Thunder Blade (サンダーブレード, Sandāburēdo) is an arcade, flight-based, third-person rail shooter originally released for video arcades in 1987. In the game, players control a helicopter to destroy enemy vehicles.
The game was released as standard stand-up arcade cabinet that introduced the use of force feedback, as the joystick vibrates during gameplay. A sit-down unit was also released, replacing the force feedback with a seat that moves in tandem with the joystick.
Versions of the game were later released for the Sega Master System, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, TurboGrafx-16, Sharp X68000 and ZX Spectrum. The Nintendo 3DS remake was released as a 3D Classic in Japan on August 20, 2014, in North America and Europe on May 14, 2015, and in Australia on July 2, 2015.
A follow-up, Super Thunder Blade, was released exclusively for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.