Hey guys!
Hey guys!
Hey girls!
Hey guys, Rewind Mike here.
All: Hey guys!
Sloth: "Hey you guys!"
-Chuckles- Thanks, guys, for helping me do some "weeding".
Anyway, Rolling Thunder.
Now, when I was eleven years old I used to hit up the Phar-Mor, which was an old pharmacy
store, kinda like Walgreens that actually rented video games and movies, and you could
rent a game for 75 cents and keep it for five days.
So, Rolling Thunder is a game that I rented all the time.
I mean, instantly brings me back memories to that old store.
I eventually picked up the game for my own collection because it was really cheap, and
I had a paper route—I had to buy my own games.
My parents were poor, so I had to buy my own clothes, I had to buy my own games, that's
how I got my Sega Genesis, but I'm getting off topic here.
The point is, is since I had to buy the games myself I always looked out for cheap games.
Rolling Thunder was one of them and so was Code Name: Viper.
I had no idea what this game was, but it was Capcom, it was cheap, so I picked it up.
And guess what?
It played just like Rolling Thunder, and I was a bit perplexed; I was like—is this
infringement?
I mean, are they blatantly copying this game, is it a rip-off, or did the same people make
it?
I mean, this one was Tengen, this one was Capcom—I was eleven and twelve years old,
I didn't know.
So, I've always wondered about these two games.
Why are they so similar?
Why did they play nearly identical to each other?
So on this episode of Versus I thought, what the hell?
Let's take a look at these two back-to-back, compare 'em, and see what the deal is.
Galaga.
Dig Dug.
Pac Man.
Namco.
Without question, Namco is one of the most important and influential video game companies
to come out of electronic gaming's infancy in the 1980s.
With blockbuster hit after blockbuster hit, Namco consistently pushed the limits within
a still relatively new market, and set standards that left its peers but little choice to follow
suit; even motivating and pushing their rivals to outdo each other.
In 1986, while Slayer was "Reigning in Blood" and Peggy Sue Got Married, Namco unveiled
a mind-blowing arcade game for its time; a side-scrolling evade and shoot, action-platformer
titled: Rolling Thunder.
It wasn't long before the game was converted for home consoles, released for the NES in
1989 by unlicensed publisher, Tengen.
Rolling Thunder is notorious for its unforgiving challenge.
It has also always been a fairly inexpensive game, so naturally 11-year old me snagged
it up and have enjoyed it ever since.
A year later, being a shameless Capcom fanboy, and relying on my paper route money to buy
new games, I spied on Kay-Bee Toys' clearance rack, Code Name: Viper for twenty bucks.
Twenty dollars for a new game was a no-brainer, and not knowing what I was getting myself
into, picked it up.
Lo and behold, Code Name: Viper played just like Rolling Thunder!
What a rip-off!
But you know what?
That's not a bad thing.
But why are the two so blatantly similar?
Surely the same company that made Rolling Thunder also had a hand in Viper's creation,
right?
This has piqued my curiosity for 27 years.
I want some answers, dammit!
Arc System Works actually developed Rolling Thunder for Namco's Famicom release, which
was then licensed to Tengen for distribution here in the States.
Wait a minute.
Arc System Works?
The same Arc System Works that later developed the excellent Hard Corp Uprising?
Yep, the very same.
Arc System Works would subsequently develop Code Name: Viper for Capcom, following the
development of Rolling Thunder.
Hey, when you're hot, the best thing to do is just let it ride.
So, since both games are very similar to each other, we may as well compare the two and
see what the differences are between Rolling Thunder and Code Name: Viper; and their similarities.
Is Code Name: Viper a shameless rip-off of Rolling Thunder?
Or does it offer enough to stand on its own merits?
Let's check it out.
In Rolling Thunder, you control a secret agent, code named: Albatross, in order to rescue
his fallen comrade, Leila, who has been kidnapped and is being held captive in a hidden, underground
base by the evil terrorist organization known as Geldra.
In Code Name: Viper, you assume the role of Kenny Smith (the Jet?), a secret agent in
his own right, obviously code named Viper; only his plight comes against the futile war
on drugs in South America.
Following orders from Commander Jones, Viper is sent in to infiltrate the jungles of Venezuela
to put an end to the evil syndicate in charge of relentlessly supplying and distributing
illegal drugs to the United States.
What a buzzkill.
Both protagonists begin their respective games armed with a handgun and fifty bullets.
In both games, you have a life meter consisting of two units.
If you touch the enemy, either by taking a fist to the face or by simply grazing PPs,
you lose a unit of health.
Lose both and you die.
Take a bullet, grenade, laser, spikes, steel girder, and it's instant death.
Well, in Rolling Thunder, anyway.
Code Name: Viper actually allows you to obtain up to two additional units of health, so these
same insta-kill obstructions from Thunder actually only deal in two-units of damage
in Viper.
We'll get more into that in just a bit.
Both games also begin with a time limit of 200 seconds and a player stock of three lives.
Both Viper and Albatross share similar character sprites and movements, walking at the same
pace with near-identical jumping mechanics.
The majority of both games are made up of two floors in which both agents are able to
ascend and descend respectively, by either jumping up to the floor above, or dropping
to the one below.
The jumping differences between the two may seem a bit subtle, but actually drastically
differentiates the gameplay between the two adventures.
In Rolling Thunder, when Albatross leaps into the air the arc in which you jump is set,
and your character's movement cannot be manipulated in mid-air.
Similar to that of Ghosts 'n Goblins.
