Designers: H. Godai and X. Uesaka
Programmer: John Conley
Graphics: Roseann Mitchell

A departure for Sierra when it was first released, Thexder was not an adventure game of the type Sierra was famous for, but rather an action game. Originally conceived by Game Arts Co. Ltd. and programmed by Synergistic Software Inc. in 1986, the title went by the name THX-DR122, that is until Sierra decided to buy the rights to publish it for the PC. In August of 1987, THX-DR122 became a reality known as Thexder.

In the game you controlled Thexder, a Transformer-like robot who could also turn into a jet. The game was somewhat interesting, though very simplistic. There was very little to do besides transform back and forth between the robot and the jet and shoot up the numerous bad guys that came at you. This wasn't exactly easy since you had very limited energy resources and conserving them enough to make it through each of the levels (some of which were very long and difficult to navigate through) was not easy. Though a somewhat interesting game, Thexder had little in it to differentiate it from other shoot-em-up games of this type. However, this didn't stop it from becoming an extremely addictive game and an instant hit for Sierra.

Thexder's large following prompted Sierra to publish a sequel to the original, a few years later, entitled FireHawk. In 1995, Sierra also saw fit to put together a new revamped version of Thexder for Windows 95. Improved graphics, gameplay, sound... the whole nine. It was the original Thexder that set the trend though, and it's that version of Thexder that we feature here in this particular retrospective. So without further ado, here's some eye candy from the one and only Thexder, from Sierra.