The Thunderstick and Ikari Warriors

Before I ran off to Chicago, I finally placed an order for what may be the most targeted ad that Instagram has ever sent me. I had been considering ordering a rotary joystick from Thunderstick Studios for a bit, but the moment I got an ad for it being on sale I finally decided it was time to pull the trigger. I've had very little exposure to these style sticks but a buddy of mine constantly reminds me that it's the only way to play Victory Road and my recent visit to Galloping Ghost definitely solidified that perspective. 

For what it’s worth, this thing is very cool. You get a box that serves both as the packaging but also as the stick itself. The build process was super entertaining as someone who hadn't got into arcade guts in a couple of years and honestly the box serves as a very cool branded stick. As someone who loved their Hori Rap4 Kai right until a buddy bought a Razer Atrox, and subsequently NEEDED one, I definitely am thinking about putting it into a heavier setup, but after playing a few hours as is I'm super impressed with how great it really feels.

 If anything, the fact that it has a setting for the 40th Anniversary SNK collection is incredible. My home arcade setup has the ability to plug in sticks so it's really easy to get into a game and everything just worked. Well, everything but the muscle memory of twisting while shooting.

 Personally, I'd rather have more fun with the actual physical act of playing a game than actually being great at them. I didn't grow up playing Ikari Warriors and definitely spent more time playing twin stick shooters. But for what it's worth, twisting the night away is definitely a blast. Granted, I wasn't prepared for how difficult these games were going to be.

 I kicked off my play through with the first Ikari Warriors, which seemed fitting and I assumed at least the second game would see me as a rotating savant. Unfortunately, I was too optimistic. The first game wrecked me. I was used to more of a credit-based shoot ‘em up approach where I could just free play until I finished my first outing, but the original game is very lives based. Once I lost (over and over) I assumed I just needed to hit the same level. After finishing my run, I looked up a play through and realized I was meant to beat the whole game on a singular set of lives and even after playing (apparently) on easy with max lives I had only made it around halfway through the game. While I was slowly learning to be patient, I honestly think the first game just crushed me. I'm definitely going back, but a combination of me being bad at rotation (hopefully temporary) and the game just being relentless with its ammo and enemies definitely left me feeling rough.

 I had definitely played a bit of Victory Road, but I was always confused by how we got here. The first Ikari Warriors definitely had big Rambo energy, which was intended, but the second started off in space? At least it led with a bazooka so you feel impressive from the start. The game apparently ditched drivable tank vehicular power ups for medieval armor and has a sword (and wildly a boomerang) which further pushes its weird 80’s sci-fi action feel. The story of being zapped to another time and place is wildly bizarre, but definitely made it otherworldly and fun. My biggest gripe, which I don't know how long it keeps up because I only made it halfway through this one as well (although I can apparently double my lives in the Anniversary collection so I'll find out soonish hope) is that it has a wild Legendary Wings type mechanic where you get sucked into an alternative world to fight extra bosses if you can’t dodge something in the level. While this may be great for scores, and I loved chucking endless grenades at their bosses, I really felt crushed every time I couldn't dodge one of these green doors. All and all, more fun than the original, if nothing for the power fantasy of wrecking countless little aliens, but still super hard.

 Finally, we make it to Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue. This game is absolutely buck wild as a third installment. The sprites are massive and look amazing, but you get rid of all of the shooting aspects in favor of a rotating joystick beat 'em up. The game looks fantastic from the jump but it may be one of the most ruthless beat 'em ups I've ever played. As long as you aren't in water you can punch, kick, jump, and back punch which already had me trying to remember buttons. I cannot express how wild the rotating joystick is in this game though. If you watch my video, and if I had a proper editor, I'd love to know how many times I said the words "spin kick" because it is the wildest move ever. You can kick, and spin the joystick, to extend your kick in several directions at once. This, plus infinite lives in the Anniversary Collection, meant it was the only game I successfully finished. You rarely get a weapon, and even when you do it's required to fight a tank or helicopter, as you unfortunately I could not find a way to kick a tank to death. I was able to get a few enemies locked into spaces where I could exploit them into kick stuns, but the end of the game had me fighting guys that should have munched so many quarters in your standard arcade experience. The biggest disappointment is that there's no real boss. You just fight more of the same hard enemies at the same time until it ends. A bit of a bummer.

 All that said, I had a blast playing the collection and I'm excited to both dig back into Ikari Warriors 1/2 and the rest of the collection. By the end of my run, I felt like I had a much better control over the rotating joystick and honestly am very pleased with my purchase. It really does feel great to play these games properly and if you have an interest in the Thunderstick I would recommend it just based on how much of a blast it was to use. Eventually I want to test this with other games (via their included other stick setups) to play games like Tempest properly soon. For those looking for a fun build and that home arcade experience I think it exceeded my expectations and was worth the buy. Now to find more games to play with it.