SHMUPS!

Lords of Thunder - Hudson/Red

Lords of Thunder:
Lightning-fast reflexes required!

Reviewed by Roger Post

Lords of Thunder, from Red/Hudson Soft, the same company that produced the classic Gate of Thunder, is another in the same format of top quality shooters. I hesitate to call this the sequel, because the only similarity is the music. Instead of a spaceship attacking enemy invading fleets in the vast silent vacuum of the universe (we really shouldn't be able to hear background music and explosions and bleeps and blips, for you physics-conscious players out there), the main character is a person clad in elemental armor, taking on the forces of evil invading his home turf.

Lords has the same excellent hard rock/in your face music that Gate has, and mix in great graphics, fast placed gameplay, and a lasting challenge, and you've baked up a recipe for a classic shmup. There is also a strategy element to LOT- you can choose the order of the levels, which vary in difficulty, and shooting baddies give you gems which you can use to buy items to help you through the game. Having the right combinations of items for the proper stage is a real help. Also you can choose from four different types of armor, each with its own weapon and special weapon.

The enemies in LOT are varied and interesting, with larger than life end bosses. The only aspect holding Lords back from a 10 is that sometimes there is no room to dodge at the end bosses, and this can get frustrating. On the plus side, the hero uses a more powerful sword when attacking up close, so the fearless joystick jockeys can rush up and do close quarter combat when the adrenaline starts flowing.

Also, another feature I love about shmups is a different boss attack when the difficulty levels increase. Little things like these can make or break a classic.

Rating: 9/10

Choose your armour and weapon style before launching into the mayhem:

This spring's latest fashion, the "weather" line from Paris.

I like earth the best, with a strong high and low covering and powerful hits.

(personally I like the fire one better, but to each his own set of mythical armour - malc)

Ahh, the humble shop. I'd like a large slice of humble pie, with a side of self-sacrifice to go, heavy on the arrogance, and hold the haughtiness.

Always stock up on life, then buy weapon powerup, then if you have money left over shields. The elixir is great for the later levels, which restores all life during a level if you get killed.

Now we're all kitted out, we're finally blasting into the game....

Click on the map to see the levels!!

Every shooter map selection screen has the ominous looking center section
which you can never select until the others are beaten.

Once I want to see a humorous game where you can go straight to the last level,
beat the game, then go back to the starting stages. (That's a bit silly ;) - Malc)

Thanks again Roger - nice one!! So where can you play it? Hmm??

Well, being a CD game there's obviously no download. Well, I could put an image of the CD up, but at around 640MB it might take a wee while. So I think not.

Lords was brought over to the west by TTI, so you might find it lying about if you're in the US. The usual story in the UK, where the PCEngine wasn't released, you'll have to ask those nice importer people. There was also a MegaCD version, which I haven't managed to track down yet - good luck!!

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