The mid-Eighties brought a nadir to the James Bond movies. Roger Moore had finally hung up his PPK after appearing in A View To Kill at the grand old age of 57, and the search for a new Bond was on. Yet despite the travails of the series, the public’s interest in espionage and spy movies remained as high as ever.
Meanwhile, the famous Japanese arcade manufacturer Namco was also enduring a lull of sorts. Having made its name with arcade hits such as Pac-Man, Galaxian and Dig Dug, the company was beginning to diversify into home consoles, specifically the Nintendo Entertainment System. While its mid-Eighties output remained solid, it failed to live up to the fame of its earlier games. Could combining these two flagging behemoths produce a winning formula?
Released in late-1986, Rolling Thunder uses Namco’s System 86 board. The technology had already seen action throughout the year, most notably in a brace of sequels, Sky Kid Deluxe and Hopping Mappy – now it was being tested on a brand-new IP, a run-and-gun game set within the world of international espionage.
In , it’s the Sixties, and the player is Albatross, an elite member of the World Crime Police Organisation’s (WCPO’s) Rolling Thunder unit. While on a mission to uncover the crimes of a secret society called Geldra and its leader Maboo, Rolling Thunder agent Leila Blitz is kidnapped. Albatross’ mission is to infiltrate Geldra’s base and rescue Leila while thwarting its other
