Rolling Thunder on NES is one of those games that feels way ahead of its time—you play as Albatross, an Interpol agent trying to rescue Leila Blitz from some shady secret society. The whole thing plays out like a tense, side-scrolling spy thriller where you’re ducking into doors to ambush enemies (kinda like Elevator Action) and hopping between platforms like you’re in an early version of Shinobi.

What’s cool is you can actually skip straight to later stages if you tweak the dip switches, which was rare back then. The first five levels are tough but fair, then Story 2 hits you with the same stages remixed—more enemies, nastier traps, and this eerie detail where Leila’s torture gets worse on the monitor after each level. It’s a simple touch that actually makes the stakes feel higher.

Honestly, the controls take a minute to get used to—jumping between rails feels stiff at first, but once it clicks, you’ll be clearing rooms like a pro. Just don’t expect mercy from the later stages.