Rather than having a single story, Thunderbirds adapts a similar style to the TV show by giving players different episodes to complete. Each episode has a different scenario, which usually involves a natural disaster, terrorist threat or a general rescue mission such as saving an oilrig from being engulfed in flames. Episodes are also broken up into missions, which force you to utilise the different abilities of each Thunderbird. For example, in one episode, you’re tasked with evacuating civilians due to the threat of a nuclear explosion, so you have to use Thunderbird 1 as a transport and move them to safety. After rescuing them, you’ll have to switch to Thunderbird 2 and use its crane to move the nuclear device to a safe location where it can be properly deactivated.
Hopefully no one was in the swimming pool.
Later in the game, you’ll also be able to pilot Thunderbird 3, which can go into outer space; and Thunderbird 4, which can travel underwater. In these circumstances, the gameplay changes from exploring an open-spaced area, to an Asteroids mini-game. Depending on your mission, you’ll usually have a primary target to destroy such as an enemy satellite, however you’ll also have to avoid bits of debris as well.
At first, being able to switch between each Thunderbird is quite fun, but unfortunately the game suffers from extensive repetition. For example, in one episode, you need to use Thunderbird 2 to move cows to a new paddock, while in another episode you have to move oil barrels to a new location before they’re engulfed in flames. These missions are more or less the same thing as they require you to move an object from point A to point B, the only thing that’s changed is the scenario. Eventually even entire episodes consist of similar activities which gets frustrating and leaves you wanting to switch off the game entirely.
Looks like NASA has some competition.
Another thing that is poorly implement are the game’s ‘seek and destroy’ missions. In most episodes there will be enemy jets flying around and you’ll eventually be asked to take them out. As a guide, your display map will highlight their general position for you with a large red circle, which you’ll have to explore the boundaries of. As simple as it sounds, it can be difficult to locate the enemies due to the game’s top down view camera, and as a result you’ll find yourself backtracking through the area quite a few times.
The game tries to adapt the TV show’s sets by making everything look miniaturised in comparison to the Thunderbird machines. While this does provide a fan service, it also makes the game look ugly due to rough textures and pixilated objects. The music and sound effects do capture the feeling of the 1960’s show, but at the same time they can become annoying. For instance, missions are given to you via on screen prompts which are typed up, letter for letter, with headache-inducing beeps. Meanwhile, the music is a continuous loop during levels.
Although Thunderbirds showed some initial promise by utilising the different abilities of each Thunderbird machine, it unfortunately lacks a final polish. The gameplay gets repetitive due to the reuse of gameplay mechanics and the visuals look rough and pixelated. If you’re a die-hard fan you’ll still probably find enjoyment, but for everyone else, stay clear.
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