Home /
Sega Genesis

Blow’em Out

Sega Genesis

Sega Genesis

Blow'em Out! is a homebrew game that is the first in the developer's Holiday series of holiday themed homebrew games. The idea was that a physical version of this game could be gifted to a retro gamer for a birthday, as the end of the game could be personalized to contain the recipient's name. Th...

Download

0/5 Votes: 0

Report

Developer
Second Dimension

Released on
2016

Size
1 Player

Version
Sega Genesis

Requirements
Sega Genesis

Downloads
Platform

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

Report this app

Images

Description

Blow’em Out! is a homebrew game that is the first in the developer’s Holiday series of holiday themed homebrew games. The idea was that a physical version of this game could be gifted to a retro gamer for a birthday, as the end of the game could be personalized to contain the recipient’s name. The game consists of ten single, fixed screen levels. Each level contains a birthday cake with candles on it. To win a level a boy or a girl, chosen at the start of the game, needs to blow out all candles. The cake often has multiple layers (platforms) that can be reached by jumping. Sometimes there is also jelly that can be used to jump and reach a high area.

Some levels contain small floating flames that need to be avoided. These flames can also reignite some of the candles. The candles are put out by blowing, with a button press, and this can also be used to push the floating flames back.

This later Genesis version has upgraded music, more challenging enemies, and the character can now drop directly from a layer of birthday cake.

Blow'em Out

Overview & History

Developed as an eccentric, under-the-radar action-platformer during the twilight years of the 16-bit era, Blow'em Out was envisioned by Japanese indie developer Team Zephyr as a satirical take on hardboiled noir detective tropes filtered through a chaotic Looney Tunes lens. Originally slated for a 1995 release by an obscure publisher, the title suffered numerous localization delays and was ultimately canceled for the North American market, relegated to a scarce Japanese cartridge release (Mega Drive) that has since become a holy grail for retro collectors. The storyline follows P.I. Barnaby Blast, a notoriously foul-tempered private eye whose lungs have been surgically enhanced with pneumatic turbines following a mob shootout. Tasked with clearing his name after being framed for stealing the city's municipal air supply by the nefarious syndicate known as The Smog, Barnaby must navigate the neon-lit, soot-choked alleys of Down-Wind City using his lethal respiratory capabilities to shatter criminal syndicates.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike standard run-and-gun platformers of the era, Blow'em Out subverts traditional mechanics by tying both offensive attacks and vertical mobility directly to Barnaby's lung capacity gauge. Players must carefully manage the oxygen meter; holding the attack button triggers a powerful gust of wind capable of knocking enemies into spiked walls, deflecting projectile fire back at adversaries, or clearing hazardous particulate clouds. Absorbing ambient air refills the meter, introducing a rhythm of inhaling hazards and forcefully expelling them. The game features six sprawling, vertically oriented districts, packed with destructible environments, hidden contraband, and screen-clearing boss encounters against mutated mob bosses like 'Lung-Cancer Larry' and 'The Diesel Duke'. The Sega Genesis port pushes the Motorola 68000 processor to its limits, rendering fluid parallax scrolling, gritty cyberpunk-noir sprite work, and an iconic, bass-heavy jazz-fusion soundtrack composed on the YM2612 sound chip.