Thexder

Year 1987, a dot-matrix printer squeaks in the PC tower, the monitor glows orange, and a metal robot with a rocket thruster glides across the screen. I'd just finished watching Transformers on TV, and suddenly I could pilot one myself.

Thexder is an action game from Japanese studio Game Arts released in 1985, brought to the West two years later under Sierra's wing. You play as a robotic warrior who can transform — in robot mode it fires a homing laser, in jet mode it maneuvers quickly through mazes. The setting is futuristic, enemies are plentiful, and the goal is straightforward: make it through the levels and survive.

The mechanics hinge on that transformation. The robot fires a homing laser, so you don't need to aim much — sounds like a breather, but the energy reservoir drains fast and regenerates slowly. The jet is faster, but defenseless. Switching between both modes is the whole heart of the game. The mazes are laid out as interconnected corridors teeming with enemies pouring in from all sides, and navigating them feels chaotic at first. The PC controls are functional, though jumping from the console original to keyboard meant some small compromises that you stop noticing after a few minutes.

What Thexder brought was the feeling — a robot that transforms, a self-aiming laser, and solid smooth movement on machines where other games stuttered. In 1987, it was something you'd stare at on a PC with your jaw hanging open. Today? The mazes repeat themselves, difficulty ramps up brutally, and without save states the game eventually becomes more a test of patience than reflexes. It's aged honestly — what was groundbreaking now feels rigid. But the foundation still works.

These days Thexder is best played by those who want to see what an arcade action game looked like transplanted to a home computer back when that still wasn't completely smooth. And also by those who remember how much transforming robots felt like the pinnacle of civilization.