Worms Blast

Worms Blast is a puzzle/action game for Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and Mac released in 2002, developed by Team17, and published by Ubisoft (except for the Mac version, which was developed and published by Feral Interactive).

Game
The gameplay is similar to that of Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move, but with several key differences. There is a hexagonal grid of coloured blocks at the top of the screen, while the player's character sits on a boat floating in water. Unlike Puzzle Bobble, it is able to move side to side. There are multiple weapons that can be used, however the only weapon the player has to start with is a bazooka. As with Worms, holding down the fire button increases the power behind the weapon's launch, affecting how far it will travel. It is possible to fire the bazooka (and some other weapons, such as the grenade and dynamite) in an "arch", allowing players to reach difficult areas.

Shooting blocks will have one of two effects:


 * If you hit a block that is either the same colour as your bazooka missile, or is a rainbow block, that block and any other same-coloured or rainbow blocks connected to it will be destroyed. Any blocks that are not the same colour will not be affected; however, if the only thing holding those blocks up is the coloured blocks you have just destroyed, those blocks will fall into the water.
 * If you hit a block that is a different colour from your bazooka missile, or is a "dead block" - an uncoloured, grey block - it will be recoloured to match the missile.

(Weapons are affected differently by other blocks. This is covered further below.)

Single-player puzzle mode
In this mode, the player travels around the world (in a method slightly reminiscent of Capcom game Pang) completing puzzles. Again, differing from Puzzle Bobble, missions are usually more complex than simply clearing the blocks off the screen. Some may require you to perform certain tasks (such as shooting down space ships made of blocks, or avoiding a snake-like series of blocks moving around the screen). As you progress through the game, the missions become progressively harder. The aim of the game is to reach the volcano in the centre.

Unlike Puzzle Bobble, there are no walls in single-player mode. If you fire a weapon off the screen, a heavy object (such as a cannonball, weight or fridge) will fall onto your character, reducing your health. If you are fast enough you may be able to dodge it.

Unlockable characters can be earned by reaching certain points on the map. It is not necessary to complete every puzzle to reach the centre, however this is the only way to unlock all three characters.

Multiplayer
In all Multiplayer modes, the barrier separating the two players will open periodically. Players can use this opportunity to shoot at each other with their Bazooka in an attempt to reduce their health and ultimately knock them out of the game.


 * Deathmatch- Both players start with 2 lives and try to survive as long as possible. The player that gets knocked out first loses.
 * Don't Drop Em- The first player to allow a block to freefall into the water loses.
 * Star Collection- First one who collects 5 stars wins.
 * Tide Trial- Trying to survive as long as possible with water constantly rising.
 * One line for two- When some blocks get destroyed enemy's blocks come down. The goal is to destroy blocks fast enough so enemy can't destroy it on time and ends up being crushed.
 * Star race- The goal is to shoot targets (more targets destroyed means a player will faster reach the finish line) and survive longer than enemy or reach the end and collect the star.
 * Survival-Standard blocks go down faster than usual, but they must not touch the water.
 * Fight-There are only bouncy and dead blocks in this mode. The goal is to kill the foe. There are no stars in this mode, only crates.

Single player

 * Tournament-Competition. All Hi-Scores are for this mode only. It's actually a few missions from Puzzle mode. When one of those missions is completed it will appear in Tournament mode.
 * Puzzle-Go around the map and complete 60 missions. When all missions are done 3 new characters will be unlocked. During the Puzzle mode some missions can be unlocked for the tournament mode.
 * Player vs CPU-Play a game against computer.

Characters
The game is played with nine characters (three of them must be unlocked) and most of the characters are actually animal weapons from the original Worms. Every character has a unique boat, and differing stats for Amount of Health, Boat Speed, Speed of Aiming Reticle, Turning Speed, and Boat Size.

Below is a list of characters, with their descriptive text and stats as taken from the Worms Blast Manual.

