Thunder Blade (upright) (FD1094 317-0056)

Take to the skies in Sega’s 1987 arcade shooter, Thunder Blade, piloting a powerful battle chopper through diverse and challenging environments. The game alternates between top-down, vertically scrolling stages and thrilling “into-the-screen” perspectives reminiscent of After Burner. Players utilize rapid-fire machine guns and missiles to destroy waves of enemy aircraft, tanks, boats, and fortified installations across four distinct levels – a skyscraper city, a desert canyon/cave system, a river network rainforest, and finally, a nighttime return to the initial cityscape culminating in a final confrontation. Each stage presents unique visual landscapes and escalating threats as you navigate treacherous terrain and battle increasingly formidable foes. The game’s impressive sprite-scaling graphics technology creates a sense of depth and motion that was groundbreaking for its time. Thunder Blade offers straightforward, engaging gameplay focused on skillful maneuvering and precise targeting through varied combat scenarios. The upright cabinet features Sega X Board hardware and controls include a joystick and throttle for intuitive flight control. A soundtrack album accompanied the game’s release, showcasing the music of Koichi Namiki and further demonstrating its popularity at the time.