Thunder Hoop Collection : two arcade curiosities that still have energy to resell

Both games are based on a simple basis: running, jumping, shooting and surviving at levels filled with enemies, traps and projectiles.

The first Thunder Hoop looks like a very arcade run and gun 2D, with a real taste for poorly placed traps, enemies that arise without warning and deliberately tense situations. The character responds well, shooting in different directions is practical, and the level design regularly pushes forward with caution.

TH Strikes Back takes over this base but improves almost everywhere. The action is faster, the screen is more loaded, the staging is more nervous and some passages gain in performance.

The concern is that the two games remain deeply arcaded in their philosophy. They are made to surprise, punish and push to start over. Modern options such as rewind and backups reduce frustration, fortunately, but without them some passages would soon have had a tendency to annoy.

Visually, the collection has this strange charm of the European productions of the early years 90 trying to get the energy back from the big Japanese terminals.

Thunder Hoop looks almost like 16-bit, with expressive sprites, bizarre monsters and very colorful decors. TH Strikes Back clearly mounts with a step, with more details, a richer rendering and a visually more impressive action.

Everything hasn't aged perfectly, of course, but all of them have enough personality to stay pleasant today. There is a real visual identity, sometimes kitsch, sometimes grotesque, but rarely bland.

Sound dressing does the job.

Fires, explosions, impacts and noises reinforce the immediate arcade side, while the musics accompany the action correctly. Nothing here reaches a cult level, but nothing comes either to ruin the experience.

It is above all a functional sound design, at the service of rhythm and chaos, more than a truly significant element of the package.

Let's be honest: we don't come in Thunder Hoop Collection for his screenplay.

The bio-organic science fiction universe, the uncontrolled genetic experiments and the mutant army of Professor Genbreak give a minimum context, but interest is elsewhere.

The real interest of the collection is the discovery of two forgotten games, a certain European arcade know-how and a time when gameplay passed above all else.

The second game is clearly more convincing than the first, which also gives the whole an almost historical value: we see very well how the formula has evolved between 1992 and 1994.

It's probably here that Thunder Hoop Collection shows its limits most clearly.

Two arcade games, even nice ones, remain two arcade games. We make it relatively fast, especially with unlimited credits, rewind and save states. So the gross lifetime is rather small if we do not want to play again for score, difficulty or co-op.

Fortunately, QUByte adds some useful bonuses: visual filters, jukebox, archive and presentation elements. This is not huge, but enough to give a little more value to the ensemble.

The real pleasure will come especially from curious players to rediscover these titles, or from those who like to revive this kind of experience on a short session.