Power Blade

Nintendo console exclusivePort

22nd CENTURY WARRIOR! When New Earth's Master Computer is attacked by aliens, only NOVA, lord of the ancient Power Blade, can hope to battle through to Control Center and restore the Database!

Released: 20 April 1990
Platforms: Arcade NES
Genres: Platformer
Developers: Winning Entertainment Group
Publishers: Taito
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action Science fiction
Country: Japan
Languages: English
Composers: Kinuyo Yamashita

About

Power Blade, known in Japan as Power Blazer (パワー・ブレイザー, Pawā Burezā), is an action platform video game published by Taito for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan on April 20, 1990, North America in March 1991, and in Europe on January 23, 1992 (1992-01-23). The game spawned a sequel, Power Blade 2, released in 1992.

Power Blade takes place in the colony of New Earth in the year 2191 and follows NOVA, the Chief Security Officer of a supercomputer called the Master Computer. He must restore the Master Computer — which has been taken offline by aliens — by retrieving data tapes located in six sectors. The game features gameplay similar to the Mega Man series, in which players can select any of the six levels to play. Armed with a boomerang, players must complete all six levels, overcoming obstacles and defeating any enemies in the way.

Keywords

aliens
ghosts
helicopter
robots
frog
side-scrolling
traps
level selection
bats
boss fight
difficulty level
cheat code

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player controls NOVA in a two-dimensional platforming environment. The object is to restore the Master Computer by going into each of six sectors of the Master Computer, accessing their databases, and recovering their data tapes. The player is armed with a boomerang in which the player can fire in all eight directions, destroying enemies. The ability to attack in all eight directions is indeed a rarity in 2-dimensional NES/Famicom platform games.

Throughout each sector, players can upgrade the power, range, and number of boomerangs by collecting various power-ups. The player has a life meter which decreases every time the player is hit by an enemy; players lose a life if their life meter runs out, if they fall into a pit, or if time runs out. The game ends when the player has lost all lives, but the game has a continue feature in which players can restart their game at the beginning of the level in which their game ended. Power Blade also has a password feature which allows players to restart the game at a specific checkpoint at any time.

Story

After years of fighting that took millions of casualties, Earth is recovering from revolts in the 22nd century. In 2191, New Earth has a Master Computer that holds a secret database of the colony-planet's functioning. In wrong hands, the database could prove fatal to the whole planet. One day, aliens attack the Master Computer, making the Master control program malfunction.

Nova, a lord of the ancient Power Blade is summoned to take care of the situation. The Power Blade is a glowing energy boomerang that Nova uses to defend himself.

Reception

Power Blade garnered generally favorable reception from critics. Readers of Family Computer Magazine voted to give the game a 17.13 out of 30 score in a 1991 public poll. In 2009, IGN placed the title on their "Top 100 NES Games" list at #82.