Rolling Thunder (ローリングサンダー, Rōringu Sandā) Japanese run and go vide game commercial.
0Rolling Thunder (Japanese: ローリングサンダー, Hepburn: Rōringu Sandā) is a run and gun video game developed by Namco in Japan and Europe and released in 1986 as a coin-operated arcade video game using the Namco System 86 hardware. It was distributed in North America by Atari Games. The player takes control of a secret agent who must rescue his female partner from a terrorist organization. Rolling Thunder was a commercial success in arcades, and it was released for various home computer platforms in 1987 and the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. The original arcade game has been included in various classic game compilations as well. It influenced later arcade action franchises such as Shinobi and Time Crisis, which borrowed mechanics such as taking cover behind crates.
The game was released in Japan in December 1986. Namco debuted the game internationally outside Japan at the 1987 Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) show, held at Olympia London in January. The game was released in North America by Atari Games.
In 1988, U.S. Gold released home computer versions of Rolling Thunder in Europe for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga and Atari ST. These five computer versions were developed by Tiertex. Only the Commodore 64 version has some different colors for the outfit of the Maskers; in the Amiga, Atari ST, and Amstrad CPC versions, the Maskers have the same colors. The ZX Spectrum version is almost monochrome, but has fast gameplay.
On March 17, 1989, Namco released a home version of Rolling Thunder for the Family Computer in Japan. This version was localized in North America by Tengen, which released their Nintendo Entertainment System version unlicensed by Nintendo. The Famicom/NES version features a few minor changes and additions from the arcade version, such as a password feature, hidden bonuses, and a harder second mission accessible by inputting a password given to the player for completing the normal mission. Namco's Famicom version of Rolling Thunder has an onboard sound chip using the extra sound channels of the cartridge slot.
An Atari Lynx conversion of Rolling Thunder was announced in a Lynx catalog, with a scheduled May 1992 release date, but was later canceled.
The original arcade version is featured in Namco Museum Encore for the PlayStation, Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PlayStation Portable, in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for the Xbox 360, and in Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and IBM PC compatibles. The arcade version was released for the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on July 21, 2009, and as part of the Pac-Man's Arcade Party 30th Anniversary arcade machine in 2010. In March 2012, it was added to the Namco Arcade (iOS) app. It was also released as part of the Namco Museum compilation for Nintendo Switch, and also was included as part of the Arcade Archives series.
『ローリングサンダー』 (Rolling Thunder) は、ナムコが開発し1986年12月に稼働開始したアーケード用横スクロールアクションシューティングゲームである。
プレーヤーが主人公「アルバトロス」を操り、秘密組織「ゲルドラ」の地下基地へと潜伏していくという内容で、最終ステージに待つマブーを倒すことでゲームクリアーとなる。しかし、マブーを守る様々な戦闘員とトラップが行く手を遮っており、プレーヤーは唯一の武器であるハンドガン（マシンガン）と最強の工作員としてのテクニックでそれらの障害を乗り越え、世界征服の野望を打ち砕く。1960年代のアメリカを舞台に、スパイ映画風のハードボイルドテイストを基調にしながら、改造人間といった近未来的サイバーテイストも加味した独特の世界観を持つ。音楽は小沢純子が担当している。
1987年、1988年に欧州および北米にて各種ホビーパソコンに移植された他、1989年にはファミリーコンピュータに移植された。アーケード版は後にPlayStation用ソフト『ナムコミュージアムアンコール』（1997年）、PlayStation Portable用ソフト『ナムコミュージアム Vol.2』（2005年）、Xboxおよびゲームキューブ、PlayStation 2用ソフト『ナムコミュージアム アーケードHITS!』（2005年）、Xbox 360用ソフト『ナムコミュージアム バーチャルアーケード』（2008年）、iOS用ソフト『NAMCO ARCADE』などに収録された他、2009年にWii用ソフトとしてバーチャルコンソールアーケードにて配信された。また携帯電話用アプリゲームとして2005年にiアプリ、2007年にEZアプリにて配信。さらに2022年にアーケードアーカイブスの1作品としてPlayStation 4版とNintendo Switch版が配信された。