Producer: US Gold
Retail Price: £7.99

Geldra, another ruthless megalomaniac, controls a secret organisation that threatens world domination and the like. He and his evil crew must be stopped before it is too late, as usual.

So top agent Albatross is assigned to penetrate the headquarters of Geldra's gang.

But this is going to be no mere perambulation through ten horizontally-scrolling levels of a secret organisation s HO before confronting the leader in a final showdown, oh no. Crawling from the woodwork and dashing from doors are hordes of Geldra's hooded thugs who, we are told, 'will shoot, punch and drop bombs on you, inexorably draining your energy'. (Look - they weren't hired to be original, right?)

But Geldra's crew is not the only obstacle Albatross must overcome. Automatic lasers with deadly fire, and a lava pool with a vicious complement of 'fire-men', await the secret agent. And Albatross has just four lives to take him through the network of passageways, doorways and balconies.

With reactions the speed of light, Albatross can easily leap above or duck beneath a hail of bullets, and he carries a pistol and a machine gun.

COMMENTS

Joysticks: Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: jerkily-animated main characters, simple backgrounds
Sound: a couple of interesting tunes, with good sound effects

This is so frustrating! The game structure is appealing (if unoriginal) but the action is annoying. It's not as though Rolling Thunder is easy to begin with - not only do you have to watch out for the enemy getting too dose, but you've also got to keep a lookout for bullets you can hardly see.

Otherwise it's fair: the characters are reasonably well-drawn but jerkily animated, and the backgrounds are more functional than decorative, simple line drawings set in gaudy colours.

But forget the passable graphics - Rolling Thunder is marred by tedious gameplay. Why do you have to get sent right back to the start of a level whenever you're killed?

The potential is there for a really smart game; perhaps if it had been play-tested more Rolling Thunder would have realised that potential rather than failing this way.
GORDON [34%]

I'm very impressed with this - but most players will find it very, very hard.

It's a simply-laid-out but expansive (especially in the second area) platform shoot-'em-up. There's not much colour, but it's well used - creating very detailed and varied impressions. And the sound effects break up the monotony of running (Impossible Mission-style) and often hint at what Geldra's guards are going to try next.

I didn't get even the slightest bit infuriated with this very enjoyable game, despite the 'going back to the start' syndrome that annoyed other reviewers - mind you, I am pretty good at it!
PAUL [59%]

Your Sinclair's resident cartoon spy, Phil Snout, rolls up his thunder and trots along the platforms of this latest US Gold arcade smash!

FAX BOX
Game: Rolling Thunder
Publisher: US Gold
Price: £8.99
Reviewer: Phil South

It's difficult to play arcade games these days, without thinking about the time when they'll certainly appear on your Spectrum. And sure enough, the other day, arriving home from the arcade after spending about three quid on Rolling Thunder, I found that Tizzy from US Gold had sent me a copy of the self-same game... Tsk! And what a corky little number it is too! Why be like me and dribble all your spondulicks into an arcade piggy bank, when you can play it here and now for free on your own Spectroid?

Rolling Thunder if you haven't seen it (where've you been?) is a totally spondicious shoot 'em up, where you play the part of a sharp shooting undercover cop, codename Albatross, whose mission (should you choose to accept it) is to penetrate the underground fortress of the evil Geldra and rescue some unfortunate hostages. What's on his mind? Well, it seems that Geldra's got a plan to conquer the world, and it's up to the Rolling Thunder Undercover Police to stop him. So you break into the deserted warehouse, and search for the secret door. Suddenly you are plunged into the winding corridors of Geldra's underworld... everywhere you turn, his hooded minions leap from doorways, spitting bullets from their pistols and broken limbs from their flying fists. You've got to be quick on the draw and a very fast runner if you want to rescue the hostages instead of joining them.

The format of Rolling Thunder could be described as a sort of deluxe platform game, with two-way/left to right scrolling (sometimes even up and down!) with most of the action taking place on two levels.

The upper level is a catwalk high above your head, which you can leap up to by pressing fire and up at the same time. Along each level leading down to Geldra's Palace, are doors through which his minions spring, ready to do you a mischief. There are five levels, which you must go through twice in order to get to your final objective. The second time around some new hazards are added, with things like laser cannons and precarious lava pits, making a difficult job impossible. That's the one thing I would say to you about Thunder: It's piggin' hard! It's one of the fastest shoot 'em ups I've played this month and, with the possible exception of US Gold's other biggie, Bedlam, the one requiring the most skill.

So make like a cold cure and don't waste a second. Nip down to the shop and get Rolling Thunder. You won't regret it.

Label: US Gold
Author: Tiertex
Price: £7.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

Rolling Thunder is an astonishingly faithful conversion of the Namco com-op. It's a rollicking, shooty-shooty romp which brought the blood back to my cheeks and countless curses of frustration to my lips.

