Rolling Thunder 3

"The third time turns out to be a charm."

Rolling Thunder 3 is in my opinion one of the best games for Genesis, and even so is far better than its predecessors and even other new or side-scrolling games.

Story:
Following the events of Rolling Thunder 2 (when agents Albatross and Leila Blitz were tracking down Gimdo Case of the evil Geldra organization), Interpol's Rolling Thunder Team sends another agent, Jay, to find and take out Geldra's second-in-command, Dread. Jay goes through 10 missions, from an oil rig in South California, to the streets of Las Vegas, to islands in the Pacific Ocean. He is instructed by his boss and another operative, Ellen.

Sound and Graphics:
I like how they were able to make some good 3D environments, and the music is well-made and fits the environments. The sound effects were well pulled off, from people getting shot, to bullets being fired. The only thing that turned me off was having the same music in all the cutscenes.

Gameplay:
This is where it gets fun, although not all the way. This is much more easy than Rolling Thunder 1 and 2, in the ability in which you can use an alternate weapon separately from your pistol plus firing your gun upwards. And instead of dying from getting shot once (which was a huge flaw in 1 and 2), you can get shot twice and find health expansions behind doors. There's only 10 levels to go through, each just being cleared in 4 minutes (even longer when fighting a boss), just by shooting enemies, ducking to doge bullets, and hiding in doors. Two of them involve the using of vehicles and shooting people in your way and avoiding obstacles until you reach the ending. And nine custom weapons to pick from, like rifles, shotguns, bazookas, and even grenades. When you lose a life, you keep going from where you get shot, instead of having to go through all the pain of having to resume from the start or a particular checkpoint. If you lose all your lives, you can restart the level you're on (although you lose your score if you care), use a password to come back if you want to come back later, or else, start the entire game again.

Final Word:
Overall, this is a fun and short arcade-style game. Although there are difficult pieces to go through (even the final mission, that was a nightmare), you won't be turned off at the sheer brilliance this game is.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/08

Game Release: Rolling Thunder 3 (US, 1993)