Super Thunder Blade
Super Thunder Blade is a shooter for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console, published by Sega. It was one of three launch titles for the console in Japan (the others being Space Harrier II and Altered Beast), as well as being one of the six launch titles for the console for its U.S. launch. It is a follow-up to the 1987 arcade game Thunder Blade. It was released for the Virtual Console on September 17, 2007. It was also included in the Sega Genesis Collection for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable in 2007 and in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
SCREENSHOTS
PHYSICAL
HISTORY
Super Thunder Blade is a 1988 rail shooter game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. It sees players controlling a helicopter as they gun down military vehicles in various different environments. The sequel to the 1987 arcade game Thunder Blade, the gameplay of Super Thunder Blade follows the structure set by its arcade predecessor, with every stage featuring traditional rail shooting segment ending off with a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up boss battle.
The game was later released for the Virtual Console on September 17, 2007, and on the Nintendo Classics service on April 11, 2025. It was also included in the Sega Genesis Collection for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable in 2007 and in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Plot
Although the battle against the guerilla forces supported directly from Country S was won, with the enemy’s assault staved off, many of the guerillas survived, while Thunder Blade was lost as a result of the fighting while its pilot, Captain Lantz Goswork of Country A, was left injured. Despite this, however, a new combat helicopter is developed by Country A called “Super Thunder Blade” to tackle emerging threats, with Captain Lantz at the helm once again.
Gameplay
Super Thunder Blade is a rail shooter game. As in its predecessor, the player takes control of a helicopter which is used to attack a group of guerrillas. The helicopter itself uses guns and missiles, and can also air brake. A distinctive feature that also appears in the arcade game is the use of different viewpoints during normal gameplay and when fighting sub-bosses. The game utilizes a third-person perspective from behind the helicopter, similar to Space Harrier, but the camera changes to a top-down perspective when fighting bosses. The game has four stages to play.
Reception
The game received positive reviews upon release. ACE magazine rated it 880 out of 1000 and listed it as one of the top five best games available for the Mega Drive in 1989. Computer and Video Games rated it 80% and called it the "best version" of Thunder Blade on "any" system.
The game later received mixed retrospective reviews in the 2000s. In 2007, IGN gave the game a 4 out of 10, citing a framerate that was "far too jumpy" and lamenting that the game "just couldn't make the jump to console" from its arcade cabinet counterpart.
1CC RUNS
One-credit clears we point to as the benchmark for this game.
STORES
Prices are cached from each storefront and may be out of date. Last checked 24 Sept 2026. We checked Steam and found no way to buy it there right now.
PRICE HISTORY
Every price change we know of, per shop. Flat means the price held; PC shops reach back through IsThereAnyDeal's archive, console shops start when this site started watching.
Fanatical low: $0.74 (22 Nov 2017) , Steam low: $0.74 (23 Jun 2016)
SCORES
ACHIEVEMENTS 1 set
Tracked by RetroAchievements and earned in an emulator that reports to it. A game tracked on more than one machine gets a set for each, because they are different lists earned on different hardware.