A horizontal scroller (and pleasingly smooth too). Rolling Thunder is a secret agent epic in which your task is to penetrate the headquarters of a sinister organisation dedicated to... er, being nasty. In this case their nastiness takes the form of kidnapping some poutaceous beauty who lies bound and gagged at the end of the last level. Incentive enough to complete the game, you might think, and since its up to you to rescue her...

The hooded villains, who look like particularly nasty Klu Klux Klansmen. don't hesitate to PUNCH! you in the gob, SHOOT! you in cold blood, BOMB! you from the balconies or DROWN! you in the lakes (OK Jenks so you've been watching Batman on TVAM too), so you should have no compunction about gunning them down. All the animation is beautifully done, from the running figures, to the death-defying vaults over the handrails and onto the balconies, to the valiant leaps across (and into) piles of tyres, from which you have to peep out to shoot down cheeky chappies.

Mr Thunder ("but you can call me 'Rolling' ") has a limited supply of bullets. This can be replenished by standing in front of doors and pushing the joystick up to enter and search rooms. Some are empty, so they're only any good as temporary hiding places - but that's a bit wimpish. Some contain bullets, and others contain more powerful guns which shoot 'megabullets'. These can kill a hood with a single shot, and so are much prized. The baddies collapse gracefully in a heap, whereas if you are shot or punched to death, you clutch your throat, fall in a pile and expire unpleasantly. While the backgrounds of balconies, doorways and barrels are nicely detailed there are also areas which are just green lumps, the significance of which I can't explain.

While Rolling Thunder is very much a quick-reaction shoot-em-up, you really have to plan your advance if you are to have any hope of surviving; leap to and from the balconies, and avoid fighting as much as possible; save up your bullets, watch out for hoods emerging unexpectedly from doors, and you might have a chance.

Rolling Thunder is very much like an immensely superior Kung-Fu Master. The graphics and animation are great, and it looks like there's enough gameplay to keep you occupied for many long sessions. The most successful coin-op conversion I've seen for a long time.

Shoot some hoods with US Gold.

Geldra's the main villain in this conversion of the Namco coin-op. It's up to agent Albatross (you) to penetrate the ten levels of Geldra's secret base and confront him. Rolling Thunder is a platform shoot-em-up viewed side-on, with swarms of Gelda's guards instructed to punch, shoot or blow you up on sight.

Thankfully you're armed with a pistol and a machine-gun, and you can collect ammunition for both through marked doors - from which the guards also appear - situated at ground level and on balconies. Jumping up and down in pretty simple though. The arcade version's guards had coloured hoods to indicate the number of shots required to kill them, but there's no such indication on the home micro version - you have to assume each guard will need the maximum.

The coin-op has been faithfully converted and the programming team have done a remarkable job considering 8-bit limitations it's fun to play and quite addictive in the short-term, but as with most coin-op conversions, the challenge will fade quickly.

Reviewer: Andy Smith

RELEASE BOX
Spec, £8.99cs, Out Now
C64/128, £9.99cs, £11.99dk, Imminent
Amstrad, £9.99cs, £14.99dk, Out Now
Atari ST, £19.99dk, Imminent
Amiga, £24.99dk, Imminent

Predicted Interest Curve

1 min: 80/100
1 hour: 78/100
1 day: 88/100
1 week: 60/100
1 month: 30/100
1 year: 0/100

Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £8.99
Amstrad CPC Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99

ALBATROSS FLAVOUR

Converted by Tiertex, who also worked on US Gold's 720°, Rolling Thunder has been licensed from the Namco coin-op and is one of the more expensive licenses bought recently. The conversions are both pleasing, and make up for the disappointment provided by Out Run over the Christmas period.

Playing a hero codenamed 'Albatross' doesn't really bode well for a mission to overthrow a secret organisation controlled by the sinister Geldra.

The action takes place across ten levels of horizontally, and occasionally vertically scrolling backdrops set in Geldra's underworld base. The agent's route is littered with obstacles such as crates, rocks, and piles of tyres, and Geldra's hooded henchmen armed with guns and bombs are continually on his trail. This opposition is swiftly eliminated by a couple of wellaimed shots from Albatross' revolver or machine gun, until his ammunition runs out - thereafter he has to defend himself in unarmed combat.

Additional ammunition is collected from behind specific doors, indicated by a bullet or machine gun arrow on the wall. These alcoves also provide a temporary respite from the ensuing carnage.

Surprisingly, the beginning of level one appears the hardest. In which the Albatross is faced by a sudden attack from a four or five man gang with only the pistol for defence. By later levels, the defence systems have engaged automatic lasers, and the action finally climaxes in the encounter with Geldra at the end of level ten.