This game has largely flown under the radar in years past, but whenever I did hear something about it, it was pure raves for this 3D action adventure title

It reminds me a lot of Virtual On, Gundam, and even Burning Rangers

It took me maybe 10 months before I played my copy. It just got lost in the to-play pile...

After playing it for a couple hours, I came to one simple conclusion:

WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!

Bulk Slash is one of the coolest games on Saturn

There are 7 stages in all, and to begin with you can start on stages 1, 2, or 3. Once all 3 missions are completed, you can pick from 4, 5, or 6. Beat those 3 and then... the final mission

Each stage is a huge sprawling 3D world. The graphics are solid and very colorful, one guy said "It's very PCE-esque." Gameplay is sweet. You start off each mission on foot, B fires your standard blaster gun or chucks a bomb. C jumps. L and R are used to rotate the camera. You can hold B and press left or right to shoot and strafe... it becomes 2nd nature not before too long

The cool part is when you press A. Your robot transforms into a flying ship... and you have lock-on missiles and a standard blaster. So anytime you wish, you can run on foot blowing things up, or take to the skies and deliver a deadly aerial assault. Whatever suits you. Ace!

Speaking of blowing up, man do you do a lot of that. And thanks to the mission variety, you never get bored doing it. Many things can be destroyed, from futuristic traffic lights, billboards, anything pretty much except buildings. Enemies are scattered everywhere on the 3D landscape... firing missiles and lasers at you... it's quite a sight

Like Virtual On, when you get up close your robot dishes out a lethal Light Saber-esque blow. Nothing is more satisfying than slicing a tank in two and watching the polygons crumble before you! AHAHAHAHA!

*ahem*

                     I love the feel and look of
                     Bulk Slash. It's really like
                     nothing you've seen on
                     Saturn before. Our robot
                     hero appears to be about
                     20 feet tall and it's fun to
                     manuever him across city
                     buildings and whatnot. It's
                     you vs. the evil empire all
                     set in a very cool futuristic
                     world



                                                          Whether on foot or in flight, the action never ceases

Here are the missions:

LEVEL 1-
Standard day time city. Gets you used to controls and kinks. Your goal here is to dismantle 4 or 5 pods... once all targets are destroyed, look out for the spider-like boss.... he's HUGE!

LEVEL 2-
Wow. My jaw hit the floor when I first saw this. Talk about atmosphere! Neon green lights galore ... look up and you can see the moon! Great details. Your goal here is to destroy 4 bases. Then, prepare for one of the coolest bosses you will ever see... a HUGE butterfly robot with an extremely long tail... all set against a gorgeous night backdrop!

LEVEL 3-
Here is where the variety Bulk Slash begins to shine. Instead of making each stage the ole "destroy a set of items then face boss" routine, this is a whole new ball game. A huge ship takes off to the (not-so) friendly skies, with a long energy bar, and it's up to you to protect it from the many enemy forces! If you do your job successfully, the ship will reach its destination and you'd have completed the primary mission. But wait! Here comes another big mutha of a boss.....


                                                                   Can you escort this bad boy to safety while
                                                                   fending off hordes of machinery?

LEVEL 4-
More variety ensues. Here you're in the vast darkness of outer space with blazing streaks. You must fly and transport 4 pods into a fixed base to fulfill your primary mission. (Think NiGHTS here). Then, try and defeat the Mothership boss....

LEVEL 5-
This level screams BURNING RANGERS. Here it really emphasizes the platforming part of Bulk Slash. You're inside some strange looking factory. Enemies litter the floors, you start on floor one and must find the key on each floor. You do this til you reach floor 5 where you face off with another mean nasty boss. Once you defeat him, he turns into a huge mechanical spidey creature. AH! No rest for the wicked! But cheer up, this is where the game introduces us to the baddest weapon of all -- the Bezier gun! Like the old Ghostbusters cartoon gun, it homes in and shoots a constant strong green stream of destruction!

LEVEL 6-
A city in winter... snow is everywhere as are enemy tanks, ships and what have you. Your primary mission here is to destroy four HUGE and boss-like-tough AT-esque walkers. All in the snow... hmmmm.... I wonder where they got the inspiration....

The walkers are very hard! And if you can destroy the four boss-like death machines... you then face off with this bad boy...

                                                                                             HOLY ****!

LEVEL 7-
Let's not spoil everything now....

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Overall Bulk Slash scores and scores high. An extremely enjoyable and playable blaster/shooter, it's got a bit of everything. When you're flying, you're given the freedom to go anywhere. There are no rails or restrictions. You're weaving, ducking, dodging, jumping, strafing, shooting, locking in, all while bullets are screaming your way like no tomorrow





4th of July?  Naw, just another day at the office

Just like NiGHTS, the replay lies in scoring as many points as you can. If you liked NiGHTS but wished there was more action and overall a bigger OMPH, it's safe to say you'll like Bulk Slash. At first I was a little overwhelmed. But on my 2nd go I became completely addicted. It's a beautiful game with classic gameplay wrapped up in a "modern" look. Great details, feel and atmosphere. And the boss battles are very intense and epic. It's really satisfying to zap 'em and watch parts of them flash before finally exploding. Put this baby at the top of your wish list, folks. Bulk Slash is one hell of a fine game

OVERALL: 9.0