Thundercade
{{Short description|1987 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|image=File:ThundercadeFlyer.jpg
|caption=Arcade flyer
|developer=SETA
Micronics (NES)
|publisher=SETA
American Sammy (NES)
|released= Arcade {{vgrelease|NA|1987[http://www.gamefaqs.com/arcade/569016-thundercade/data Thundercade] Arcade information at GameFAQs}}NES {{vgrelease|NA|July 1989[http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/587702-thundercade/data Thundercade] NES information at GameFAQs}}
|genre=Scrolling shooter
|modes=Single-player[http://www.gamekult.com/jeux/thundercade-SU00005710.html?pf=nes-160017 Thundercade] at Game Kult
Multiplayer
}}
Thundercade, also known as Twin Formation and {{nihongo|特殊部隊UAG|Tokushu Butai U.A.G.|"Special Forces U.A.G. (Un-Attached Grenadier)}}", is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by SETA and released as an arcade game in 1987. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System from American Sammy was released in 1989.
The original arcade flyer establishes that despite a 199X treaty eliminating all nuclear weapons, a certain northerly nation was suspected of developing such weapons in secret. Therefore, the United States of America military sends in the U.A.G. elite unit consisting of an armed motorcyclist and a support bomber to quell the threat.{{cite web | url=https://flyers.arcade-museum.com/videogames/show/1817 | title=Tokusyu Butai UAG - Taito (Video Game, 1987) - Japan }} The American NES version's manual describes a slightly different story, casting players as a part of Operation Thundercade, a special forces operation battling against the nuclear threat of the Atomic Age Terrorist Organization of Miracali (AATOM).[http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/thundercade Thundercade] at MobyGames[http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=14344&tab=overview Thundercade] at allgame
Gameplay
File:ThundercadeScreenshot.PNG
Players control a motorcycle equipped with sidecar cannons and backed up by a B-7 bomber. There are four levels in the game: an unnamed city, the terrorists' military base, the woodland regions, and the fortress containing the nuclear power plant. Bosses include a submarine along with other screen-filling enemies.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Thundercade on their December 15, 1987 issue as being the seventh most-successful table arcade unit of the month.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=322|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=15 December 1987|page=25|lang=ja}}