Developed and published by Sega in 1990.
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Originally one of the three titles available when Sega first launched the Mega Drive, Super Thunder Blade is console-only sequel to the Thunder Blade arcade game. Famous for it's fancy arcade cabinet in the style of a helicopter cockpit and blessed with the "superscalar" technology, Sega were keen to demonstrate that their new console could deliver similar experiences in the home.
As a hotshot pilot, you must take control of an attack chopper and fly a series of missions against heavily-armed guerillas across a number of theatres.
Although quite similar to Afterburner, Super Thunder Blade tries to differentiate itself by splitting the gameplay between 3D third-person and 2D overhead sections more in common with vertical shoot 'em ups (e.g. Raiden).
Your chopper is equipped with both rapid-fire cannons and heat-seeking missiles, the mechanics of which vary between third-person and over-head sections. During the third-person sections the cannons can be used to shoot tanks or airborne enemies directly in front of the player's chopper, whilst the missiles will automatically home in on the next available hostile target. During the over-head sections, both cannons and missiles are used to strafe targets on the ground below you and the missiles no longer home in on enemies.
It's fair to say that the sprite processing and scaling of the Mega Drive is quite impressive during the 3D flying sections, although it does suffer from slow-down when things get busy. Enemy gunships and tanks appear on the horizon and fire salvoes of hot lead in your direction, so it's imperative to keep moving at all times whilst returning fire. To complicate matters, all manner of obstacles litter the scenery, meaning that the player must be agile enough to dodge enemy fire without colliding with a skyscraper or cliff-face.
Eventually, you will face off against a mid-level boss that must be destroyed in order to progress. While the bosses might look fierce, all that really is required to beat them is to fly in large circles to avoid their fire whilst relying on your heat seekers to destroy them.
Once beaten, there will be another short 3D flying section before the perspective flips to top-down mode. The objective here is to destroy as many stationary targets on the ground as possible whilst not getting shot down - all that really changes here is that the tactic of flying around in circles is replaced by flying side-to-side.
It's fair to say that these sections are undoubtedly the weakest parts of the game and are particularly bland when compared to the 3D sections. The only targets here are static, ground-based launchers that fill the skies full of flak making your chances of survival particularly slim.
Although Super Thunder Blade shares much in common with After Burner and Space Harrier, it's the game I like the least out of the three. One expects a game based on a coin-op to be tough, but the sluggish performance and treacle-like inertia of the chopper's handling means that navigating a safe path through the obstacles whilst avoiding enemy fire can become overwhelming at times.
Ultimately, the biggest problem with Super Thunder Blade isn't that it's a bad game, just that there are many other games that are simply more fun to play.
#retrogaming