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Thundercade Review
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American Sammy
Relase: 1985 Review: March 1st, 2005 |
Story
Thundercade pits you, a brave yet insane motorcyclist against an army of incredible proportions. Apparently, there is also an atomic power plant that you need to blow up, though that seems sort of cruelly tacked on as an afterthought.
Gameplay
Have you ever played Tiger-Heli? The spiffy fly-along, bomb everything in site game? Well, if you have, then imagine Thundercade as kind of a "low-budget" version of Tiger-Heli, with a motorcycle. You have your standard, slow-moving, badly-in-need-of-turbo machine gun spray, and your "destroy most of the stuff on the screen" attack. Of course, you have a limited number of these super attacks. I found them depressingly weak for the most part.
Ah, but there is a silver lining! The game features a nice power-up systems - the powerups look different, and can attach to the side of your super motorcycle, performing on-the-fly adjustments to your power and firing capabilities.
Here's a run-down of the amazing side-cars at your disposal (provided you liberate them from greenery, buildings, or other obstacles.)
- 12.7mm CHAIN GUN (Side car with one front cannon)
- 105mm CANNON (Side car with one big front cannon)
- DUAL 30mm CANNON (Side car with two front cannons)
- DUAL 105mm CANNON (Side car with two big front cannons)
- DUAL SIDE 30mm CANNON (Side car with two side cannons)
- DUAL SIDE 105mm CANNON (Side car with two big side cannons)
Challenge
A lot of the challenge in Thundercade comes from the rather pokey maneuverability of the combat cycle you ride. You can only drive in the four cardinal directions, so evading the rather large, reasonably fast moving bullets can be a chore. Without autofire this game is quite difficult.
Graphics
Feast your eyes on these graphics! They're pretty average, with a somewhat painful amount of flicker.
Your bike looks pretty crappy, even with the sidecars, and most of the enemies are under-detailed and boring. However, the infantry look pretty good - running along, and especially when being plowed into the dirt by your combat cycle.
Audio
Your standard beeps and boops, with the most frequent noise being the sound of your guns firing. I actually like the main theme; strangely enough I find myself humming it every now and then.
Worth Playing?
Thundercade is pretty much your run-of-the-mill shooter, but elements such as the ability to run infantry over, the upgradable sidecars, and a reasonable challenge level keep the game interesting. I expect to glean another couple of hours entertainment from Thundercade. The fun is heightened considerably when two players are gunning through it. It's also worth noting that this is a very early Nintendo title, and, as such, should be approached with a bit more forgiveness than later titles.
Grade: 6/10