Ethan Crossfield 
Retro publishers are increasingly looking beyond the biggest legacy franchises for games worth preserving. Blaster!, a little-known 1997 MS-DOS shooter from Poland, is the latest revival: the restored release is now available on Steam and GOG, bringing an official English-language version to the game for the first time.
A forgotten Polish shooter reaches a global PC audience
Developed by Metropolis, Blaster! was also known as Katharsis and is regarded as one of Poland’s earliest games. Despite its original MS-DOS release, it never had official English support before this 2026 return. That limited its reach outside its original market and helped leave it largely absent from broader retro-gaming conversations. TopWare Interactive is publishing the new edition, which arrived on October 9, 2026 for around $8.
Classic 2D combat with a 3D boss-fight twist
Blaster! is built around arcade-style spaceship action in a dystopian future where alien craft attack Earth. Players use lasers and other weapons to push back the invasion across underwater and deep-space missions. The original campaign contains 20 levels, split evenly between ocean environments and space. Its standout feature is the boss design: while regular encounters use 2D side-scrolling action, major fights switch the perspective to confront 3D creatures. The core mechanics otherwise remain consistent across both halves of the campaign.
The new port balances restoration and additions
The Steam and GOG version updates the game’s visuals and audio, including its cutscenes, but players can disable those enhancements to experience the presentation closer to the 1997 release. The port also adds two bonus levels and an additional skin for Eagle, the player’s primary ship. A deluxe edition expands the cosmetic and bonus package with four more Eagle skins, four music tracks, extra firepower pickups, and four digital wallpapers. The approach is preservation-focused rather than a full redesign.
What the re-release could mean
Blaster! has not accumulated many user reviews so far, making the immediate audience response unclear. Still, its arrival follows other efforts to make previously inaccessible regional releases available on modern PCs, including ports that add English support. Metropolis Software was acquired by CD Projekt in 2008 and closed the following year, giving this release added value as a way to revisit part of the studio’s early history.
Key points
- Blaster! originally launched for MS-DOS in 1997.
- The restored version is available on Steam and GOG.
- Official English-language support has been added for the first time.
- The release includes optional enhancements, two bonus levels, and Eagle ship cosmetics.
Blaster! release content
| Offering | Confirmed content |
|---|---|
| Original campaign | 20 levels: 10 underwater missions and 10 deep-space missions |
| Modern PC port | Enhanced visuals and audio, optional original-style presentation, two bonus levels, and one Eagle skin |
| Deluxe edition | Four additional Eagle skins, four music tracks, bonus firepower pickups, and four digital wallpapers |
Expert View
Blaster!’s return signals that the retro-PC market has room for more than headline nostalgia. English localization and compatibility updates can give overlooked regional games a realistic second chance, especially when publishers preserve the original experience instead of replacing it. For retro communities, the value is not only another shooter to play, but access to a previously difficult-to-discover chapter of Polish game development.
