History VideoGame / RollingThunder

* PromotedToPlayable: Leila, the DistressedDamsel in the first game that Albatross is tasked with rescuing, becomes one of the player characters in ''Rolling Thunder 2''.

A UsefulNotes/{{Famicom}}/UsefulNotes/{{NES}} port was released in 1989. Although the Famicom version was an official release in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, the NES version was one of the few Namco games that were localized in the [[UsefulNotes/UnitedStates U.S.]] by [[Creator/{{Atari}} Tengen]] without Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s license along with ''VideoGame/PacMan'' and ''VideoGame/RBIBaseball'' (a localization of Namco's ''Family Stadium''), resulting the game being released as one of Tengen's black cartridges. The original arcade version has also been re-released in various Namco Museum compilations.

Two sequels were released: ''Rolling Thunder 2'', an arcade sequel released in 1990 that featured better graphics than the original and 2-player co-op (with Leila as Player 1 and Albatross as Player 2) with a UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis port in 1991; and ''Rolling Thunder 3'', a Genesis-exclusive final entry centered around a new agent named Jay.

* CodeName: Your agents.

* DamselInDistress: Leila in the first game.

* DisneyVillainDeath: Gimdo, when defeated.
* TheDragon: Dread in the third game.

* GameOverMan: Maboo in the first game.

* MiniMecha: When you face Dread in the last level, he fights you in one in his first phase.

* MissionControl: Ellen in ''Rolling Thunder 3.'' [[spoiler:A cheat code makes her playable.]]

* NintendoHard: Especially the first game.

* RoboticReveal: [[spoiler:Gimdo in ''Rolling Thunder 2''.]]
* ShockAndAwe: How Leila is tortured in the arcade version of first game.

* TakeCover: One of the earliest games to use this mechanic.
* TimedMission: The first two games.

* CrosshairAware: The sniper and spider robot in the third game. There's also the first and third bosses of the Genesis version of ''Rolling Thunder 2''. For really good and obvious reasons, this is averted in the third game's bike level, jetski level, and plane level (you're on a hijacked plane and you can virtually see the whole plane interior).

* {{Mooks}}: The Maskers in all three games. The sequels turned them into MechaMooks.

* NostalgiaLevel: In ''Rolling Thunder 3'', one of the secret stages is an abandoned cobweb filled version of the first level warehouse from the original ''Rolling Thunder''.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' borrows some elements from these.

* LoadBearingBoss: After killing Dread in the last level of ''Rolling Thunder 3,'' [[spoiler:he tells Jay that a self-destruction mechanism is wired to his heart and will everything in the base, including Jay.]] When you beat the game on the "Hard" difficulty, [[spoiler:it's confirmed that Jay survives, through you can probably tell from the silhouette during the credits where he rises from the rubble.]]

* NebulousEvilOrganisation: Geldra.

* AbsoluteCleavage: [[spoiler:Ellen]] in ''[=RT3=]'' if you use a cheat code to make [[spoiler:her]] playable.
* ActionGirl: Leila in ''[=RT2=]''. [[spoiler:Ellen]] is also playable by a cheat code in ''[=RT3=]''.

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Dread in the third game, which is the only one to have cut-scenes with dialogue.

* AbsoluteCleavage: [[spoiler: Ellen]] in ''[=RT3=]'' if you use a cheat code to make [[spoiler: her]] playable.
* ActionGirl: Leila in ''[=RT2=]''. [[spoiler: Ellen]] is also playable by a cheat code in ''[=RT3=]''.

* LoadBearingBoss: After killing Dread in the last level of ''Rolling Thunder 3,'' [[spoiler: he tells Jay that a self-destruction mechanism is wired to his heart and will everything in the base, including Jay.]] When you beat the game on the "Hard" difficulty, [[spoiler: it's confirmed that Jay survives, through you can probably tell from the silhouette during the credits where he rises from the rubble.]]

* MsFanservice: Leila in the first few games. [[spoiler: Even more so with Ellen in the third game, where making her a playable character has her dressed in a rather revealing outfit. For example, look at her animations as well as her GameOver screen.]]
* MissionControl: Ellen in ''Rolling Thunder 3.'' [[spoiler: A cheat code makes her playable.]]

* NoPlotNoProblem: [[spoiler: Playing as Ellen in the third game has no cutscenes and the ending remains unchanged.]]
* NotCompletelyUseless: The knife in ''3''. Not only is it helpful for close range combat, but it's helpful against Dread's second phase in your final battle with him.[[note]] You can jump over the first two lasers which fires low and duck under the next two which fires high, and he'll repeat the pattern over again, allowing you to slash him at close range.[[/note]]

* RoboticReveal: [[spoiler: Gimdo in ''Rolling Thunder 2''.]]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: While Leila is a brunette in the actual game, the promotional illustrations for the first game and the packaging illustration for the Mega Drive version of ''2'' depicts her with blue hair.

A Famicom/NES port was released in 1989. Although the Famicom version was an official release in Japan, the NES version was one of the few Namco games that were localized in the U.S. by Tengen without Nintendo's license along with ''VideoGame/PacMan'' and ''R.B.I. Baseball'' (a localization of Namco's ''Family Stadium''), resulting the game being released as one of Tengen's black cartridges. The original arcade version has also been re-released in various Namco Museum compilations.

* NotCompletelyUseless: The knife in ''3''. Not only is it helpful for close range combat, but it's helpful against Dread's second phase in your final battle with him. Using the knife also spares your special weapons, as completing a stage with a particular special weapon prevents it from being chosen again for the rest of the game.

* ChainReactionDestruction: Some robot bosses in ''2'' and ''3''. ''3'' also had the cracker grenades which explode this way.

** The arcade version's was pretty ridiculous. Your life gauge had eight bars when your character actually had only two hit points. Getting shot ''once'' killed you, and touching an enemy decreased the life gauge in half. This was corrected in the arcade sequel and all the console versions.

''Rolling Thunder'' is an arcade game released in 1986 by [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]]. It is a side-scrolling action game where players controls "Albatross", a member of WCPO's "Rolling Thunder" espionage unit, who infiltrates the hideout of a terrorist cult named Geldra, led by a green-skinned humanoid alien named Maboo. Unlike other action titles, it is a little more slower paced, and is more about taking cover from enemy fire and conserving ammo than mindless running and gunning. You often have to find cover, hide behind doors (some which hold more ammo for your weapons) and leap up and down between floors.

* CrosshairAware: The sniper and spider robot in the third game. There's also the first and third bosses of the Genesis version of Rolling Thunder 2.
** For really good and obvious reasons, this is averted in the third game's bike level, jetski level, and plane level (you're on a hijacked plane and you can virtually see the whole plane interior).

* LifeMeter: The arcade version's was pretty ridiculous. Your life gauge had eight bars when your character actually had only two hit points. Getting shot ''once'' killed you, and touching an enemy decreased the life gauge in half. This was corrected in the arcade sequel and all the console versions.

* WakeUpCallBoss: The robot boss in the Genesis version of ''Rolling Thunder 2''. His crosshair will slowly move back and forth and fire at you. Unless you can take advantage of a certain blind spot close to him early on in the battle, you'll lose a few lives and see the continue screen once or twice until you figure it out.