Note: this post inspired by a poll posted last fall by friend of the show UnderScoopFIRE which asked “Which 80s property would make the best 2011 video game?“. Go check them out!

Of the many 80’s cartoons that we talk about, one that continues to stay relevant today because of the impact of its characters and the current remake on Cartoon Network is ThunderCats. As popular as Lion-O and his group of ferocious fighting felines were in the 80s, however, they were featured in only one video game.

ThunderCats: The Lost Eye of Thundera was a side-scrolling adventure where you take control of Lion-O and his trusty Sword of Omens to try and retrieve the missing Eye of Thundera jewel from the clutches of the villainous Mumm-Ra (The ever-living). Lion-O fought foes and traversed levels on foot for most of the game, the few exceptions being the flying vehicles that were available at certain points. He was equipped with both his sword and a short range energy gun.

This game was released back in 1987 by Elite Systems Ltd for the Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum computer systems. I find it quite similar to the games Rastan and Shadow of the Beast, both from that same era.

Here is a youtube clip of the Amiga version of the game.

Not exactly a hall of fame caliber game, but great for its time. Even though I had it on the Commodore 64, I wish it was available or at least considered on the Nintendo, Sega or Sony systems through the rest of the 80s and beyond. There is hope for the future, as there are video game concepts being proposed for a newer ThunderCats game. See the sample below, posted by toonhead2 on Youtube:

What other retro video games do you recall? Chime in via the comments below!

Classick Material can be found on twitter (@classickmateria) and is a host and contributor to the “Cold Slither Podcast.” He has also spent several hours of his life playing games on the Commodore 64 computer system in the 80s and 90s, a fact that he is oddly proud of!