FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF THE FUTURE
One of Hamster's suprises on the Arcade Archives series was the release of obscure games that never saw the light on consoles. One of them is the Raiden clone Thunder Dragon by NMK.
For an in-depth analysis of gameplay, graphics and sound check the review for Thunder Dragon.
America needs heroes to win this battle.
Do you have what it takes, soldier?
NMK's response to Seibu Kaihatsu's Raiden that combines Sci-Fi and American Patriotism was an unexpected surprise for the catalogue. Considering their previous release back then were Jaleco's Legend of Makai and SNK's Guerrilla War (using the Japanese Guevara ROM), having this obscurity of shooting was an unexpected move. If you're lazy to read the original review, let me give you a quick rundown on Thunder Dragon: This shmup was a Raiden Clone which unlike Seibu Kaihatsu's classic shmup, it featured four alternate weapons instead of one: The spread fire (Capsule 1), the frontal laser (Capsule 2), spread-reflect laser (Capsule 3) and a full frontal missile volley (Capsule 4). While in Raiden, they change your weapon, in Thunder Dragon they're a super backup to your basic twin pea-shooter, since you can still fire those twin bullets while unleashing mass devastation with the weapons you've got and upgrade throughout your gameplay. The SOL bomb is a major improvement over Raiden's bomb as it detonates immediately rather than waiting until the projectile hits the ground, the bonus mechanic got its dose of improvements, as the bonus stars increase their value as you pick them without missing a single one, and after 10,000 points, a 1Up will be thrown to the game. The only problem (and major problem) with this game is the lack of what is known as "Hit Flash" which indicates that an enemy is taking a hit or not. while this is little to no problem with small enemies like the zako/popcorn enemies, it does with the bosses making the player think they're not causing any damage, forcing him/her to spam SOL bombs. While Raiden kicks you back to a checkpoint when continuing in a single player mode, Thunder Dragon puts you right where you were killed, making solo play more 1P friendly, granting the player a better chance to make progress.
While shmups are a common part of any console's catalogue, and mostly conversions of arcade games in order to claim their statements of "Arcade fun at home", "Play the arcade game at home" and "You'll never have to stay in line to play again", Thunder Dragon and its sequel never saw the light on 16-Bit consoles, forcing them to become obscure arcade titles for operators who wanted cheap games to boost their business, especially the first game. It took 30 years until Hamster decided to bring this game home as part of the Arcade Archives series where the game only has 1 Original Mode since the Japanese and "World" ROMs are the same, except obviously for the bootleg that uses stolen music and sounds from Raiden (Ironic, a "Raiden-killer" with Raiden music). The emulation of this game is like all of Hamster's arcade releases very solid and without input lags but the most important aspect of all: Respecting the original graphics and sounds of the arcade game, giving us the best chance of playing the original arcade game at home. Whether if you want to play an arcade session or give the additional Hi-Score and Caravan modes a try, it has a simple, yet good amount of replay value.
TRIVIA DRAGON
- First NMK game in the Arcade Archives series.
- The Arcade Archives release is the sole instance of homeporting of this game and the Thunder Dragon series alike.
You belong here. Make your country proud.
Arcade Archives: Thunder Dragon might be a shmup obscurity that sees the light, but still an interesting vertical scroll shooting and one of the underrated gems of NMK.
You should give this one a try despite its flaws, It is a nice competitor for Raiden enthusiasts.