Take on a criminal organization Bloody Wolf as they are taking over the Kasmir. You and your commando partner must defeat this group and survive in this top down 2D retro style shooter.
General Gameplay
Thunderflash is a 80’s inspired old school style shooter like games from Contra, MERC, Ikari Warriors, and Heavy Barrel where you go from level to level, defeating enemies, picking up power ups and at the end of each level a boss battle. Fans of these iconic shooters will be in love with this game. The Game Visuals in Thunderflash are very 16-bit in their design. The characters, enemies, and backgrounds are designed in this fashion to better have a look and feel to older shooters. The graphics are quite easy to see on the screen and make out what is an enemy to your character. The colors are bright and easy to see on the screen from a monitor to the Nintendo Switch. The game runs real smooth and the action on the screen is also easy to see. As the game does not offer a colorblind mode, it is not needed as the game colors are bright and vivid enough to see in motion. In our playtesting, we did not encounter anything that would be offensive to younger gamers, outside of animated violence, that is all that we have seen during our testing. Audio in Thunderflash as you would expect in a shooter. You have your standard sounds like gunfire, enemies being defeated and other sounds that you would hear. There is an arena announcer in the game that tells you about power ups and other in game events that are taking place. The game has a midi style of background music that fits for each area of the game that you are playing in to give it a true shooter feel. Thunderflash is presented in both 5.1 surround sound as well 2.0 stereo sound and either sound environment is great to hear the game. In our playtesting, we did not hear anything that would be offensive to any gamers in the audio in Thunderflash. Controls in Thunderflash are remarkably simple and easy to play. The game is designed to be like an 80’s style shooter so you have your standard weapon, a button for your explosive weapon, and the left thumb stick to control your character. The game’s controller design is around for anyone to pick up and play the game without any trouble. The controls are very responsive and fast to match the action on the screen without any lag issues. As the game is designed to be played on the consoles, there is no need for a special controller. In our playtesting of Thunderflash, we did not encounter any issues with the game controls setting and found it to be very special needs friendly for all to play.
“Thunderflash is a love letter to top-down shooters from the 80’s Any fans of games like Contra, Heavy Barrel, and Ikari Warriors will love this game, short but still a fun game to play.”
Family Friendly
One of the things that caught our eye here was how Thunderflash was a truly a throwback of 80’s shooters. A lot of our testers here loved games like Contra, Ikari Warriors, and other shooters back in the Nintendo era and other past consoles. Shooters are like a dime a dozen and as this genre has evolved over time, a top-down shooter is just fun to go back to and play. This is where Thunderflash did it right. All the elements that make a top-down shooter is here, from simple button controls to simple power ups and boss battles. In between levels of gameplay there are combat from jet packs to boats and other vehicles. This gives a break from the standard run and gun from level to level to give a new element of the gameplay. When we say that this is a true 80’s style of shooter we mean it! As it is an inspired 80’s style of shooter, there will be younger gamers in your gaming family that will find the game to be too simple for their taste, however for older gamers in your gaming family or for someone that enjoys shooters like this, they will really enjoy the game. As you go through the game you are allowed credits to us to respawn into the action if you are defeated, there are no checkpoints but just jumping right back to the action. Also, an addition of a health bar means that you can get hit several times before losing a credit. One of the nicer features is that the game has local co-op mode. So, this means that two gamers can play on the same screen. This adds more dynamic to the game and couch co-op gamers that are looking for a game to just relax and play with another gamer. There are other modes like Boss Rush mode for gamers that are looking for a challenge as well a Hardcore mode as well. These modes are designed for gamers that have played through the normal game and have a better understanding of how the weapons works best against enemies. Overall Thunderflash is a fun game to play for shooter fans. The only complain, and a minor one is that the game can be finished on one sitting, but as the nature of most top-down 80’s shooters are that this is the case with most shooters. In our special needs game testing, we did not run into any issues with the game visuals, audio, or controls and found the game to be very special needs gaming friendly.
Closing
Thunderflash is truly a love letter for gamers that love 80’s top-down shooters. With easy controls, fun gameplay, couch co-op and different modes, this is a great game to have for your digital library!
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