Developer: Micronics Publisher:American Sammy Release: 08/89 Genre: Shooter
I like shooters. Be it fantasy shooters, space shooters, or even the weird supernatural ones like Castle of Shikigami. I will even dabble with the occasional bullet hell game although I am a fan of that style. I am not particularly enthusiastic about military themed shooters however. Make no mistake I will still play them if they are awesome; there is no way in hell I will avoid Toaplan’s entire catalog. But when they suck it justifies my dislike. Thundercade is a thoroughly boring game that has nothing going for it and is instantly forgettable. There are better shooters for the NES.
Thundercade is an arcade game released in the 1987 and the NES two years later. You are an operative of Operation Thundercade, an operation set up to battle the forces of Atomic Age Terrorist Organization of Miracali (AATOM). If you are thinking G.I. Joe versus COBRA this is not that cool. It is just a fancy way of sending one man against an entire enemy force. Unfortunately the port was done by Micronics, the butcher of many an arcade game to the NES. It is not as bad as their earlier works but is still nothing to write home about. You could say the same about the game overall in my opinion.
In many ways Thundercade resembles Tiger Heli in its mechanics. Your motorcycle has a standard cannon that can upgrade through various power-ups. Some of these increase it to a double shot but the most common attach to your cycle. Just as in Tiger Heli sidecars attach to the left and right to provide covering fire for your sides. Not every item does this; some supplement your main attack. Bombs are also available and in limited supply. Rather than clearing the screen bombs destroy everything in a straight line from your position. Power-ups are incredibly frequent at first but as you progress start to become rare. Unfortunately this hurts the second half of the game tremendously.
For as cool as the weapon system is you will not get to enjoy it much. Your weapons can be destroyed and sadly they will in rapid succession. The slightest touch from anything will destroy your weapons, be it a bullet or the environment. The way the game Is designed in such a way that your weapons will be destroyed within seconds. The standard shot is near worthless in comparison and you will sadly spend the majority of the game using it because of this. I did not like this system in Tiger Heli and it is especially bad here. What is the point of having cool weapons if you barely get to use them?
The level design is where Thundercade stumbles the most. It has its good points; the environments are heavily destructible and offer many secrets. You automatically jump when you hit water, or changes in terrain which can be used to your advantage. But the bad outweighs the good. The game loves to toss you in tight spaces that destroy your weapons which defeats the purpose of having them. With the way the levels are dense with enemies wading in the line of fire with the default cannon is near suicide. This would not be an issue if the game’s design felt fair but it comes across as cheap. The difficulty Is high as a result but in my opinion the real challenge is trying to stay awake until the end.
As if Thundercade did not already resemble Tiger Heli in its look and gameplay it also shares its abhorrent length. There are only four stages but they are unmercifully long. The pace of each level is unbearably slow as you plod along dealing with the same repetitive soldiers and tanks. It would be one thing if each level introduced a range of new enemies to keep things interesting but outside of maybe a turret the game is incredibly repetitive. It reminds me of Ikari Warriors in that regard but thank god the levels don’t drag on that long. I would gladly have taken twice as many stages that are half as long if it would have led to more variety.
In Closing
Thundercade is bad, really bad. Plodding, slow, and with few thrills to speak of there is little to hold your interest. Replay Life Force or Gun-Nac before ever considering this one. There are better ways to spend your time.
