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Aren't Transformers that turn into planes great? (What do you mean, what are Transformers?) Wouldn't it be great to play one in a game? In theory, yes.

In Thunder Burner, you are indeed one of these walking robot things that can turn into a plane at any point. Whether stomping or flying around, you should seek out the life-giving balls that hang in mid-air on your way to the end of the level. Here you do, of course, meet the end-of-level guardian.

In your way are ground defences - toaster-shaped things - that fire at you, airborne planes that swoop over your head and, er, shoot at you, and looking rocks that loom a lot and make you crash. The 3D effect of the landscape and the objects on it moving towards you is pretty cheesy, but not so bad as to be unconvincing. The game's French so the sound is good: hefty walking samples, thudding thuds for the explosions and such like.

Thunder Burner could have been an absolutely exceptional game, but its effects are what let it down. The samples are great though the graphics are fairly primitive - for example, there are only a few frames of animation for each effect - and there's not really enough there to keep you interested for very long. Nice idea, shame it's a let down all round.

1. The 3D desert is a little bit like Encounter or Backlash. Those games have smoother 3D and more manic gameplay.
2. The name's like Afterburner and so is the game - dire.