Boggy B (Worm) Ever since Boggy was a young worm he had an alarming tendency to blow up almost anything that moves. He is an excellent all rounder and is adept at using all the weapons at his disposal.

Good: health, aiming, turning, size Bad: Speed

Suzette (Worm) Suzette is the younger sister of the infamous Boggy B. Like her brother, she is an excellent all rounder and is adept at using all the weapons at her disposal.

Good: speed, turning, size

Bad: health, aiming

Chuck (Pigeon) Being of low intelligence it is never quite clear what is going on in the Pigeons tiny mind. Sick and tired of just being the messenger, the message from the pigeon is that he means business. Plays hard and also plays dirty.

Good: turning

The best: aiming

Bad: health, speed, size

Ethel (Old lady) How this particular escapee from the old peoples home got involved in such a game of mass destruction is not really known. Don't let her age and seeming fragility fool you, she's as tough as old boots.

Good: health, speed, aiming

Bad: turning, size

Calvin (Sheep) Don't let the Sheep's soft, fluffy and slightly cute appearance and seemingly bewildered expression goad you into thinking that he'll let you off lightly. Calvin moves incredibly fast, but he really can't take much damage. Calvin can be more difficult to control, but his plus points more than make up for it.

The best: size, turning, speed

The worst: health

Bad: aiming

Stavros (Skunk) The Skunk was without friends before joining the Worms' army, after a few victories in battle his potential was soon realised! Truly is silent but deadly. Stavros is a very tough character with quick aiming speeds.

Stavros is a hidden character on the Game Boy Advance version of the game.

Good: aiming, turning

The best: health

Bad: speed

Superfrog (Frog) The star of Team17 game, Superfrog is strong character on the rubber duck. Deadly frog with incredibly fast turning and speed.

Superfrog is an unlockable character in all versions of the game.

The best: speed, turning

Good: aiming, health

Bad: size

Fletcher (Mole) This old mole can attack with great accuracy and has big amount of energy. Unfortunately, he greatly lacks speed (with his stick instead of paddle).

Fletcher is an unlockable character in all versions of the game.

Good: aiming, turning, health

Bad: speed, size

Rocky (Donkey) A donkey. Not just a donkey. A concrete donkey. His boat is made of paper so his speed is bad, but his size makes him a harder target.

''Rocky is an unlockable character on the PC, PS2, GameCube and Mac versions. He is not hidden in the Game Boy Advance version, although this may be due to a glitch.''

Good: turning, size, health

Bad: aiming, speed

Blocks
As well as the coloured blocks mentioned above, there are also different types of block:

Grey Blocks with a skull in the centre. They must be hit with any colour to be turned into a standard block. Pink rubbery Blocks. Weapons bounce when they touch these blocks. Light-grey/blue stone Blocks that can only be destroyed with dynamite. Blocks with rainbow flowers. If connected they will produce a chain reaction when get hit with any colour.
 * Dead blocks
 * Bouncy blocks
 * Anchor blocks
 * Rainbow blocks

Weapons
Since animal weapons from Worms are now characters in Worms Blast, there are lots of new weapons in the arsenal. Most of the weapons can be found in crates and they can hurt both owner and opponent. Everything from the crates and everything (except blocks) that can hurt players is listed here.

Note: Coloured-weapon that changes colors of blocks.

Aim-and-fire weapons
This kind of weapon requires aiming (with up and down arrows). When the target is located press the fire button and keep it pressed down until the required power is reached.

Bazooka: The standard weapon in arsenal, this weapon is always available. The Bazooka is a coloured weapon, and fires in an arc.

Shotgun: The shotgun is a 2 shot coloured weapon. When one bullet is fired the player can't change the weapon until another bullet is fired. The Shotgun fires in a straight line and only strikes one block.

Grenade: Grenades must be thrown, and then manually triggered to explode. Once the weapon explodes, it will recolour any block within the blast radius to match the colour of the grenade, or will create dead blocks when used on your opponent.

