GameWTFs.com

Last week we looked at some pulp NES cover art; but this week, it's time to take one of those games, sift through the pulp and um...drink some of the juice whilst writing tortured metaphors.

It may surprise you to know that Rolling Thunder has a lot more to offer than the bizarre sight of brightly-colored villains in suspicious conical hats being evil, misogynistic and/or confused,

To the impartial observer, Rolling Thunder, especially the unlicensed NES port of Rolling Thunder with its occasionally sparse and glitchy graphics...

Anyway, it might just seem like an undercooked version of later run-and-gun-and-duck-into-the-broom-cupboard em ups, like Code Name: Viper. Definitely playing Rolling Thunder and Code Name: Viper highlights Viper's additional features: mainly the ability to shoot WHILE JUMPING, but you also have a noticeably higher rate of fire for your basic pistol.

However, there's something about Rolling Thunder's clunky walkin', slow-on-the-draw stick figure that turns every fire-fight into high drama.

Whether your enemy is ensconced inside some bullet-proof tires, or just standing on the other side of a crate, these situations require careful timing: you have to quickly pop up and squeeze off your shot to catch them at the right moment of their shooting pattern, without getting hit by their constant return fire.

In fact, you could argue that Rolling Thunder employs some shootin' concepts that were decades ahead of its time: stealth and use of cover. What do you think, guys?

The game's unforgiving nature (your walking speed, slow rate of fire, and the amount of time it takes to jump up/down between platforms) means that a lot of the game requires that you memorize where enemies appear, or tippy-toe forwards, or stroll while constantly shooting in hopes that you'll kill the hooded menaces as they scroll onto the screen.

Tune in next week for a run-down on the game's various enemies!