Blasto

Blasto
Developer: Sony Interactive Studios America Publisher: SCEA Platform: PlayStation Released in US: April 16, 1998 Released in EU: August 1, 1998 This game has unused code. This game has unused modes / minigames. This game has unused graphics. This game has regional differences.

Oh dear, I do believe I have the vapors. This page contains content that is not safe for work or other locations with the potential for personal embarrassment. Such as: Fully naked Japanese lady.

Hi I'm Troy McClure Captain Blasto, you might remember me from such wiki pages as "Battle for Uranus - The Asteroids Return" and "Bosc and Buddies Blasto Blowout".

Voiced by Phil Hartman, guide Blasto around various Uranian locales to defeat Bosc and his band of brothers to send them back to the fifth dimension.

To do: Somebody more intimate with the game can check the voice acting for unused bits. All the non-FMV speech can be found here.

Unused Images

EndScreen1-4.tim in Blasto.dat combine to make this "coming soon" screen. The screen mentions the wrong season for release due to the game being originally slated for an October 1997 debut. The assets for the screen don't exist in the demo of the game included on the US PlayStation Underground and Interactive Sampler discs, presumably because all of those discs were produced in 1998.

Two placeholder images for the "A Sony Interactive Studios America production..." and the copyright notice screens, respectively.

There are two "map unavailable" screens in the assets, however the game is hardcoded to use one featuring two aliens in lieu of this one. It was removed for the European version.

The European version release contains a "... presents" screen for all three Sony regions, but as the game was never released in Japan, the SCEI one goes unseen.

Placeholder FMV subtitle lines can be found on the European disc.

While rescuing babes is a side goal of Blasto's, the reward for being so chivalrous is a main menu option to view all the various (clothed) babe models. It doesn't include a showing of this picture, named as map2.tim, leaving it unused. The subject is Anri Hoshino.

Unused	Used

A handwritten dedication to the game's producer and devisor, David Poe exists in the resources as legal1.tim. A tribute did make it into the game as the first slide of the credits, though it lacks the personality of the placeholder.

Unused Executable

Also on the game CD is init2.exe, a compiled version of the "dongle" example present in the Psy-Q PlayStation SDK. The exe allows creation and deletion of hidden, albeit useless, memory card files (hidden such that the memory card management in the BIOS cannot see them). It also contains a rudimentary hex-viewer for memory card files.

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  "Title screen"

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  Memory card file list

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  Hex viewer

Regional Differences

To do: Six of the level files (city1, desert1, fort1, fort7, fort8, and sport2.blf), and the unclothed Blasto model (blasnud.bof) are different between versions, check 'em out.

The European version was translated into and had additional voice work for German, French, Italian, and Spanish languages.

US	Europe

Since the game was translated into 5 more languages, the Space Port 3 stage had to be cut out from the European version, because of memory limitations. Therefore, the map for Episode 4, (Episode 3) Uranian Dunes, was changed: the E-pod crash site and the waterfall at the start of the level were scrubbed out. However, if you glitch yourself into the water and swim by the waterfall, the E-Pod and the entire scene are still present in the European version.

Oddities

After beating the game, you can enter D-Pad codes to enable cheats. There are 10 cheats in total. Activating one prints a letter of "BoscRules!" on the title screen and has Blasto say a related phrase. Unfortunately, the key combination of Up, Right, Right, Left, Down is assigned to both "R" (Maximum Health) and "!", leaving the latter cheat completely inaccessible.

The GameShark code D00793B1 0040 300793B1 0010 (US) turns the latter key combination into Up, Right, Right, Left, Up. Its effect is transparency: all solid objects become see-through, including Blasto and enemies, although for Blasto the effect is not the same as the invisibility pill - enemies can still see him, and damage can still be taken. The cheat was fixed for the European version, with the code becoming Up, Right, Right, Left, Left, Down. The Alternate Costumes cheat listed on some sites is bogus and does not exist.

Another curio on the US release is a bug in the system.cnf setup file:

BOOT=cdrom:\SCUS_944.12;1
TCB=4
EVENT=10
TACK=801fff00

Specifically, the STACK parameter is missing the initial S. Luckily, the value given for the parameter is also the default value, so the game works despite that line being ignored. The European release again fixes the oversight.