Not the case in Viper, as tricky jumps are made more manageable with the ability to maneuver
in mid-jump.
But the most glaring difference, one that makes Viper much more forgiving versus its
bastard little brother, is the ability to fire your gun in mid-air.
One of the main reasons Rolling Thunder is so freakin' brutal is the fact that Albatross
cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, fire while jumping!
I've never understood this choice of mechanic from Namco, and was elated once I found this
not to be the case in Code Name: Viper.
Score one for Capcom.
In both Rolling Thunder and Code Name: Viper, the enemy soldiers are identified by the colored
uniforms that they wear.
Unarmed soldiers who only take a single shot to kill in Rolling Thunder don red jumpsuits
with pink hoods.
Comparably, in Code Name: Viper, the same type of soldier wears grey and orange while
the unarmed soldier who takes two shots to kill is emblazoned in blue and white.
His misfit brother sports blue and yellow in Rolling Thunder.
Other soldiers' actions in both games can be predicted by the colors that they wear.
Like the protagonists, the antagonists also move in a similar fashion.
Even animals get in on the action with Rolling Thunder's extremely annoying bats, versus
Code Name: Viper's slightly less bothersome birds.
While Rolling Thunder also has enemies who throw grenades, Code Name: Viper has napalm
soldiers, frogmen, snipers and an odd assortment of criminals.
The screaming maniac comes to mind versus Rolling Thunder's ape-man.
Both games lack boss battles other than the final confrontation.
We'll cover that in further detail here, shortly.
The levels in both Rolling Thunder and Code Name: Viper also share many similarities.
Each stage in both games, save for the final one, is broken up into two halves, loaded
with doors that can be entered.
Enemies go in and out of the numerous doors that line the walls in both games.
In Rolling Thunder, some doors are marked with signs reading: "bullets" and "arms",
which provide handgun and machine gun ammunition, respectively.
Code Name: Viper also has these exact same doors, but they are unmarked.
While using these many doors in both adventures offer cover from enemy fire, Code Name: Viper
actually added a seek-n-find element to the gameplay.
In order to complete each stage in Code Name: Viper, you must first rescue the commando
hidden behind any one of the numerous doors within.
He then provides you with the bomb that must be used to destroy the barrier impeding your
escape from that particular stage.
The level cannot be completed without first obtaining this elusive explosive.
Rolling Thunder simply requires you to reach point B from point A. You can finish each
stage without opening a single door whatsoever.
While this may sound tedious on Viper's part, hostages are also hidden behind the
many doors, offering bonus points which eventually translate into extra lives.
Not to mention hidden 1-ups and time & vitality increases.
Time and health increases are also hidden behind doors in Rolling Thunder, but life
is simply restored as opposed to Code Name: Viper, where your life meter can actually
be increased until you reach game over.
Insta-kill weapons and traps that normally end your life with a two-bar health meter
now only drain those two bars.
You can increase your life meter up to four units.
The two games also share the fact that the first few stages are paired up.
For example, stages one and two on Rolling Thunder share the same "secret base" environment
and background music.
Same with Code Name: Viper, only in a jungle.
Stages three and four share a setting amid ancient ruins, while Rolling Thunder's stages
three and four take place in an underground cave.
Both games seem to like the 'prison bars' look.
These similarities only last as far as stage five.
After that, Rolling Thunder recycles stages 1-5 for stages 6-10, reusing the first five
stages' environments, only with remixed obstacles and enemy placements, vastly increasing
the difficulty.
Code Name: Viper continues the paired-stage approach, transitioning from stage five to
six, and as with the previous levels, retaining the same environment and music as its preceding
stage.
Rolling Thunder boasts of ten stages, as opposed to Code Name: Viper's eight.
When a stage is finished in Rolling Thunder, a number of different scenarios play out on
a giant screen, monitored by the enemy.
The same happens in Viper, although on a much smaller monitor, presumably being viewed by
the head of the evil drug syndicate.
A password is provided after the third and sixth stages in Viper, while Rolling Thunder
offers a password for every odd stage beginning with three, which can be written down from
the Game Over screen.
Passwords for both games consist of a numerical code.
As mentioned before, the only boss battle to be had in either game, are the final showdowns
with Mabu and Commander Jones respectively.
After one of the most challenging enemy onslaughts in all of 8-bit gaming, you face off against
the leader of the Geldra organization, Mabu.
After discovering that your boss was the mastermind-drug-lord in Code Name: Viper, Commander Jones gets
taken out in his lavish, Beverly Hills mansion.
Triumphant, both Albatross and Viper celebrate their victories on candid camera, while two
exceptional NES titles come to their conclusion.
So there ya go.
Rolling Thunder, and Code Name: Viper, two excellent NES games!
And the best part is that they're both still cheap.
These games have always been cheap ever since they were released, and they are excellent.
So, if you haven't played these yet, I highly, highly recommend them.
All right, so thanks a lot for checking out my Rolling Thunder and Code Name: Viper comparison.
Now, I know I didn't cover everything, like the fact that both games have limited continues,
but I didn't feel it was that important to go over.
But, if there's other stuff that I missed that you feel was important, let's discuss
it in the comments below.
Let me know.
Did I miss something?
Also, a big shout-out and thank you to Andrew from Retro Island Gaming, Miketendo from Dongled and
Rewind Mike.
All three have fantastic channels, so if you've yet to check them out, I will leave links
to their channels in the description below.
Thanks a lot guys.
And thank you for watching this episode.
I will catch you later.
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