Lords of Thunder
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
After successfully awing gamers with their explosive
shooter, Gate of Thunder, NEC wasted absolutely no time in
creating a sequel. Although Lords of Thunder was intended to
be a follow up to Gate, the two games really have very
little in common. While Gate required gamers to take control
of a ship called Hunting Dog in outer space, Lords asks that
players assume the role of a warrior named Landis who exists
in a mythological universe. The only things that the two
games share are that they are both side-scrolling shooters,
they both have the word 'Thunder' in their titles, and
they're both incredibly fun to play.
Shoot 'em ups aren't typically known for their deep,
thought-provoking plots, but Lords of Thunder's story is
even a bit sillier than most. In the land of Mistral, a
great warrior named Dyu had once defeated an evildoer named
Zaggart. Rather than doing the intelligent thing and
finishing Zaggart off, Dyu decided to be humane and
imprisoned the villain somewhere in the middle of Mistral's
Six Lands. I bet this will come as a complete surprise to
you, but Zaggart has managed to escape from his place of
imprisonment. The 's ix bosses' of the land one day decided
to let Zaggart out (why they did so is never explained). You
would think that if these guys were 'bosses' that they'd
already have a healthy amount of power as is, so it's tough
to figure how they could benefit much from freeing Zaggart.
Also, I don't know why NEC chose to label these guys with a
title as silly as 'The Six Bosses'. I'm assuming that
these folks are the Lords of Thunder, and that sounds a lot
better to me than Six Bosses. If they're not the Lords, then
I don't know who is. Come to think of it, I don't recall
there being any gates of thunder in Gate of Thunder, but
since the titles sound good we can let these points slide.
Back to the story: a descendant of Dyu's named Landis has
decided to take on these Six Miscreants or whatever their
name is, and foil their plan to bring Zaggart back into
power. Luckily for Landis, Dyu left behind his four suits of
magic armor. Our hero can make use of Earth, Fire, Wind, or
Water armor, and the suit that he chooses will determine the
types of attacks that he can use. Landis must defeat the
boss of each of the Six Lands of Mistral, and then fly to
the center of the world to take on Zaggart.
The Six Lands of Mistral are called Dezant, Aqual, Lavadara,
Wildon, Freezel, and Ciodant - at least that's what they're
called in Turbo language. In English we refer to them as the
Desert Land, the Water Land, the Volcano Zone, the Forest
Land, the Ice Land, and the Cloud Land. Landis can tackle
the six lands in any order that he wishes, but there is
definitely an ideal way of going about things. Once Landis
chooses a land to attack, he must choose which suit of armor
he wishes to wear (for that particular stage). Each suit of
armor works better in some stages than others, but there
really shouldn't be much experimentation involved; it
doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Water Armor
will work best in the land of fire.
Along with choosing a suit of armor, Landis is allowed to
purchase goods before beginning each level. He starts off
with a very small amount of money, but more cash can be
earned by annihilating enemies and picking up the gems that
they leave behind. In the shop, Landis can purchase anything
from health points and bombs to extra continues and shields.
It will undoubtedly be necessary to make use of the shop
following each level that you complete, as Landis tends to
take a beating during his quest. Money is abundant in this
game, however, and you shouldn't have any trouble at all
keeping Landis in tip-top shape.
Once the action begins, Lords of Thunder plays like any
other side-scrolling shooter. You simply must demolish the
enemies before they demolish you. As you make your way
through each level, you'll have the opportunity to pick up
icons denoting money, health, and weapon power. At the end
of each stage, one of the Six Scoundrels awaits you. Should
you run out of health, the game is over - although you are
granted three continues, and you can purchase more at the shop.
The graphics in Lords of Thunder may very well be the best
that I have ever seen in a game for the Turbo. The
environments are well-drawn and colorful, and the enemy
attackers are huge and ferocious. The bosses in the game are
truly impressive - they usually cover at least half of the
entire television screen with their girth alone. The various
animation scenes are also well done - although you probably
won't want to watch them more than just a few times.
The music in Lords of Thunder is straight ahead hard rock.
It sounds as if the guys at NEC broke out some electric
guitars and the ol' drum set and wailed away for a little
while. The sound quality is excellent, and you can actually
hear the music over the sound effects in this game (unlike
Gate of Thunder). However, with the exception of the title
screen track, the music in the game is rather repetitive and annoying.
Lords of Thunder isn't very difficult, especially if you're
experienced in shoot 'em ups. If you haven't been around the
block a few times, however, it can be pretty tough to get
through. Landis is relatively big, and with so many huge
enemies the screen can get pretty crowded at times. The
difficulty of the game can be adjusted if the game happens
to be too easy for you. Keep in mind that the lowest level
of difficulty in Lords of Thunder is'Normal'; there are no
novice modes.
So, how does Lords stack up against Gate of Thunder? Gate
certainly offers more challenge and better music, but Lords
is more visually appealing and contains more variety in its
game play. Any way that you look at it they're both superb
games, and if you own a Turbo-CD or a Duo, they come highly recommended.
Overall: 9 out of 10
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