Thunderbirds

Developed by Pack-In-Video Co., Ltd
PAC-T5 サンダーバード/Thunderbirds published by Pack-In-Video 1989-09-29 in Japan
NES-T5-USA Thunderbirds published by Activision 1990-09 in the USA
1 player only.

This is a vertical scrolling shooter but it has a story. and a less than completely linear structure. Hood claims to have a way to bombard the Earth with meteorites. He will do so if the Thunderbirds do not give him their vehicles in 60 days. The Thunderbirds determine that he must have a very powerful energy source to backup his threat but it won't be finished for 60 days. Which is the reason for his demands and deadline first, rather than him announcing his threat with a meteorite. They set out to find his source of energy before the deadline it up.
The player choose from several missions per round which is also a choice of which Thunderbird and corresponding vehicle to pilot. Completing a mission or combination of missions will unlock additional ones. There are no in-game clues to the unlocking pattern and it has to be learned by experience. their are (apparently) 12 possible missions. The missions themselves are pretty standard vertical scrolling shooting with powerups dropped from exploding enemies that are lost when the vehicle is damaged. Enemies with powerups glow red. The ship has 3 hit points that can be recovered (1 HP per powerup). You can gain better weapons and also wingmen to help blast an odd assortment of enemies. Should a ship lose all its hit points, it must be grounded for 3 days for repairs. That's 3 days closer to the deadline. Successfully completing a stage costs 1 day. Other than this deadline, all 5 pilots (and vehicles) effectively have infinite lives.

(Zerothis) - # 2009-08-28 07:07:11

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