FTA:

Originally released in arcades back in 1989, Blast Off is the sequel to Bosconian, which was launched 8 years earlier in 1981. It was developed by N.H. System, a short-lived Namco subsidiary that also worked on the isometric platformer Märchen Maze one year prior.

Designed to run on Namco's System 1 hardware, the sequel is a significant departure from its previous iteration, dropping the multi-directional scrolling of the original for a vertical scrolling format similar to other Namco titles like Xevious and Dragon Spirit.