_ No ads.

_ No need for internet.

_ Ability to save and continue easily.

Blaster Master has two modes of gameplay that depend on the situation and location of the player: the first mode is where the player controls Jason; either on foot or piloting a tank named SOPHIA in a two–dimensional platform mode; the second mode is where the player controls Jason on foot in a top-down perspective.[6] Gameplay in the top-down perspective consists of a series of labyrinths in which players navigate and defeat enemies along the way.[7] Gameplay is non-linear, and players must return to earlier levels in order to advance to later levels in the game.[8] The objective is to complete all eight levels and destroy the mutants and their bosses with various weaponry such as guns, grenades, and special weapons.[9]

While Jason is inside SOPHIA in the 2D platforming mode, the player can attack the mutants with the main cannon (which can shoot up, left, and right determined by the orientation of the tank) or with one of three special weapons.[9] Special weapons have limited ammunition which must be collected from exploring the game. They include the following: homing missiles that, when fired, shoot 1 missile at each enemy on screen up to 4; "Thunder Break", which fires a high-damage lightning bolt downward; and "Multi Warhead Missiles", which simultaneously fires a set of three missiles at enemies in front of and diagonally up and down.[10] Players select their special weapon and monitor the amounts of each special weapon left by accessing the Menu Screen by pressing the Start button.[11]

The player switches between the 2D platforming mode and the top-down perspective by leaving the tank and entering small doorways located throughout the game.[12] While in the top-down perspective, players can move Jason in any direction and destroy mutants with a gun or with hand grenades.[13] In this mode, players upgrade the gun by collecting gun capsules, but the gun degrades by one point if Jason receives damage from mutants or hazardous objects.[11] Here players obtain additional vehicle functions by destroying bosses; these functions include weapon upgrades as well as abilities to swim freely underwater, drive on walls and ceilings, and hover above the ground.[6] The game has a glitch – colloquially known as the "grenade glitch"[14] – to easily defeat four of the game's underbosses.[15] To exploit this glitch, the player throws a grenade at the boss, and while the grenade is exploding and causing damage on the boss, the player pauses the game. While the remainder of the action on the screen freezes, the grenade remains active, continuing to damage the boss. After fifteen seconds the player unpauses the game to find that the boss is destroyed.[