster Master (starring Jason Frudnik). BMZ3 makes it clear that the Famicom Meta Fight (starring Kane Gardner and Jennifer Cornet) is also canon in this universe, taking place 10 years prior to BMZ1. While Jason refers to the mutant lord from that game as the Mutant Lord (or whatever idk), Kane uses its Japanese name Goez, thereby solidifying the fact that no prior Blaster Master canon can escape the grasp of this series.
You end up meeting both Kane and Jennifer (on separate occasions), and they are happily married by this point and are both very chill with your adventuring despite the fact that they work for the government of Planet Sophia and you are currently wanted by said government (for dumb reasons). (Their tenure must be very strong if they’re not worried about abetting the efforts of a wanted terrorist.) Anyhow anyhow, I noticed a neat detail in Jennifer’s lab that you visit:
(please ignore Edgelord von Calculus for interrupting this conversation (I love him))
zoom
enhance
lovely
As for how the game plays: it’s fine (imo). If you played other two BMZ games you’ll generally know what to expect, but the overhead mechanics have seen some iteration. In particular, instead of having one gun that acts as 8 different guns depending on your level, you now have 5 guns that share a level. It’s neat, but I’m not sure if I like it! Previously, you could fall back on some of the more effective low level guns if you got hit, but now you don’t really have that failsafe anymore. I almost think I would have preferred if they went full-Cave Story and had the gun levels be separate.
A weird thing that the game does structurally is that it has a bunch of optional dungeons that are Sophia military bases (filled with robots, don’t worry). The game offers you two choices for these dungeons: you can either do the Light World versions, which are short but entail dealing with incredibly annoying military robots; alternatively, you can do the Dark World versions, which are generally easier but far larger (and have a soft time limit). Early on I did the dark world versions, but as I gained equipment I gained the confidence to do the light world versions more. Overall, it’s an exceptionally weird take on the Light/Dark world concept (oh btw this game has a light/dark world mechanic).
Oh, also, the game regrettably maintains BMZ2’s increased level of horniness.
I’m not sure how this trilogy fits in with selectbutton’s tastes these days (it certainly lacks the mystery of the original), but I’m glad Inti Creates got to make these games.
