Thunder Blade

Developer: Sega
Publisher:  Sega

Thunder Blade was a helicopter SHMUP originally launched for the arcades, it boasted some very impressive sprite scaling effects giving it a pseudo 3D effect, I have no idea whose idea was it to port the game for the Master System, but at least you can clearly tell the developers did their best.

The game is separated into two segments, the first being a typical 2D shmup with all of the previously mentioned pseudo 3D effects removed. This mode is fairly standard for the genre, boasting some near perfect collision detection though I'd argue the player's hit box is a bit too big, it does add a twist though, you can only shoot ground units with missile, whereas air units are only hit by bullets, so you're constantly shifting between the controller's buttons, these sort of levels are extremely hard as enemies keep coming at you from all directions, made even by worse by the fact that there are no power ups, so yeah, you're going to be using the same weapons throughout the entire game.

As you reach the halfway point of each level, the game shifts perspective to a Pseudo 3D style (as seen in the image), here you see some very impressive graphical effects considering this is running on a Master System. Unfortunately the background seems to move at very low framerate, oh and remember how I complained about the 2D segments being difficult? Here the difficulty is cranked up to 11! You're literally being bombarded from every altitude and the games does a poor job at conveying depth perception so you'll be crashing into objects and bullets that you thought you'd be able to easily to dodge.

Graphically the 2D style is pretty standard stuff for the console the real eye candy being reserved for the 3D segments, some people might feel these haven't aged well, but personally, I'm just amazed they pulled it off at all! The sound department is pretty weak, with the same two or three songs looping every on every level and the explosions, missiles and bullets quite simply lacking in the "oomph!" department (especially the latter).

Overall you can tell that the developers gave it their best shot, but this is a case of the Master System simply biting off more than it could chew, yes the 3D looks impressive but it's not very playable whereas the 2D sections look drab and boring without the Arcade's scaling effects. I suppose they could have added power ups, but then there would hardly be any similarities with the original Thunder Blade.

Trivia: Did you know this game is compatible with the Master System FM-Synthesizer? Of course, in order to take advantage of it, you need either a Japanese Master System or to install a sound chip mod on your western console.

Pros:

- 3D graphics look pretty cool
- 2D sections can still be fun and challenging

Cons:

- Although they look cool, these 3D segments give you a poor depth perception and run at a low framerate

- Could've used some power ups
- The game is simply too hard

Final Grade: D

 (Excuse the glue residue folks)

I have to say, the boxart looks awesome, it's the sort of cover that you'd expect from some 80's action flick while browsing a videostore, definitely eye catching.

Unfortunately though, I don't own the manual so I can't compile a full packaging review.

Packaging score: N/A

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