Japanese arcade flyer.
Blazer (ブレイザー Bureizā?) is an isometric-perspective shooter arcade game released by Namco in 1987 for Japan only; it runs on Namco System 1 hardware, and features a 2/4-view isometric perspective (much like Namco's own Pac-Mania).
Gameplay[]
The player controls a tank named "Vanguard" and a helicopter named "Handy" (and for the final mission, an airboat "Maiboto"), and must make its way towards the end of each of the ten stage (referred here as "missions) by destroying numerous enemies in both the air and the ground. Certain types of enemies will leave behind a powerup, which will either restore some of its fuel, increase the total fuel capacity, make it invincible for a period of time, or grant the player an extra life. Should the fuel meter run out, the player will lose a life; and once all of them are lost, then the game will be over.
Vanguard can gain extra turret guns should it pass through certain gates; passing through a gate marked "T-2" will give Vanguard three extra guns, and passing through a gate marked "T-3" will give Vanguard a singular, enormous cannon that can shoot enormous shots at enemies.
Ending[]
The game's ending displays a passage from the book In the Cold Morning of August, followed by schematics for the Vanguard tank.