Retro game review: Rolling Thunder (Nintendo Entertainment System)

After witnessing the flood of low-effort garbage that ended up killing the Atari 2600 and nearly destroyed the home video game market, Nintendo created a tight system where every game that appeared on their console needed to go through them for approval and the actual game cartridges.

Eventually, workarounds were developed that allowed third parties who wanted to avoid going through Nintendo were able to produce their own games that didn't get Nintendo's seal of approval. While most of these unlicensed games were of average to poor quality, some turned out pretty great. Tengen was arguably the best unlicensed publisher on the NES, porting not only Atari games to the NES, but even Sega games like Afterburner and Alien Syndrome.

One of the games Tengen brought to the NES was Namco's Rolling Thunder, whose rights in North America were owned by Atari. So how does this unlicensed game stack up?

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In Rolling Thunder, you play as secret agent Albatross who is invading the base of a cult named Geldra to save your partner who was kidnapped by this cult. The game is overflowing with style, with its crazy James Bond meets comic books look and feel.

You begin the game already inside their base and there's not much surprising in the goal of the game. Move from from left to right (sometimes up and down) to reach the end of the stage and get a bit closer to rescuing your partner.

The levels are peppered with doors that you can enter by pressing up, and inside you'll sometimes find ammunition, a machine gun or health refills. You can continue holding up to stay inside the door as long as you like, if there are henchmen right outside.

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Much of the game's charm comes from the colorful hooded henchmen the game throws at you. They range from basic grunts, to gun-wielding threats, bomb-tossing nuts and disappearing ninjas. Their sprites are all identical, bu they're color-coded so you know which ones you're dealing with. Later levels add more creatures, like short nimble beasts and flying nuisances.

Agent Albatross can utilize the normal movements you'd expect from sidescrollers. One of the big mechanics is the ability to press up while jumping to do a super jump that will take you to much higher platforms. The game feels great, with tight and responsive controls.

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Rolling Thunder is a great-looking game. A wide array of bright colors are used that add to the comic-book feel I take away from the game. The sprites really have a unique look and feel that scream "this is Rolling Thunder", with well-drawn and clear characters and surprisingly smooth animation. Backgrounds feature a good amount of detail, but not so much that they would look out of place next to the design of the characters. Levels could use a bit more variety though, as some tilesets seem to be reused in different stages. In short, its a very good looking game.

The music and sounds are nice too, with weighty gunshot sounds that most NES games could never pull off quite right. Music is limited, but what's here fits the 60's spy theme like a glove. The tunes might be limited, but they get the job done and never become annoying.

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Rolling Thunder is a special game, as I always had to stop and play the arcade version when I came across it as a kid. I was skeptical that the NES port would be able to do it justice, but I was pleasantly surprised. Rolling Thunder is simple, but does what it does very well. It's fun, responsive and full of character.

That black cart and gold box might have thrown up red flags when this hit stores nearly 30 years ago. Buying an unlicensed game for the NES was a risky endeavor because you had no idea what you were going to get. However, Rolling Thunder is one of the better run and gun games on the NES. While not as twitchy and polished as something like Contra or Journey To Silius, Rolling Thunder does its own thing and is pretty great at being itself.

Current value:

Loose: $7.03 | Complete: $17.02

Thanks for reading. As always, upvotes, resteems and comments are appreciated!

^{Cover Image Source: MobyGames}