History VideoGame / RollingThunder

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 ''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.

''Rolling Thunder'' is an arcade game released in 1986 by {{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.

'''''Rolling Thunder''''' is an arcade game released in 1986 by {{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.

* HandBlast: Maboo in the NES version of the original, Gimdo in the Genesis version of ''Rolling Thunder 2'' and Dread does this in the second phase of his final battle.

''Rolling Thunder'' is an arcade game released in 1986 by {{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.

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 SegaGenesis port in 1991; and ''Rolling Thunder 3'', a Genesis-exclusive final entry centered around a new agent named Jay.

An NES port was released in 1989. Although an official Famicom release in Japan, the NES version of ''Rolling Thunder'' was one of the few Namco games that were localized in the U.S. by Tengen without Nintendo's license along with ''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.

* TheComputerIsALyingBastard: The original game. You see that 8-segment LifeMeter? You only ever lose 4 or [[OneHitKill 8]] HP at a time, so in practice you only have two hit points. The NES port is more honest about it, showing a two-segment meter instead.

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

* 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.

* EasyModeMockery: Played straight in all three games. In the original arcade game, when you beat the first five stages, Maboo laughs at you and you go through a HardModeFiller. The NES version, along with both Genesis games, gives the player a password after completing the normal difficulty which restarts the game on a harder setting. The full ending of each console game can only be seen by completing their respective hard modes.

* LicensedGame: It's a little-known fact that the ''Rolling Thunder'' series is actually based on a manga from Hong Kong. The characters in the game are unusually tall and skinny because that is also how they are drawn in the manga.
** This is a rumor without any evidence to support it. Japanese sources make no mention of the game being an adaptation and no one has ever produced an example of the manga.

Not to be confused with [[Film/RollingThunder the unrelated 1977 action film of the same name.]] See also itsSpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis''.

Not to be confused with [[Film/RollingThunder the unrelated 1977 action film of the same name.]]

** [[CampGay But they look FABULOUS!]]

* AbsoluteCleavage: [[spoiler: Ellen]] in ''[=RT3=]]'' if you use a cheat code to make [[spoiler: her]] playable.

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted with everything but your pistol. If your pistol runs out of ammo, [[{{Painfully Slow Projectile}} you'll fire slower "ghost bullets"]] until you find more ammo or die.

* CaptainErsatz: Maboo looks a bit too much like [[DragonBall Piccolo Daimaoh]], while his successor Dread resembles the reincarnated Piccolo wearing a monocle.

* DistressedDamsel: Leila in the first game.

* 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 destroys 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.]]

* {{Mooks}}: The Maskers in all three games. The sequels turned them into MechaMooks, possibly due to [[UnfortunateImplications them resembling a certain hate group...]]