Power Blazer © 1990 Taito Corp.

Power Blazer is an action/platform game. In the 21st century, the whole world is handled by a super-computer called the Brain Master. But one day, all systems start to inexplicably shut down at once. Humans have to accept the evidence, Brain Master has taken over the once gladdened Earth and plunged it into chaos. The player takes control of Steve Treiber, a highly trained soldier on a lone mission behind enemy lines. He is the only one capable of taking Brain Master offline and to save the world. Our young hero is armed with a powerful combat-boomerang called the 'Power Blazer'. The weapon can be thrown forward and take out all kind of enemies. It can also be charged-up for farther reaching and more powerful attacks - a special power meter located at the top of the screen displays the current weapon charge. This meter is upgraded throughout the game by collecting power capsules defeated enemies leave behind. Steve can also collect bombs and use them to wipe out all remaining foes on screen or pick-up and store energy tanks to refill some lost health. At the beginning of the game, the player can freely choose one of the six available stages in any order. Stages are fairly large and most of them have different routes to the finish line (this only applies to the Japanese version of the game though, see the info section). A password is given to the player at the end of each zone to save his progress.