The latest title to release on console from Renegade Sector Games, Escape from Terror City may well have a hard time going up against today’s Starfield launch. Of course, they are very different games. What isn’t all to different however, is the studio’s other consoles games. Escape from Terror City looks like the Thunder Kid series. It plays like the Thunder Kid series. And as this Escape from Terror City review will attest, it may as well simply be Thunder Kid III.
The game is set in a world where a mining colony on a distant planet has been invaded. Help is months away, and so it’s up to a band of resistance fighters to regain control. You’re one of the resistance, and your job is to blast everything in sight. Its an entirely trite storyline and inconsequential to the game, thankfully.
The low poly visual design reminiscent of the original PlayStation (though vastly more capable) and bright colours are drawn straight from Thunder Kid. The gameplay follows the same precedent – adventure forth in the third-person perspective and shoot all the bad guys – but there are some significant differences. Not enough to suggest they’re worlds apart, but enough to warrant a new release.
Escape from Terror City has less reliance on awkward platforming, and more about player positioning during combat. The game uses a twin stick mechanic, with the left for movement and the right for aiming the on-screen reticule. Unlike Thunder Kid, combat isn’t offered during progressive areas, but rather static ones. As soon as you enter a new area barriers will appear, and the player has limited scope to move within, dodging and counterattacking however they can. The core gameplay works like Space Harrier without the automatic progression.
Outside of this, the game is pretty basic. There are no power-ups, no bonuses and no optional routes. What there is, is challenge. And plenty of it. It’s unlikely that many players will complete the first levels without a few attempts. And that’s just on normal difficulty. The hard mode is most certainly an aggressive affair.
As you’ll no doubt have learned from this Escape from Terror City review, it isn’t exactly a unique game. But it is interesting. Chit Hot lambasted Thunder Kid II for not changing up the formula enough, but here Renegade Sector Games has done just that. It is for all intents and purposes a compliment to the Thunder Kid formula. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it certainly has a limited appeal. If you’re looking to take a break from all your space faring with some no-brainer retro shooting, Escape from Terror City might be the change you’re looking for.
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