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Rolling Thunder 2 Game Review

Rolling Thunder 2 is a 1990 run and gun game released by Namco for Arcade and Genesis. It’s one of my personal favorite shooters. I adore this game.

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“Pity you won’t be alive for dinner.

We’re having fowl tonight.

Albatross, I believe!“

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The game belongs to the run and gun genre, but unlike other games of this grouping, this one focuses more on strategic planning as it’s significantly slower in approach. And that is why I respect it so much. By being slower, the game becomes so much smarter than you would expect from this genre. It’s so clever in fact that it needs two players to beat it properly.

The spy plot in it reminded me of James Bond movies. It’s fine for what it is and the opening plot cards are fun, but too sparely used unfortunately. Thus, the plot is thinner than it could have been. But I did like its two characters as Albatross and Leila are very memorable in their looks, though they are the exact same in terms of player avatar moves and styles.

Let’s talk about the gameplay. The game has eleven levels, and all have both an upper and a lower platform to walk on. That is why the game is perfect for a co-operative two-player mode. It’s so compatible for that mode that I actually only managed to finish the entire game with my brother as I could never beat it myself. That is one problem for this game as the two modes aren’t coordinated well enough. Well, not at all actually as both are the same, which was such a dumb choice as that way the single player mode became way too difficult to beat.

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But regardless of that smaller issue, the co-op mode is absolutely amazing. Rarely have I played a more entertaining co-op game, and one as well utilized as this one. Both players need to help each other and that high level of needed mutual help and cooperation is truly to be admired.

Rolling Thunder 2 has a bunch of memorable levels. The first couple or so are easier, but later on it becomes so difficult that it really needs a lot of repeat playing and patience to get through them. The final level is so hard, in fact, that it’s this game’s crowning achievement. I loved the boss for being so difficult to beat, and again requiring 2P co-operation.

Other enemies are also great, all different for how many bullets they need. I particularly found those enemies who shoot in the lower position intimidating as those really need to be taken care of quickly while the high number of obstacles and enemies made all of the levels quite demanding to get through. The level designs are also top-notch throughout.

The limited number of bullets that each player gets was also a terrific choice here as that made those doors that hide bullet recharges highly important. The kneeling and jumping are also perfectly incorporated into the gaming experience. I cannot say enough good things about the gameplay in Rolling Thunder 2 as it has very few issues.

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In terms of the graphics, it’s pretty good, though hardly anything truly memorable. I liked the futuristic designs, but the colors are too muted for my liking. It looks good again, but not truly terrific. The same should be said for the score. It’s solid, but never particularly memorable.

Rolling Thunder 2 is an amazing run and gun game. The single player mode is certainly overly difficult, but the co-op mode is absolutely fantastic. The game is so much fun to play thanks to its very demanding levels and enemies, the level design is excellent throughout and the gameplay is phenomenal, both in concept and in the necessity of careful planning and co-operation.