A terrorist group called The Black Hand of Fate has constructed a secret base in Antarctica because what better place is there to hide a terrorist organization? It’s in the middle of nowhere and in freezing conditions. Nobody would look in there… right? Your job is to put an end to this organization and to their plans once and for all. Come read our Blasting Agent: Ultimate Edition review to learn more!

 

Blasting Agent: Ultimate Edition is a challenging run and gun platformer with retro-style pixelated graphics. This little gem is, unfortunately, a bit on the short side, with just six levels in total, but it does provide a lot of fun! The ultimate goal of the game is to eliminate all enemies in a level and collect all the gold. You can either jump on your enemies or shoot at them to end their existence.

Each level is broken down into separate areas for you to explore, so that you can take this one step at a time. Every enemy you defeat and gold piece you collect adds to your total completion percentage for each one, and if you get a 90% in both objectives, you’ll unlock a new power up. What are said power ups? Things like a double jump for example – which will be much needed later on. You will also face off in a boss battle at the end of a level. The boss fights provide a decent challenge, and no two bosses fight the same way, so that is nice.

As you progress, you will find upgrades that can give you the edge you need against the endless army of enemies. Green ones increase the damage you deal. Red ones give your weapon a bigger spread. Blue ones increase the speed and range of your bullets. There are also hidden health upgrades that will add one extra heart to your life meter, which definitely comes in handy during the end of a level!

The entrance to each new area serves as a checkpoint, saving your progress and your kills and gold percentages. But if you die before reaching the next checkpoint, you will lose everything and restart from the last one you activated. The checkpoint system provides a good balance between making the game too easy or too hard.

In true Ratalika Style, hard mode can only be unlocked by completing the game on the default difficulty setting. So if you are up for the challenge and you beat all six levels you will be rewarded with this. In hard mode enemies will have more health and more fire power, so you will suffer greater damage. And if you happen to get 100% of all kills and gold…

Let’s talk about the differences between the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game. Graphically speaking, the Wii U version looks better due to the difference in power between the two consoles. The Wii U has absolutely no Off-TV play since the Wii U Gamepad serves as the map – the 3DS has the same feature. The control scheme is the same for both platforms, but I found the 3DS to be more comfortable. Oh, and there are no 3D effects on the 3DS version. The game works flawlessly on both platforms, and it is down to personal choice to select which platform to play with.

Playing the game for my Blasting Agent: Ultimate Edition review was a lot of fun. Despite this bein a short game, I enjoyed every minute of it and I’m happy that Ratalaika decided to release it on Nintendo platforms.

[review
pros=”Good level design.
Great art style.
Fun gameplay.” cons=”Very short.” score=81]

Disclaimer
This Blasting Agent: Ultimate Edition review is based on Wii U and 3DS copies provided by Ratalaika Games.