May 29, 2007 - Yet another 2D shooter, on the Virtual Console, from the TurboGrafx-16. This time, though, fans of forced-scrolling, ship-blasting action should have extra incentive to take notice – Blazing Lazers is widely recognized as the best entry into the shoot-'em-up genre from Hudson's 16-bit system. Previous contemporaries to come to the VC before have been Super Star Soldier and Soldier Blade – Blazing Lazers is better than both, though, and should be a strong candidate for gamers sitting on an extra 600 Wii Points.

Three things set Blazing Lazers apart from the rest of the shooters on offer – weaponry, difficulty, and history. The first of that list is the most readily obvious, as new gamers first turning on Blazing Lazers and jumping into its initial stage will likely be immediately confused at its robust but perplexing power-up system. Defeated enemies yield collectible orbs, a genre staple, but learning what each does can be tough. Here's a breakdown.

There are four categories of primary weapon in Blazing Lazers – bullets, waves, lasers and rings. Each one of the four categories can be accessed by picking up orbs marked by Roman numerals. Bullets are I, waves are II and so on. Then, each of the four categories has five levels of power, activated by repeatedly picking up the same kind of power-up as each stage plays forward. Collect the right orbs in the right order and you can access powerful wave blasters that fill the screen with your firepower, heat-seeking, direction-changing laser blasts, rings that encase your entire ship and more.

But that's just the beginning. A whole other set of secondary weapon power-ups exists, and can equip your ship with force field shields, multiplying modules (like the "options" in Gradius), missiles and more. Only one type of secondary fire can be active at a time, though, so you have to pick and choose what weapons you'll need and when.

The whole system is complicated, but unique, making playing Blazing Lazers effectively a dance between the different choices in your arsenal and a game of avoidance, in trying not to touch the power-ups that you don't want to get. It's difficult to go too wrong, though, as you'll likely be able to succeed no matter what gun you're firing. That's the second aspect setting Blazing Lazers apart – difficulty.

Blazing Lazers isn't that hard. Not compared to the brutal challenge of many other shooters, at least, like Super Star Soldier. The later levels ramp up the madness to a considerable level, but the early going in Blazing Lazers is really pretty accessible and simple to blaze through.

The approachability of the design was likely a contributing factor to – third aspect – the game's history. History of popularity, to be specific, as Blazing Lazers was a fan favorite right from the start on the TurboGrafx. It predated Super Star Soldier and Soldier Blade on the system. It predated Gradius III on the SNES, and the R-Type games. Because it arrived in 1989, gamers of the day were blown away by its graphics and sound – it pushed the TG-16 to its limits, and early on. And it held up throughout the rest of that console's short life cycle as one of the most impressive games, both visually and aurally.

Closing Comments
And it holds up today. Blazing Lazers is another strong entry into the already diverse array of options for shooter fans on the Virtual Console. It might not have the power to dethrone some other options, like Gradius III or R-Type III – but, at the same time, it's two dollars cheaper than those. It's certainly the most validly valuable of those titles available at the 600 Wii Point pricetag, and the best shooter available to have originally come from the TurboGrafx. Give it a look – just be prepared to be confused at first at its perplexing path to powering up.