is a
platform video game
A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...
created by
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya. It was released in 2014 for PC and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
and is the first major project of Pixel since ''
Cave Story
''Cave Story'', originally released as is a 2004 Metroidvania platform-adventure game for Microsoft Windows. It was developed over five years by Japanese independent developer Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya in his free time. ''Cave Story'' features 2D ...
'' in 2004. The game places a heavy emphasis on shooting and received positive reviews on both platforms. A short, free demo titled ''Pink Hour'' was made available a month before the full game's release. A short free companion game and sequel to Pink Hour titled ''Pink Heaven'' was released in November 2015, coinciding with the new ''Kero Blaster'' update.
Gameplay
In ''Kero Blaster'', the player controls a
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
working for Cat & Frog, a
teleporter
Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...
company. Armed with a
peashooter
Peashooter or pea shooter may refer to:
* Peashooter (toy), consisting of a tube through which peas or other small objects are blown
* Boeing P-26 Peashooter, an American fighter aircraft
* Peashooter, a plant from the franchise ''Plants vs. Zomb ...
, he has to clean the teleporters of strange black monsters. The player has to work their way through a series of linear stages, by means of running, gunning and jumping. ''
USGamer
Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...
'' described the gameplay as "akin to ...
''Contra'' or old-school, pre-''
Symphony of the Night Castlevania
''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...
''s." ''Kero Blaster'' is controlled by changing direction, jumping, and charging and firing the player character's weapon. Holding down the fire button continues to fire in the direction the character was facing when he started shooting, allowing players to move the character and change the firing direction independently.
Development and release
''Kero Blaster'' was originally supposed to be released in 2013, but Pixel delayed its release just before it was to come out.
The game was rebuilt from ''Gero Blaster'', which Pixel announced on in Japan, early 2013, but never released.
''Gero Blaster'' was a game based on comics that Pixel drew in college, starring himself as a frog and his girlfriend as a cat.
While Pixel developed ''Cave Story'' entirely on his own, he worked together with Kiyoko Kawanaka for Kero Blaster so that he could stay motivated. When Pixel left the level design and production up to her, Pixel "was able to focus on smaller parts while the stages in the game were steadily being created."
A month before the full release, Pixel released a
demo
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
*Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
and
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
to ''Kero Blaster'', titled ''Pink Hour''. In this demo, you play as an unnamed pink office lady who must find a missing document to avoid the anger of her boss. The short game is rather hard, due to the limited amount of
lives
Lives may refer to:
* The plural form of a ''life''
* Lives, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran
* The number of lives in a video game
* '' Parallel Lives'', aka ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', a series of biographies of famous m ...
the player has to beat it with.
The release date of ''Kero Blaster'', May 11, 2014, coincides with the three-year anniversary of Japanese
digital distributor Playism
Playism (stylized as PLAYISM) is an independent video game publisher operated by Active Gaming Media. Playism started as a digital distribution platform for PC games, launched in May 2011.
History
Playism was launched in May 2011 as a digital ...
, on which the game was released.
Kero Blaster was released on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
on 11 November 2015.
In November 2015, ''Kero Blaster'' was updated as Pixel added a "
Hard Mode" and "Overtime Mode" to the game. Alongside this update, Pixel released a second short, free game titled ''Pink Heaven'', which is the sequel to ''Pink Hour''. This companion game once again starred the pink office lady and served as a demo for ''Kero Blaster''.
A
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
port of the game was released on April 11, 2017. A
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
port of the game was released on August 23, 2018 via
eShop
The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was ena ...
, and later
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
-based publisher 1Print Games announced a physical Nintendo Switch release for November 29, 2019.
An
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
port of the game was released on December 24, 2021 via
Google Play.
Reception
Before the full release, ''
PCGamer'' called the free ''Pink Hour'' demo "too brief and too difficult to really get to grips with," though praised the game's trailer.
After the release of ''Kero Blaster'', ''
TouchArcade'' described ''Pink Hour'' as a "great way to check out what KeroBlaster is about - or just to get a new level of the game to play." ''
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
History
' ...
'' described the demo as "hard as nails," yet also as "very lovable."
''Kero Blaster'' received positive reviews upon release.
''Destructoid'' praised the game's pacing and
replay value, stating that it's the perfect way to introduce someone to the genre of 2D action/platformers.
''
USgamer'' praised the game's controls, weapons and presentation, calling it an "excellent run-and-gun shooter that plays beautifully," but criticized the short length of the game.
''
PCGamer'' states that the game sounds "like it could've come from an NES if a composer had spent the past 25 years mastering its sound chip," and though they criticized the high difficulty of the game, ''PCGamer'' said that it was "refreshing to play a game with such mechanical purity."
''
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' stated that ''Kero Blaster'' is not less engaging than ''Cave Story'', despite its short length, and describes it as "a three-hour trip that demands to be finished."
The game is often compared to ''
Cave Story
''Cave Story'', originally released as is a 2004 Metroidvania platform-adventure game for Microsoft Windows. It was developed over five years by Japanese independent developer Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya in his free time. ''Cave Story'' features 2D ...
'', the highly successful previous game created by Pixel. According to ''TouchArcade'', ''Kero Blaster'' has the "same sort of off-beat sense of humor, chip music of similar quality and composition, pixel art graphics, and a vaguely similar style of play based heavily on platforming and shooting." However, where ''Cave Story'' is known for its non-linear exploration, ''Kero Blaster'' features "stage-based run and gun action." ''Cave Story'' is cited to be similar to ''
Metroid
is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirate (Metroid), Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the powe ...
'', while ''Kero Blaster'' is more often compared to ''Contra'' and ''
Mega Man
''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...
''. ''TouchArcade'' and ''USgamer'' specifically wrote that "Kero Blaster is not Cave Story 2," with ''TouchArcade'' adding that "the sooner you put the notion out of your mind, the sooner you can get to enjoying an extremely well-crafted action game."
The iOS-version was received even better than the PC-version.
''USgamer'' praised the implementation of the control scheme in the iOS-version, stating that Pixel solved common frustrations in mobile games "in an eminently sensible manner without compromising Kero Blaster's depth of gameplay."
''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' enjoyed ''Kero Blaster''s toggled firing directions as well, compared to other "clumsy virtual gamepads." Furthermore, ''Game Informer'' called the game "one of the best-playing action-platformers the iOS has to offer," though noted that the game wasn't groundbreaking. ''
IGN Italia
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' called the mobile control scheme of ''Kero Blaster'' "precise and intelligent." ''
Pocket Gamer
''Pocket Gamer'' is a video game website that focuses on mobile, portable and handheld games. The site launched in 2005 and is published and owned by UK company Steel Media Ltd. The site covers all major portable and mobile gaming formats, incl ...
'' called the game "fresher and more exciting than much of the content on the
App Store" and ''
Gamezebo'' stated that ''Kero Blaster''s "compelling retro-style graphics, sharp controls, intense shooting action, and charming character designs make it one of the best action games on mobile
evices"
References
{{Daisuke Amaya
2014 video games
Android (operating system) games
Indie video games
IOS games
Linux games
Nintendo Switch games
Platform games
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation Network games
Side-scrolling video games
Single-player video games
Video games about amphibians
Video games developed in Japan
Windows games
Playism games