Thundercade
A nuclear powerplant has fallen into the hands of terrorists and you pilot a motorcyle equipped with machine guns that can be improved along the way. Make your way through difficult terrain and battle against loads of terrorists on foot, in cars, tanks and submarines who will try to stop you. Reach the plant and shoot all the terrorists to save the day.
SCREENSHOTS
PHYSICAL
HISTORY
Thundercade, also known as Twin Formation and 特殊部隊UAG (Tokushu Butai U.A.G., "Special Forces U.A.G. (Un-Attached Grenadier))", is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by SETA and released as an arcade game in 1987. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System from American Sammy was released in 1989.
The original arcade flyer establishes that despite a 199X treaty eliminating all nuclear weapons, a certain northerly nation was suspected of developing such weapons in secret. Therefore, the United States of America military sends in the U.A.G. elite unit consisting of an armed motorcyclist and a support bomber to quell the threat. The American NES version's manual describes a slightly different story, casting players as a part of Operation Thundercade, a special forces operation battling against the nuclear threat of the Atomic Age Terrorist Organization of Miracali (AATOM).
Gameplay
Players control a motorcycle equipped with sidecar cannons and backed up by a B-7 bomber. There are four levels in the game: an unnamed city, the terrorists' military base, the woodland regions, and the fortress containing the nuclear power plant. Bosses include a submarine along with other screen-filling enemies.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Thundercade on their December 15, 1987 issue as being the seventh most-successful table arcade unit of the month.
References
1CC RUNS
One-credit clears we point to as the benchmark for this game.