Thunderbirds Review

From what I can remember, Thunderbirds is a 1960’s show that for some reason was on TechTV. This summer, a child’s film was or is going to be released, based on the show. I apologize for not having my facts straight, but I’ve never seen the show, have no interest in the movie, and don’t plan on seeing it. That already puts me at odds with this game. Read on to see my thoughts on the game.

From here on out, we’re going to pretend that the show and movie don’t exist, thank God. The game features nine missions, with semi-3D puzzle levels and 2D flying missions. The game also features a password system in place of a save feature, or a level select menu. Automatically the game loses replay value points, because I shouldn’t have to write down a password to replay a level.

So when you examine the replay value score, I basically rated the game as having no saving system at all, meaning it’s being rated as a game in which you have to replay the entire game to play a single level, which is a hassle for the consumer.

I assume only fans of the show/movie are reading this (what fans?), so I’ll stick strictly to game talk from here on out. Anyway, the action button in this game (talk/activate) is A, B (for some characters) is jump and roll for Fermat, R is used for special abilities, L is used to regroup/hold position, and select is used to swap players.

In the game, you will be using and swapping between the three characters, Alan, Fermat, and Tin Tin, quite often. Alan is an outgoing kid whose ability is to push crates. Fermat is the brain of the group; he can go through holes (using B) and access computer terminals as his special ability. Tin Tin is the only girl of the bunch; her power is telekinesis. Using her powers, she can move crates over buttons, pull levers, etc.

The key to the game is cooperation. Solving the puzzles isn’t much of a task, as long as you know what you’re doing. I’m one to jump into a game without looking back, and I don’t like to button mash, so I expect some sort of tutorial, which really wasn’t provided. Anyway, it’s only a GBA (four buttons), so there’s not much to expect or learn, thus the learning curve, without pre-examining the manual, isn’t troubling.

Since each character only has one special ability, you’ll find yourself moving crates, dropping crates to make a bridge, rolling through ventilation shafts, and using telekinesis quite a lot. This can get tiresome easily, but no worries, the game isn’t long to begin with. If this takes you anymore than five hours to beat, you definitely need to play more games, or just give up altogether.

The flying levels are clearly different from the puzzle aspect of the game. This is the only time you’ll have the opportunity to shoot anything, but unfortunately; you’ll be dousing fires with water, instead of fighting with other pilots. Then again, you against that weather balloon should turn out to be an interesting match-up.

Is Thunderbirds a cheap cash-in attempt by Vivendi Universal? Of course it is, but at least it isn’t ridiculously crappy as many movie tie-ins are. Mix non-violent puzzle-solving with flying levels and apparently you get Thunderbirds, the most average GBA game of the summer. Nonetheless, it’s better than expected.