ColecoVision · 1983
Nova Blast
A single-player side-scrolling defense shooter in which you pilot Nova 1 to protect four shielded cities from air and ground attacks.
- Publisher
- Publisher to verify
- Format
- Cartridge
- Genre
- Genre to verify
- Released
- 1983
01
Overview
You control a ship that fires lasers horizontally, drops bombs vertically, and uses an energy beam to absorb power from tanks or reinforce city shields. Four shielded cities can each survive one hit before their bubble shield fails, and losing all four ends the round. The game offers three difficulty levels and is played with the standard ColecoVision controller.
02
Why it matters
Nova Blast presents the ColecoVision's color and scrolling capability in a compact defense format, blending Missile Command-style city protection with an energy-management twist. It also belongs to a multiplatform Imagic title that reached ColecoVision, Intellivision, and Commodore 64 audiences in the mid-1980s.
03
The physical edition
A typical complete US ColecoVision copy includes the original box, the Imagic-branded cartridge, and the printed instruction manual. Some listings note that no original TV overlay was issued, while other regional or reprinted editions may differ, so verify the exact package contents for the copy in question.
04
Playing it today
Nova Blast runs on original ColecoVision hardware with a standard controller, and it also plays in many ColecoVision emulators. The manual describes skill selection and start controls for the cartridge.