is a
run and gun arcade game developed and released by
Namco
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, ...
for the
Namco System 2
Namco was a video game developer and publisher, originally from Japan.
Bandai Namco Entertainment is the successor to Namco and continues manufacturing and distributing video games worldwide. For Namco games released following the 2006 merger w ...
hardware in 1991. The game is the sequel to 1986's ''
Rolling Thunder'', retaining the same gameplay of its predecessor but adding
cooperative gameplay Cooperative game may refer to:
* Cooperative board game, board games in which players work together to achieve a common goal
* Cooperative game theory, in game theory, a game with competition between groups of players and the possibility of cooperat ...
for two players and improved graphics. Unlike the original, which was based in 1968, ''Rolling Thunder 2'' features a more contemporary setting to go along with its more futuristic design, as well as an optionally playable female character. A port for the
Sega Genesis was released the same year. Both the Mega Drive port and the original arcade game were released for the
Wii Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Un ...
on December 4, 2007 and October 27, 2009 respectively.
Gameplay
Set in the 1990s, the Geldra organization, thought to have been eliminated during the first game, returns and is destroying several of the world's satellites in outer space. As in the original ''
Rolling Thunder'', the players must take control of a member of the WCPO's Rolling Thunder task force.
Two players can now play simultaneously, with Player 1 as female agent Leila and Player 2 as male agent Albatross. Even though they possess different external appearances, including different handguns, the two characters have identical abilities (much like Yūichirō Tomari and Sunday Chin from Namco's own ''
Ordyne'', which was released two years earlier and is also a
Namco System 2
Namco was a video game developer and publisher, originally from Japan.
Bandai Namco Entertainment is the successor to Namco and continues manufacturing and distributing video games worldwide. For Namco games released following the 2006 merger w ...
game). As with the original game, both Leila and Albatross can only take two physical hits from the enemies - and a hit from a bullet or other projectile such as a laser will result in an immediate death. Both are armed with a default pistol that has only limited ammunition; when bullets run out, their guns fire a slow "chaser" bullet instead. Players can also upgrade to a submachine gun (based on a Walther MP from the artwork) by entering marked doors - and when entering one of these marked doors, a counter appears indicating the number of remaining bullets left to be picked up, allowing one player to leave ammo for the other. Unlike in the original ''
Rolling Thunder'', pistol and machine gun ammunition is not carried over at the end of each level and players always start a new level with the minimum pistol rounds only.
The graphics are noticeably improved over the previous game and have a decidedly more futuristic look to go along with the game's modern setting; the game's main enemy characters, the Maskers, who were previously designed to look like hooded terrorists (or Foot Soldiers of the original ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...
'' arcade game) are now cyborgs. Likewise, the game has more varied stage designs, with the first four stages taking place in a seaside resort in Florida, and the last four in a pyramid in Egypt; both locations actually being camouflaged Geldra bases.
Reception
The home version of ''Rolling Thunder 2'' was well received. Its mostly highly positive review scores included 92% from ''
Computer & Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'', 23/25 from ''
GamePro'', 85% from ''
Mean Machines
''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game journalism, video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom.
Origins
In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generatio ...
'', 90% from ''
MegaTech'', and, retrospectively, 8/10 from Sega-16. Reviews of the Virtual Console release were often more critical, including being rated 6/10 by
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
, 6.5/10 by
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
, and 8/10 by Nintendo Life.
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
ranked Rolling Thunder 2 85th on their "The 100 Best Sega Genesis Games."
Notes
References
External links
*{{KLOV game, id=9363, name=Rolling Thunder 2
1991 video games
Arcade video games
Cooperative video games
Namco arcade games
Run and gun games
Science fiction video games
Sega Genesis games
Spy video games
Terrorism in fiction
Video games about police officers
Video games developed in Japan
Video games featuring female protagonists
Video games set in Egypt
Video games set in Florida
Video games set in the 1990s
Virtual Console games