Blaster Master: Blasting Again continues the story from where it left off in BM2. Jason, the hero of the first two games, was ambushed and killed by aliens known as "Lightning Beings" after routing their leader, the "Plutonium Boss" from the Earth's core and preventing its destruction. His son, Roddy, and his adopted daughter Elfie have assumed the roles of pilot and navigator for the redesigned Sophia J7 vehicle (an assault tank capable of transforming into multiple transportation modes). Eve, Jason's alien wife, warned Roddy and Elfie of the possible return of the Lightning Beings, aliens from her own destroyed planet that combine organic materials and technology it their quest to conquer space and time.

While the plot may not be groundbreaking, BM:BA excels in the most important area of a game: fun. Unlike some attempts to bring 2D series into 3D (cough cough Castlevania cough cough), Sunsoft has translated the superb gameplay of the original into a living, breathing 3D world. There are two forms of gameplay (as in the first BM): a third-person view adventure where you control the tank, Sophia, and a third person view corridor shoooter where you control Roddy.

Switching between the two modes of play and exploring the underground world are the keys to Blaster Master: Blasting Again, as they were in the original game. While in the tank, you battle enemies, collect powerups to customize your tanks' abilities and search for the entrances to other areas of the underground. At first, most areas will be inaccessible--that portal you see in the distance will have no visible trails or paths to it. After progressing in the game, however, the tank gains the abilities to hover, climb sheer cliffs, and maneuver through water, enabling you to progress to areas that were previously off-limits.

In addition to earning new forms of transportation for your tank, you can gain 4 other assault modes: Blaster Mode (the basic form of the tank which allows a powered-up cannon blast), Thunder Mode (offers a offensive lightning field in a 180 degree arc in front of the tank), Field Mode (a protective shield that absorbs enemy fire) and Homing Mode (fires homing missiles). Each of these modes has a segmented gauge that measures the available power. Upon finding certain power-ups (either from defeated sub-bosses or in hard-to-reach locations) you can add a segment to a mode's gauge. The customization aspect of the game comes in to play when you find one of these power-ups: do you add points into Homing Mode to get 10 missile spreads, or do you put them into Blaster Mode to get a mega-powerful cannon blast?

At certain points in becomes necessary for Roddy to leave the (relative) safety of the tank and enter chambers to continue the exploration and to disable electric fields barring access to other areas or disabling alien weapons arrays to make it easier for you to pass through. If you get stuck and are unsure of your objectives, Elfie provides Roddy with hints on how to progress in the Start Menu (which also serves as the map for the game). Although BM:BA involves a good deal of exploration, it never becomes boring or tedious. Gathering new abilities for the tank is fun in itself, and it opens up even more areas to explore.

The world of Blaster Master is (not surprisingly) underground, but it is not always just rocks and caves. The environments vary from massive subterranean caverns to lakes and icy plateaus, to red-hot lava rivers , jungles and high-tech facilities. Switching from one area to another yields a completely different (and pleasing) level design, while still retaining a feel of progression. Although the levels are not as varied as they were in Blaster Master, they still provide you with a feeling of accomplishment as you trek your way through the game.

The 3D engine used for Blaster Master: Blasting Again is surprisingly robust for the aging PlayStation, pumping out multi-colored lasers, grenades, and missiles while filling the screen with impressive explosions, smoke and particle effects. The amount of different weapon effects when controlling both the tank and Roddy makes BM:BA seem almost like a fireworks display. Complementing the visual splendor of the game, the sound effects make the environment come alive. You hear the "weight" of giant robots and mechs leaping into the air, slamming into the ground (and you), as well as explosions shaking the area and the pulsing of high-tech weapons firing.

All this action does not come without a cost, however. Load times, although very minimal in length, occur every time you enter or exit a "room" in an area, much like in Resident Evil. While practically unavoidable given the limitations of the PlayStation and the CD-ROM format, it is still slightly annoying. The game also suffers from bouts of minor slowdown when a number of enemies are onscreen, or when there is a lot of explosions and effects. This is a minor gripe, as it doesn't really affect the gameplay.

Another drawback is in the voice acting. The story of BM:BA progresses through both in-game cutscenes and CG cutscenes. While both are perfectly fine (in fact the CG is impressively high quality and approaches Square's and Namco's work), the voices range from acceptable to horrible.

These minor drawbacks keep BM:BA from getting an A grade, however, the game is still challenging, rewarding and most importantly, fun. Much like Metal Gear Solid, veteran gamers will complete it in a little over 10 hours. But the ride is visceral, intense and non-stop while it lasts (There's also a secret that encourages another play-through, but I won't spoil it). One of the best PlayStation games ever, and worth having in your collection.