Namco Bandai bringing Thundercats to the DS
Namco Bandai had just one Nintendo title on hand for the company’s Global Gamers Day event last week. The game in question is Thundercats.
As you’ll find out in the summary below, Thundercats is closely tied to the new television series and features a lot of hack-and-slash gameplay. Namco Bandai also explains why the project is being made for the DS rather than the 3DS.
Here’s what we know about the game thus far:
– Made by Aspect Digital (Naruto: Ninja Council)
– Side-scrolling action game
– Based on the new cartoon series
– Picks up at the very beginning of the story
– Lizard army advancing on Thundera
– King Claudus, Grune, and Tygra are fighting
– Lion-O has been left behind
– Grune defects as the forces of good are about to prevail
– Lion-O runs into battle with his Sword of Omens
– Lion-O slashed at the Lizard army while running from one side of the palace to the other
– Three Lizard enemies in the demo: green soldiers, others were armed with arrows, and orange lizards were slightly stronger than the grunts
– Face buttons used to attack
– Jump to platforms and defeat unprepared enemies
– Power-ups dropped by enemies when they’re killed
– Use the power-ups to restore health or charge the Sword of Omens
– Icon of the sword appears on the touch screen when you’ve collected enough
– Tap the icon to make Lion-O shoot a red beam of light that attacks any enemies in front
– Lion-O and Tygra reunite at the end of the level
– Tygra pined that King Claudus is dead, Mumm-Ra is leading the Lizard army, and the only reason Grune betrayed them is because he is under Mumm-Ra’s control
– Lion-O and Tygra escape
– Tygra becomes a support character
– Icons for Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro and Wily Kat & Wily Kit on either side of the Sword of Omens
– Touch one of these icons and that character will come out to momentarily assist Lion-O
– Oonly play as Lion-O
– Game is closely tied to the cartoon
– Sound effects/voice acting from the series included
– Concept art added in as an extra reward for players
– Players can see how the animation team decided on the final character designs
– On the DS rather than the 3DS because the companies involved are aware of the current economic climate and know many parents, who would probably be buying Thundercats for their kids, might not be able to afford a 3DS
– Higher chance of their children already owning a DS
– 3DS also supports backwards compatibility
Thundercats is slated for an August launch in North America.
