Hamster has been bringing game after game out for a while now and with the wide variety of content out, it’s hard to decide what’s really worth your time. Today, we’re looking at Arcade Archives Thunder Dragon 2, originally from NMK, purveyors of unique arcade games that have faded mostly into obscurity.
Thunder Dragon 2 seems like your average vertical shmup, and in this case, what you see is by and large what you get as well. The game is your average vertical shmup from the early nineties (originally released in 1993) but it’s your average vertical shmup fine-tuned to near perfection. While you face wave after wave of enemies, bosses, and hidden surprises, what Thunder Dragon 2 doesn’t have a lot of is gimmicks. There are no capture mechanics, wild weapon sets, or unique backdrops so distracting that you miss what’s going on. No webs of bullet hell bullets are coming at you in concentric rings of pink death and there are certainly no odd cyborg ninja bosses flying in from nowhere.
But don’t let that fool you. Everything interesting with Thunder Dragon 2 is under the hood, like a finely tuned car that has no outward distinguishing characteristics. The controls are precise and responsive. The weapons are effective. The enemy patterns are challenging, and the secrets to scoring are so subtle as to be nearly opaque. Thunder Dragon 2 commands you to pay close attention to the way your score multiplies while you’re obliterating waves of enemies, destroying and flipping letters at the beginning of stages, and even killing off key ships rapidly.
If you simply play the game, you’re really only playing half of Thunder Dragon 2 as well. The first player ship is different from the second player one and the only way to play the second player ship is to either have two players or actually change the in-game settings (which Hamster has graciously included) in order to select the second player ship by default. Each ship fires differently and the player 2 ship ends up with homing missiles eventually, allowing you to search out some of the cleverly hidden medals that boost your score in each of the game’s eight stages.
This doesn’t feel like a special game until you really sit down with it for a while though. It was confusing at first why Hamster would choose to bring out such an obscure shmup when there are better titles out there. But Thunder Dragon 2 grows on you the more you play. As you do, you’ll realize that each wave of enemies only appears after the last one is defeated and the faster you defeat each wave, the more frantic the action becomes (and the higher your score). Any enemies on the ground don’t count as waves but they’ll still attack you of course and you know you’ve done things right when a 50K black bonus ship appears toward the end of a stage, allowing you to boost your score.
On top of the wave system, there are a variety of medals available to collect, giving you anywhere from 500 points for the small purple ones to 50K for the large purple ones, and even extra bombs that you will desperately need if you collect three blue medals. Even powerups have a progression system and it doesn’t fully reset on each death, instead only scaling back your power by one level and allowing you to work your way back up to full power as you improve with practice. There are four levels for guns and four for missiles and even this holds secrets as there are two indistinguishable types of missile items, one raising your level by one and another that immediately maxes the missile levels out! Attentive players will even notice that the letters at the beginning of each stage can be attacked as well, netting extra bombs and even a 50K point bonus on the first stage (this was quite a surprise the first time!).
In other words, the overall design of Thunder Dragon 2 is unique in that unlike other games of this style, it simply isn’t in your face at all. Instead, there’s a slow but steady progression as you learn the ins and outs of the play system, making Thunder Dragon 2 one of the earlier games designed mostly for hardcore players. You don’t get any extends though, and the game rewards you for being a good player which means that credit feeders won’t do all that well here.
Visually this an overall excellent game even if the bosses aren’t the most impressive for the era and the soundtrack, while perfectly serviceable isn’t as spectacular as some other notable releases, but again, everything is about the details here. The ships look excellent, the bullets are fast but distinguishable, and the backgrounds are cool. That ‘90s aesthetic is in full swing and the backdrops are full of trees, deserts and oceans galore if you have time to look. The graphics have aged well and the overall feel of the game and its controls are somewhat akin to a variation on the 1945 series though that isn’t a solid comparison.
For a shmup that has primarily only been embraced by the hardcore community, Thunder Dragon 2 is certainly a lost gem and one that’s well worth adding to your Switch Arcade Archives collection. This is a game to really test your mettle and challenge your skills for high scores. At only $8, there’s no question that if you’re a tenacious gamer who wants a challenge with a solidly engineered vintage shmup, Thunder Dragon 2 should be in your library!
This review is based on a digital copy of Thunder Dragon 2 provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and played equally well on both. Thunder Dragon 2 is also available on Playstation 4.