is a horizontally

scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character m ...

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

released by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

in 1988. A sequel, '' Thunder Cross II'', was published in 1991. Owing to several similarities, ''

Space Manbow is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed and published on December 21, 1989 by Konami for the MSX2 and MSX2+ home computers. It was re-released for mobile phones on September 1, 2006; for the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console service on Novemb ...

'' (1989) may also be considered a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

. In 2007, ''Thunder Cross'' was included as part of the '' Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono'' budget series on the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

in Japan. It was later released as part of the ''

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s developed and published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called focuses on re-releasing Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format, unlike many s ...

'' series on

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

in Japan in 2017 and

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

worldwide in 2021, and was added to Konami's ''Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection'' for PlayStation 4,

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, and Nintendo Switch in 2019.

Gameplay

''Thunder Cross'' is a classic horizontal shooter with seven stages. Players control the Thunder fighter with up to four "options", which arrange up and down vertically and attack at the player's will. Three weapons are selectable ranging from the Vulcan shot to the Laser and the Boomerang shot (which doubles as a ricochet weapon). End-of-level bosses are present and, typical of a Konami shooter, ''Thunder Cross'' has the player to beat the game twice in a harder loop of the first seven levels.

Plot

Taking place in the future of

space colonization Space colonization (or extraterrestrial colonization) is the human settlement, settlement or colonization of outer space and astronomical bodies. The concept in its broad sense has been applied to any permanent human presence in space, such ...

, the planet Haniamu IV is under attack from a relentless, unknown military force known only as Black Impulse. The strongest Earth ships capable of stopping the total conquering of the planet are the Blue Thunder M-45 (player 1) and its earlier make the Red Thunder M-24 (player 2).

Soundtrack

* ''Thunder Cross Konami Arcade Game Soundtrack'' was released for Soundtrack CD on May 21, 1989 in Japan, and it also contain ''Ajax'', ''Salamander'', ''Hot Chase'' and '' Gradius II''. It was also reprinted on May 21, 1993. * An ending music for arcade ''Thunder Cross'' was a part of ''Konami Ending Collection'', which was released for CD soundtrack on October 21, 1991. * The Tracks 30 to 42 from ''Thunder Cross'', which contain an CD Soundtrack ''MIDI POWER ver.4.0'', were released on March 24, 1994 in Japan. * In addition, disc 5 of ''

Konami Music Masterpiece Collection is Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes ...

'', which was released on October 1, 2004, is devoted to ''Thunder Cross''.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Thunder Cross'' on their December 1, 1988 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit at the time.

References

1988 video games Arcade Archives games Arcade video games Horizontally scrolling shooters Konami arcade games Konami franchises Konami games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in Japan {{Scroll-shooter-videogame-stub