Thunder Cross

Thunder Cross
Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Platform: Arcade (Konami Thunder Cross hardware) Released in JP: October 1988 Released in US: January 1989 Released in EU: 1989 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has revisional differences.

Thunder Cross is a Gradius-style shoot 'em up. The most unique feature is the adaptability of the player's "Option" pods. These pods can be manually repositioned by the player, and can be temporarily upgraded with powerful, limited-use weapons. A sequel, Thunder Cross II, would be released in 1991.

Unused Graphics

An early version of the game's title. This may not be the correct palette, but it fits well enough.

Two filler graphics in the character graphics ROM: An apple (naturally), and the text ブランク キャラ, or "Blank character".

A message from the VRAM character designer, credited as "M. Sunachan" in the game's credits:

西宮市瓦林町五ノ一 フリーアルバイター
砂田正公
5-1 Kawarabayashi-cho Nishinomiya-shi - Freelance Part-Timer
Masahiro Sunada

(Translation: Joe)

Regional Differences

The US version of Thunder Cross, labeled as "Set 2" in MAME, has significant differences from the other sets:

• Stages 1 & 2, 3 & 4, and 5 & 6 are swapped in Set 2.
• The player always has at least two option pods.
• Those pods can no longer be upgraded with special power-ups.
• The player can't reposition their option pods anymore. Instead, the repositioning button was reassigned to a new feature: The "Lil' Baby" bombs. The player gets three of these screen nukes at the start of each stage.
• The Speed Up, Boomerang, and Tail Laser power-ups were taken out of the game. The "B" capsule now acts as a 5000 point bonus item.

Japanese/European	US

• In the Japanese and European versions, the player ship traveled back through each stage to the start of the game during the credits. Since the stage sequence changed, the credits in the US version were modified to scroll in front of a space background.

(Source: Original TCRF research)