Super Thunder Blade is a total fucking meme among friends of mine. It's really bad. Have you ever seen the arcade original in comparison? I don't think this port as a launch title was a terribly smooth move at all, with the scrolling of the original not really being possible here and the frame rate cut into what feels like 10% of its former glory. Instead of the more organic feeling scrolling, what's present here seems to be more like...snapping to a different, closer location on each frame (which again, isn't many frames). It looks like dogshit and makes for extremely unclear depth perception, which is really a nuisance in levels 2 and 4 in particular. Those two can seriously go to hell, they're total eyesores and they're way too fucking hard, even when you discover how to brake.
Levels 1 and 3 are a different story, oddly enough. They suck, because it's Super Thunder Blade, but you can cheese the hell out of them with ease. Just move in a square and bullets will always miss! I can basically do those two's rail shooter segments deathless by just moving in a square over and over. This seems to work like a charm in plenty rail shooters of the time as well, like HyperZone and the final level in Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Because levels 2 and 4 are more based around stage hazards though, no dice there. Good fucking luck with those. The overhead segments are a total chore as well, particularly the final one, but there's not even a lot to say about them. They all have the same music, even.
It really can't be stated how ugly this game is because of the scrolling, but it sounds ugly as well. It's possibly even more dead sounding than even Altered Beast, or Golden Axe. All the music has this feel to it that it just got sopping wet somehow and just wants to go home, it's so miserable it's kind of hilarious. One time I joked to a friend of mine (who I also pestered to play this, he gave up at the final boss) that he should rap over the level 1 music, and that motherfucker delivered, and I cried laughing about it like five times that day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20HkgpY2gZ0
It's not honestly the worst launch title for the console, that would go to Last Battle. But it's a lot funnier than that one in my opinion, and has managed as a running joke with friends for over a year now. Everyone should experience this once just for how absurdly hateful it is. It's so fucking funny, trust me.
Levels 1 and 3 are a different story, oddly enough. They suck, because it's Super Thunder Blade, but you can cheese the hell out of them with ease. Just move in a square and bullets will always miss! I can basically do those two's rail shooter segments deathless by just moving in a square over and over. This seems to work like a charm in plenty rail shooters of the time as well, like HyperZone and the final level in Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Because levels 2 and 4 are more based around stage hazards though, no dice there. Good fucking luck with those. The overhead segments are a total chore as well, particularly the final one, but there's not even a lot to say about them. They all have the same music, even.
It really can't be stated how ugly this game is because of the scrolling, but it sounds ugly as well. It's possibly even more dead sounding than even Altered Beast, or Golden Axe. All the music has this feel to it that it just got sopping wet somehow and just wants to go home, it's so miserable it's kind of hilarious. One time I joked to a friend of mine (who I also pestered to play this, he gave up at the final boss) that he should rap over the level 1 music, and that motherfucker delivered, and I cried laughing about it like five times that day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20HkgpY2gZ0
It's not honestly the worst launch title for the console, that would go to Last Battle. But it's a lot funnier than that one in my opinion, and has managed as a running joke with friends for over a year now. Everyone should experience this once just for how absurdly hateful it is. It's so fucking funny, trust me.
Jenny
1 year ago