Developer: Pack-In-Video Publisher: Activision Release: 09/90 Genre: Shooter
Thunderbirds was before my time so I have no attachment to it. Unlike Godzilla and old Kung Fu movies it never impressed me. I am sure for its time the stop motion animated puppets looked cool. But to my young eyes in the 80s it was goofy. Granted it is not like He-Man and Thundercats with their five frames of animation were much better but I digress. So it goes without saying that a game based around the property was not the slightest bit interesting. Coming back to it now Thunderbirds is better than it initially seems. The only thing holding it back is how uneven the entire experience is.
Thunderbirds is a British TV series from the 60s filmed using electronic puppets and animated using a process dubbed supermarionation. The series follows International Rescue, a life-saving organization that uses five vehicles named the Thunderbirds to carry out operations on land, sea, air, and outer space. The game is very story heavy with intermissions between levels. Villain Hood has threatened to blanket the world in a shower of meteors if his demands are not met. The Thunderbird team has 60 days to stop him from completing his power source to enact his plan.
All five vehicles from the show are present in the game but you do not choose the ship for each level. Instead Jeff assigns a ship/pilot for specific missions. Each craft has a unique weapon that has three power levels. In addition to your three hit life bar you can collect two orbiters that are essentially options like Gradius. Sadly the orbiters are extremely weak as their firepower never improves and they cannot protect you from damage. But you can reposition them in different formations. At first only forward and backward are available but in almost every level you will gain another including circle, sideways, and diagonal. It is a cool feature if a little half baked.
The 60 day ultimatum plays a factor in a few ways. Every time you enter a level and successfully complete it uses one day. If you die it takes three days to repair your ship. You can technically continue as many times as you like so long as you have enough days left. But you cannot be completely reckless as you will need some time in reserve. The entire map is not available from the start; initially there are only three levels in the Indian Ocean, Asia, and North America. As you complete these stages more become accessible eventually totaling nine altogether. So you need a few days at the very least to see this to the end.
The Thunderbirds experience is inconsistent. The levels in North America are boring. Enemy waves are slow and predictable and you control the least interesting ships in the bunch. There is a lot of dead air and overall these levels are bland. It picks up a bit in the Indian Ocean as the game starts to resemble 1943 as you assault ships over the sea. While it is better the comparison to better titles is not flattering. But once you hit Asia the game feels like it comes in to its own. The enemies are more creative, the action is intense even though there are no bosses and the stages are longer without being annoying. If the whole game were like this it would be so much better, especially to make up for the lacking difficulty.
Overall Thunderbirds is extremely easy for a shooter. Even though you technically only have one life per level the game’s premise means you have far more than that to complete it. Life restoring power-ups are common and even though your weapons and their usefulness vary per ship for the majority of the game you will breeze through it. The Asian stages are the only areas that put up any resistance. Enemies are densely packed and more aggressive and there are level hazards that pose a legit threat. But as a whole you have to actively suck at video games to have any real trouble with this one.
In Closing
I like Thunderbirds a lot more than I was expecting to. This could very easily have been a generic licensed shooter. But it at least incorporates a few unique ideas to rise above that status. I will say of Pack-In Videos licensed titles for the NES this is one of their best. But is it good enough for me to recommend? Sadly no. The uneven level design means you will either see the best it has to offer early on or have to tolerate mediocrity first to find it. Why play half of a good shooter when you can experience a great one from start to finish like Gun-Nac?