Dynamite: The dynamite has a 5-second fuse that starts as soon as the weapon is selected. Dynamite must be thrown, and will then stick to any block it comes into contact with it. Dynamite destroys any crates, stars, or blocks in its blast radius, regardless of the colour.

Laser Beam: The Laser Beam will cut through anything it's pointed at except bouncy blocks and wooden doors (in multiplayer mode, a straight border that divides the players). It has 2 shots.

Fire-only weapons
These weapons don't need any aiming. It's enough to press fire and the weapon will be launched.

Weather: Using this weapon brings about a random changes in weather for approximately 30 seconds. The weather could be purely detrimental to your opponent character, such as the Fog and Rain effects, or could have negative impact on both of you (Darkness, Strong Winds, and a Meteor Shower (similar to the Armageddon weapon from Worms Armageddon)).

Sea monster: A sea monster that swims deep under the player. On the PC, Mac and home console versions of the game, it can easily be seen by end of its tentacles circling under water. The tentacles rise out of the water and attempt to grab your opponent, who must tap the Fire button repeatedly to escape. On the Game Boy Advance version, when the Tap Button symbol appears on the screen, the game freezes until your opponent has freed themselves. If the player fails to free themselves, the sea monster drags them underwater, killing them.

Fish Bait: Drops a piece of meat into your water, attracting more fish and providing cover fire against Torpedoes. Although the Fish were not included on the Game Boy Advance version of the game, this weapon was not removed and thus becomes useless.

Piranha: Converts all the fish in opponent's territory into piranhas who will attack your opponent, reducing their health.

Pellet: Makes your opponent's water more choppy for a short time, creating larger waves which will affect the trajectory of their shot.

Stopclock: Stops the time on opponent's side. The player can't move and all weapons that were on its side in the moment when weapon was fired are stopped. Weapons fired just before the Stop Clock is used will continue on their path. If a stopped character is damaged, they will recover movement.

Mine: An underwater mine comes to the surface and explodes after a time delay if anyone touches it. It cannot be destroyed.

Torpedo: A Torpedo is launched underwater, automatically homing in on your opponent. They are warned by an "Incoming" text on the screen. If your opponent has a sufficient number of fish, however, the torpedo may destroy those instead.

Speedfan: Increases your ship's speed for a few seconds.

Shield: Provides a temporary protection against anything that would normally harm you, such as falling blocks or opponents' weapons. You will also be immune to the Sea Monster.

Health: An orange buoy with Red Cross flag on it appears to the far edge of your play area. When you touch it your health is restored to full.

Water balance: The water level of both players will equalize; the tank with more water will drain into the other tank until the levels are equal. If the tank levels are equal, it has no effect.

Double radius (x2): For a short time, all bazooka shots that strike blocks of non-matching color will convert an additional layer to the color of the bazooka, or to dead blocks when used on your opponent.

Items
There are two collectible items in the game.


 * Crates: Contain weapons which can be used to attack an enemy or to improve the current situation for the player.
 * Stars: Reduces water level of the player who collected it.

BLAST mode
In Multiplayer mode, when standard blocks produce a chain reaction (more than 10 blocks must get destroyed), player should collect the falling fruits (every block becomes a fruit after being destroyed). If a player collects these fruits (10 or more) one letter of BLAST word on the bottom of the screen will get coloured. Each colour represents a letter:


 * For B- red
 * For L- yellow
 * For A- purple
 * For S- green
 * For T- orange

When all letters are filled, BLAST mode begins. All the blocks on player's side of the screen vanish and targets begin to fall on parachutes. Shooting a target produces a Weapon Crate. BLAST mode lasts for approximately 30 seconds before the game continues as normal. During BLAST mode in Multiplayer mode the opponent can't attack with crate weapons and the wooden barrier doesn't open, but they can send the bazooka over the barrier.

BLAST mode was not included on the Game Boy Advance version of the game.