Make Sure You Play - Thor: God of Thunder (DS)

A hidden gem on the Nintendo DS

Ahh movie video game tie-ins…from classics to catastrophes, they have a funny place in the world of gaming. There was a time during the noughties when they were just accepted as something that came with every big blockbuster release.

Essentially seen as a marketing tool, licensed games were often destined to fail due to their smaller budgets and tight turn arounds mandated by movie release dates, meaning many of them ended up lacking polish, or any coherent connection to their big-screen counterparts. Further back in history, some were deemed so embarrassing that the only way to recover from their release was to literally bury all unsold copies in a desert.

There are exceptions of course, Spider-Man 2 swings to mind, and Peter Jackson was heavily involved in the King Kong game ensuring it reflected the movie as authentically as it could. Then there are less direct spin-offs to The Lord of The Rings, The Matrix, Star Wars and even The Simpsons, all of which have some fairly decent games dotted around the revolutionary 2000s.

As the decade went on, innovations in graphics technology increased, and there was an explosion in popularity of franchises like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Halo and other original gaming IPs. Demand grew (and so did the budgets) for games of the highest quality, which meant those cheaply made movie tie-ins began to fade away, with multiple copies always sitting on the pre-owned shelves. This isn’t to say they’re completely dead, but the focus now tends to be more on spin-offs, and original use of licenses, instead of “New Movie Release: The Game”.

One movie franchise that also began to make its mark around this time was the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kicking off in 2008, those early movies were indeed lucky enough to receive loose video game tie-ins. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor, all had multi-platform outings published by SEGA, with THQ due to release the official Avengers game in 2012 before it ended up being Thanos’d out of existence due to budgetary constraints. Even Earth’s Mightiest Heroes weren’t safe from the licensed game curse…or were they?

Though generally unfavourable, one solo Avengers game uniquely stands out as a certified hidden gem…or, hidden stone. Infinity stone? No?... 2011’s Thor: God of Thunder is an action hack and slash game developed by Liquid Entertainment which released across all major platforms (a PSP version was cancelled with no explanation). It’s not far from what you might expect from a tie-in in terms of quality, but interestingly, when it comes to the Nintendo DS version (not to be confused with the 3Ds version), SEGA handed off dev duty to WayForward, who were no stranger to licensed games, and the California based studio went a completely different route.

A side-scrolling, 2D pixel-art brawler with the all the nostalgic charm of a SEGA Mega Drive release. It’s astonishing really, we already know that budget and schedules are tight with these games, so for a completely different version to be produced alongside the other platforms means SEGA deserve credit here. Sure, they wanted to maximise sales, so making it possible for the 100 million+ Nintendo DS owners out there to pick up a copy of the Thor game makes perfect sense, and the 3Ds was brand new in 2011, meaning its baby brother had to have a version of the game. Credit where it’s due, the decision to make something that ran well on the tech came first, as it could’ve just been a stripped-down sluggish version of the 3Ds game instead.

Retro-esque, vibrant, and begging to be displayed on a CRT, the visuals (and audio) are undoubtedly the most stand-out aspect of this game, and reason alone to give it a go. An attention to detail in the little animations and characters give so much to admire, and I found myself sometimes just standing still and watching the rain fall from the sky as Thor cycles through his idle poses. By Odin's beard it's beautiful stuff.

If you’ve ever played a side scroller the likes of Contra or Altered Beast, gameplay is accessible from the get-go (and easy to pick-up if you haven't!). You can mash the buttons like some mad God of Mischief if you like, but there’s depth with the move set and special attacks if you really want to hone your mighty skills when taking down Trolls and all kinds of enemies from Norse mythology. The action continuously spreads across both screens with some great perspective trickery too, which to this day feels like a mechanic that many DS games never really got right, or at least failed to utilise in the most interesting ways. Instead of just opting to use one screen as a map, or inventory viewer, in Thor GoT you’ll be jumping, lobbing your hammer, zapping enemies with stunning lightning attacks, and smashing breakable environments, all happening across those two screens. It’s up there with the best uses of the DS’s main USP. Difficulty level for me didn’t feel high, though bosses did offer a bit more of a challenge, all presented in those glorious visuals which at times had my mouth open in awe.

Story wise, it doesn’t follow the movie beyond featuring the characters and some locations, TLDR – it's a Thor needs to save Asgard, Loki wants to prove himself to Odin type deal. I’m not personally a Thor-Lore expert but it felt very in-keeping with the themes of the comic books and that style, and this is only enhanced by the illustrated comic-like character art of the cutscene panels.

Pixel-art and 2D graphics are timeless these days, so playing the game in 2022 at no point makes it feel dated. Opting for this style in 2011 though, which Wayforward did for a few games was a masterstroke. Though largely informed by the short-turn around, it helps that the devs knew how to get the most from the DS horsepower, with "refined 2D tech" (according to CEO Voldi Way in a 2012 interview with nintendojo.com), they were able to deliver easily one of the better licensed games you’re ever likely to play, but almost certainly one of the best licensed games on the DS itself.

Thor God of Thunder is just as fun to pick up now as it was back in 2011. Make sure you play it.