 ThunderCross
Konami, uncrowned kings of the horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up, released this lovely game in 1988. Rather low-profile in comparison to the Gradius series, nevertheless this is a fabby game. The imaginatively-titled ThunderCross II appeared in due course, and for me that game has a special place as it is 'The Last Game' - the last arcade game I could be bothered to finish properly (i.e. play to the end on one credit). Since then, arcades have filled with endless near-identical driving games & beat-em-ups. Damn them! Damn them all!!!
Controls A joystick moves the craft in the accepted fashion. A fire button does what you might imagine, however the second button's function varies depending on what version you're playing. In the US version, it fires a smart bomb (called, bizarrely, "Li'l Baby") which destroys everything on screen. In the European and Japanese versions it is used to adjust the separation of your multiples, which adds a nice strategic touch. The second button is also used to launch any 'super weapons' (fire, laser or napalm) that you may have collected. Weapons Your ship can collect up to 4 multiples, or 'options'. In the US version, you start with two of them already. I won't comment on what this says about US gamers' skills... You may also choose between 3 different weapons : Vulcan (rapid-fire), Boomerang (bouncy bullets) and Tail Gun (shoots backwards and forwards).
Variants There are at least three distinct versions : Japanese, US and European. Oddly, the US and Japanese versions have a different level order as well as the weaponry difference mentioned above. Emulation After a few teething problems, MAME now emulates ThunderCross quite nicely. Level Guide (soon) See Also: |
