Thunderbirds - GBA

It really doesn't matter if you were around for the original TV series or if you've just started school - Thunderbirds are known to just about everyone. Famed for its cheesy dialogue and less than special 'special' effects, as well as that not-so-subtle puppet string, Thunderbirds was a resounding success regardless. So when a Thunderbirds movie was announced, featuring real actors and some actually rather good special effects, a retro frenzy began. And like most developers in the games industry, Vivendi saw fit to take advantage of the situation, bringing us a spanking new Thunderbirds game for GBA.

Joining International Rescue member Alan Tracy and his friends Fermat and Tintin, your new quest is to capture escaped master criminal, The Hood. You'll have to help undo the havoc The Hood has caused and save any other International Rescue members before all is lost. But for this group of elite do-gooders, it's all in a day's work.

As you partake in the game's many heroic challenges, you'll find yourself commanding a full complement of Thunderbirds ships in missions reminiscent of several gaming classics. Some levels will remind you of games such as Desert Strike and indeed the rest of the Strike series, whilst others are more closely related to the likes of Asteroids. There is also a variety of puzzles, and the diverse nature of the Thunderbirds ships as a whole also affords players varied gaming locales lacking in repetitive gameplay.

Overall, Thunderbirds is an obvious big-screen cash-in, but it's executed well, and it's good fun. more