Play Blades of Thunder Online

Game Overview

Blades of Thunder on the GBA is one of those games that makes you wonder how they squeezed so much into a tiny cartridge. You're piloting a military helicopter through these surprisingly detailed 3D environments—snowy mountains, desert oil fields, even European cities—all rendered with this cool voxel tech that was pretty mind-blowing for the system.

The controls take a minute to get used to since you're managing both flight and targeting separately. Tilt the helicopter one way while sliding the crosshairs to pick off tanks below, or suddenly boost altitude to dodge incoming missiles. The radar in the corner becomes your best friend, especially when you realize knocking out enemy radar units makes your life way easier.

Missions mix things up between straight-up destruction, escort duty, and protecting bases—though honestly, I always preferred the all-out assault levels where you're just raining rockets on everything. The homing missiles feel satisfying when they lock on, but nothing beats the chaos of unloading a full Hydra salvo into a boss fight. They even throw in power-ups later that let you fire three rockets at once, which is as ridiculous as it sounds.

It's got that classic arcade vibe with scoring and passwords, but don't let the cute GBA screen fool you—some later missions on hard will have you sweating. The briefing text before each level is hilariously dramatic too, like a straight-to-VHS action movie about stopping "The Solar Martyrs" (yes, really).

For a handheld game about helicopter combat, it pulls off way more than it has any right to.