Thunder Cross is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released in arcades by Konami in 1988. Thunder Cross used a "layered scrolling" background, a new 2D graphics technique at the time. A sequel, Thunder Cross II was released in 1991.
The planet Haniamu IV is under attack from a relentless, unknown military force known only as Black Inpulse. Humanity sends the Blue Thunder M-45 and its earlier model the Red Thunder M-24 to take care of them.
Not to be confused with the Thunder Force shooter series. And definitely not to be confused with the alternative name for the swastika.
The original Thunder Cross and its sequel provides the following examples:
- Attack Drone: The Options. They stay at the sides of your ship, although you can control the distance between options (in the Japanese/European version of the original Thunder Cross, and in Thunder Cross II).
- Attack Its Weak Point: Most of the bosses have a crystalline core which you must damage in order to defeat them.
- Battleship Raid: Stage 4 of the first game, and Stage 5 of Thunder Cross II.
- Continuing is Painful: And how. You lose ALL your powerups when you die! It resets the Dynamic Difficulty, though.
- Corridor Cubbyhole Run: Stage 6 of Thunder Cross II has your character move through an asteroid field
◊ while the boss fires a Wave-Motion Gun from offscreen. In order to avoid the laser easily, you have to hide behind the asteroids that block it. - Difficulty by Region: The US version of the original Thunder Cross gave your character Smart Bombs in exchange for the special weapons and the ability to control your options.
- Dynamic Difficulty: Get enough powerups and the annoying turret enemies will exhibit More Dakka, in a fashion similar to Gradius.
- Expy: Some of the bosses in the series are similar to those in Gradius.
- There's also the "wave" of popcorn mooks that drop a Power-Up when all of them are destroyed.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: The flame weapon from both games. In the original Thunder Cross, it was a continuous medium-range stream of flame; in Thunder Cross II, your Options shot out phoenixes that pierced enemies.
- Gratuitous English: Thunder Cross II has boss names like "Brookrans, Works", "Laze, Zoguylum", and "Sproutes, Layber".
- Humongous Mecha: Most of the bosses that aren't ships.
- Inconsistent Spelling: The villains are called the Black Inpulse, not the Black Impulse.
- Mini-Boss: Each level usually has one in the middle.
- Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups: The primary weapons you could use, as well as the "special" weapons (Napalm, Flame, Laser).
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Your character, like most games in the genre.
- Palette Swap: Player 1 (Blue Thunder) and Player 2 (Red Thunder).
- Point of No Continues: The extra loops of the original Thunder Cross and the final level of Thunder Cross II do not allow you to continue nor have a second player to join in once you reach them, respectively .
- Reactor Boss: "Brookrans, Works" from Thunder Cross II is the core of a large battleship.
- Recurring Boss Template: Eggeroid, which appears as the first boss in both games. In the first game, you could attack its weak point directly, in the second, you had to attack its tail first.
- Reflecting Laser: The Final Boss of Thunder Cross II.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: In Thunder Cross II, the Black Inpulse have two repilian bosses (Ragamuffin the robotic naga and Dinosaur Junior the robot chameleon).
- Snake People: Ragamuffin from Thunder Cross II is a robotic Naga with a shield, rocket launcher, and a stinger tail.
- Sphere of Destruction: The Napalm Weapon makes your options shoot out a bomb that explodes into these.
- Steam Vent Obstacle: Thunder Cross II has them in the fourth level. Unlike most of the examples on the trope page, you can destroy them.
- Too Awesome to Use: Subverted with the special weapons. Although they do have limited ammo, hit a large area of the screen, and hurt A LOT, you can easily find more ammo once you run out. Furthermore, they replace the primary weapon of your options, and the only way to revert them back was to run out of ammo.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The Laser weapon from both games allows all your four options to fire out one!
