Game 390: Thexder

Ugh. I think I'm pretty good at action platformers, but Thexder, one of Japan's most popular homespun computer games of the 80's, is one of the hardest I've ever played, and it's hard for all the wrong reasons.

One of the first titles by Game Arts, a fairly prolific Tokyo-based studio, Thexder originated on the PC-88, which is the version I am playing by way of the M88 emulator, before being ported to other systems including the Sharp X1, FM-7, Family Computer, MSX, PC-98, and others. Sierra On-Line took notice and created licensed, localized ports to PC, Apple IIgs, and Amiga, boasting "the best selling action game from Japan" and "over 500,000 units sold" on the cover.

You control Thexder, a Macross-inspired (I assume) giant robot equipped with a powerful tracking laser, energy shields, and the ability to instantly transform into a jet and back, and your goal is to navigate 16 maze-like levels, blasting through a variety of abstractly shaped aliens.

Now, I've had timing and input-related issues with PC-88 games, with almost no exceptions. The common thread is that things run fast, but not smoothly. This proved irrelevant in The Black Onyx, but annoying in action-rpg'ish games Hydlide and Dragon Slayer, and so disastrous in Sokoban that I had to switch to a port.

Here, things aren't completely unplayable, but there's a twitchy, jittery quality to everything, which would be tolerable if Thexder weren't so utterly unforgiving. Enemies come in from offscreen fast, and three seconds of unshielded contact with an enemy is all it takes to destroy you from a full energy meter. Which you won't often have the luxury of anyway; activating shields depletes 10%, inevitable little mistakes will cost you energy here and there; and even firing the laser cost some energy. Sometimes your laser insists on tracking unreachable targets - or even non-targets like pools of lava - while the real threats glide right over your ordinance and smack you around from behind. Sometimes inputs get dropped in the frenetic action, especially when trying to turn around, or transforming into the jet, which bafflingly requires pressing the "down" direction. And sometimes you just don't activate the shield quite fast enough to prevent damage, which means 15% for each half-second of your reaction time.

Speaking of jet transformation, this is one of the most difficult basic abilities I've ever seen. You transform very fast indeed, though not quite frame-instantly, and the moment the transformation completes, you start scrambling forward at mach five. Steering up and down to slip into tunnels, or around enemies, is entirely too finicky. Sometimes I'd just want to fly up, but to do that from a standing position you have to hit down to transform, then press up almost but not quite immediately - too fast and it won't register, too slow and you just fly into a wall and transform back into a robot. A dedicated "transform" button would have been so much better, thank you very much!

Destroying certain enemies replenishes energy, and some of them even increase your energy maximum. It's crucial that you find them. But, you can't just take your time on each level, advancing inch-by-inch and exploring every pathway to destroy everything - starting in level 2, if you take longer than about a minute and a half, you get mobbed and die.

You get one life, and when you die, that's it, you restart on stage 1. Not only has your execution got to be spot-on, but you've got to memorize each level, know when enemies are coming, and know the optimal path that gets you the bulk of the energy-boosting targets while avoiding the encounters that aren't worth your while. Frankly, it's more exhausting than fun.

There is one little trick - beat a level without using your shields at all, and you get a whopping 30% increase to your maximum energy, and a generous energy recharge besides. This is absolutely worth doing on level 1, and probably not feasible anywhere else.

I made it to level 3 before giving up. Even with save states, Thexder doesn't feel worth the effort.

 

GAB rating: Bad. I really wanted to like this one, or at least to be able to see it to the end, but Thexder's choppy controls and completely merciless gameplay take it into borderline unplayable territory. It feels like a shoddy console-to-PC port, but this is the original. And the Famicom port is apparently even worse!

I can't help but continue to wonder if this is an emulation issue. Almost every PC-88 game I've played feels a bit too fast, like playing an ancient PC game on a system clocked higher than what it was designed to run on. But other PC-88 emulators I've tried have the same issue, so, I don't know. If anyone has any advice on the matter, or can point out that I've been playing Thexder completely wrong and need to be taking X, Y, and Z approaches to get anywhere with it, I'd love to give it another chance. Barring that, though, I'm moving on.