Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 11, 2013 17:47:01 GMT
by gakon5
It's time for a Spotlight article on a Namco arcade game. No, it isn't Pac-Man.
Rolling Thunder is an arcade game developed by Nacmo and released in 1986. The game is a sidescrolling, run and gun shooter, where you play - wait for it - a secret agent infiltrating a terrorist organisation.
Your main weapon is a pistol, although there are certain doors you can enter that will give you a machine gun with a limited supply of ammunition. On your way to the exit (there is a time limit), many baddies will come along to try and take you out. You've got your basic "I'm going to run at you until you shoot me" enemies, some of which take two hits to kill. There are also dudes that lob grenades, or who actually fire back, possibly taking cover behind a crate.
In addition to running, jumping, and crouching, you can perform these fancy super jumps. Most of the levels are two-tiered, with a high level and a sort of balcony level. You (and your enemies) can shift between these two floors whenever. Later levels do get a bit more complicated in their geometry, with things like a bunch of stacked crates you can jump between.
This game is a bit tricky, mainly because of two things. First, your time limit is only 180 seconds (or 150 on a revised cabinet), so if you play the game slowly, you lose a life. Second, despite the presence of a life meter with eight whole units on it, you can only take to physical punches from enemies (which usually come in succession) or one bullet before you die.
Shooting enemies can also get a bit wierd when you get into areas with more than just two levels of elevaton. There are some cases where you can take low shots at enemies, and the bullets are literally pixels above their head. I found that remembering what types of enemies appeared where, and where to stand to kill them helped me out. Not that this is a memorization game or anything.
I couldn't say how popular it was in arcades, but according to Wikipedia it was a "wild success" in arcades... but obviously not on a Pac-Man scale. Nothing ever was I guess.
There were two sequels, approprietly named Rolling Thunder 2 and 3. RT2 came to arcades and the Genesis, while RT3 came exclusively on the Genesis. The sequel added Co-Op support and a new setting.
If you want to play Rolling Thunder, it was ported to the NES, Genesis, Lynx, and several home computers, (C64, Atari ST, Spectrum, etc...). It's also on the PSP Namco Museum, and the 50th Anniversery compilation, which is on 29475 different platforms.
For more info on this game, try that Wikipedia place.