Power Blade, known in Japan as Power Blazer (????????), is an action platform video game developed by Natsume and published by Taito for the Nintendo Entertainment System.[2] It was released in North America in March 1991 and in Europe on January 23, 1992 (1992-01-23).[2] The game spawned a sequel, Power Blade 2, released in 1992.[3]

Power Blade takes place in the colony of New Earth in the year 2191 and follows NOVA, the Chief Security Officer of a supercomputer called the Master Computer. He must restore the Master Computer — which has been taken offline by aliens[4] — by retrieving data tapes located in six sectors. The game features gameplay similar to the Mega Man series, in which players can select any of the six levels to play.[5] Armed with a boomerang, players must complete all six levels, overcoming obstacles and defeating any enemies in the way.

Power Blade is a reworked and localized version of the Japanese Family Computer game Power Blazer, which was released also by Taito on April 20, 1990 (1990-04-20).[6] The original title for North America was Power Mission, after reworking the game they went with the name Power Blade.[7] The reworking included a complete overhaul of the levels, a change of the look of the main character from a cartoon–like robot to an Arnold Schwarzenegger look–alike, and a significant improvement in gameplay controls.[5] The game's name comes from an item found in several levels; The Power Suit is an item that looks like a helmet. When collected Nova automatically equips the metal suit. This allows the player to shoot energy blasts known as "Power Blades" in any of the 8 directions and through most surfaces.[8]