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Destroy evil space bastards. Rescue Kangaroos. And collect all space items. Good luck Captain!

What a crazy intro to a crazy game. Let's be honest, shoot 'em ups are awesome but generally they are pretty much the same. Shoot, shoot and shoot that's pretty much the standard. Enter Crazy Blaster, where shoot-'em-ups become crazy and so will you after playing it! Believe me you will become crazy!

When I started the Blast Annual 2020 project I contacted Misfit back in 2019 to see if we could do a game for backers of the publication when it went to Kickstarter.

I helped with the Crazy Blaster game design - all the credit and craziness goes to Misfit though. I must add the experience of input on game design was quite exciting for me and I can't thank Misfit enough for allowing me to be involved in this game if only in a very small way.

What we have here is a special multiplatform version of Crazy Blaster that was originally released in 2019 on cartridge for the C64. There have been minor upgrades to the graphics, the level names have been changed for even more wackiness and there are now three versions CPC, C64 and Spectrum.

Located in icy cold Finland, Misfit is a hobbyist 8-bit game developer. His first love of computers began with a Vic 20 his parents had bought him when he was a young child. He learned to program in Basic and his first game was a text adventure. Thirty years later Misfit has become somewhat of an 8-bit legend with his foray into creating games that don't fit the norm - he doesn't just make clones of other games, he twists them about adding his own 'bad humour' as he calls it, to make games more interesting and challenging. The name 'misfit' is a dead give away as to how he thinks about gaming and we are all the better off for it. His most recent game releases include Rodman with versions for eight different computers, Ms Rodman and Super Goatron. You can purchase many of his games as physical releases through the TFW8B website.

If you're going to call a game Crazy Blaster you better make sure the gameplay is crazy and surprisingly Crazy Blaster is just that!

You guide a triangular shaped space craft in any direction around levels by moving in the direction you wish to go. However, you will need to engage a thruster by pressing up to reach other platforms in order to complete tasks such as collect the Kangaroos (in the original version these are people) or collect other items.

Once you have collected the items and shot down all the enemies you are told on screen to get back to your base to complete the level. Sounds simple but it isn't. Oh no, it's not easy at all. Your thruster is very limited. That's the first crazy part of the game. The second crazy part is your shots rebound.

If you don't shoot the enemy down you better get your spacecraft out of the way when your shots rebound off the wall because you will die a certain death. That's crazy enough, but if you are out of the way the shot will rebound several times before it disappears. More often than not you will be blown to bits by your own shooting.

The third crazy aspect is the enemy. They look so feeble and unimpressive until you realise just how deadly they are when your ship is blown to many small bits. While you can only shoot at them in one direction, upwards, they can shoot at you in multiple directions. Never think you are safe because you simply won't be. Here lies the craziness of this game.

This wouldn't be called Crazy Blaster for nothing if that was all you had to do. If your time limit runs out then it gets even crazier with a new time limit enemy ship chasing after you and they are damn hard to avoid. You do collect extra lives to add to the three ships you start with but as you will find they quickly diminish. There are twenty levels to complete, all progressively harder and crazier than the one before it.

Not your normal shoot-'em-up. Being able to shoot and move your ship on the main title screen appears to be a first for any 8-bit game. It's whacky presentation like this, that gives the game a certain edge that other shoot-'em-up's don't have. The thruster aspect adds more thinking and strategy to a genre that's all shooting. Graphically it works so well as a space shooter, it's not over colourful or fancy with the sprites.

The main difference in this version to the original is the inclusion of the continue feature after you have played one game which is accessed from the main title screen. This helps your progress and engages you more in the game. The challenge in the gameplay keeps you hooked, your macho shoot-'em-up ego will just want to complete each bastard level misfit has created so you can defeat this crazy game once and for all! But will you be able to complete it or will you just end up going crazy?

Perhaps the difficulty has been set a little too high for some players. The time limits seem to be very tight before you can achieve your level goals and return to base.

A bit more thrust would be welcomed. Enemy AI is brutal so the game can be very frustrating at times but that's exactly how the game was intended to drive you absolutely crazy!

The colour palette is a standout. For me, the sprites and presentation of Crazy Blaster look best on the Amstrad version. It lacks a tune, but the spot effects are so much better on the CPC version it's really nostalgic coolness very surprising they sound this great, very reminiscent of games from the 80's.

Thrusting can be a little rigid and does not reach as high as other versions. That's how I felt when playing it, but overall it plays well with no real slowness or other problems.

The main tune is whacky but cool, a real weird sound but it's catchy, enjoyable and very fitting of the game. Graphically, in my opinion it is a peg down from the CPC version, all the C64 fan boys will be stunned to hear that, but there is not much difference really they look very similar but the CPC is better to me, much better colours on the CPC version.

Thrusting is also a bit rigid like the CPC version but overall no real problems with movement.

Playability is the most enjoyable on the Speccy version.

Engaging thrust is the best on the Speccy out of the three versions. Why??? I wish I knew, it just felt so more playable on the speccy version. The colour on the Speccy looks better than the C64 version in my opinion. Sprites and sound though are not as good as the CPC or C64 versions, but overall it is a tad more fun to play.