Square Enix reveals transformed Thexder Neo for PSP

This looks really interesting.

Einhander? pleaaaaase?

I remember trying to play this on my ancient busted-ass 486 12+ years ago and watching the 3D graphics chugging along at 10 fps - and being amazed at them. Now I'll be able to play it at a rock-solid 30+ on a PSP - jesus, do I feel old all of a sudden (and I can just barely drink legally!)

Gameplay-wise, this game is weird, but pretty fun - you can morph from a humanoid mech dude into a plane on the fly, making for some pretty crazy puzzle sections where you have to morph back and forth really quickly to handle different obstacles. It's not going to change your life, but having it on your PSP so you can play a couple of levels on the bus should be pretty sweet.

Starscream could kick his ass.

That video is all kinds of awesome.

reminds me of Metroid.

Looks OK... probably just not my type of game.

a ripoff of Bangai-O

Really Square? Where's Einhander?

@DeepFriedSushi

That was just lazily assembled sarcasm, right? Because with Thexder being from 1987, and Bangai-O being from 2000, the whole "ripping off" thing is sort of a stretch of logic.

Half excited! Man, I really wish they would bring Thexder back as a PS3 downloadable title. I don't have a PSP nor do I want one.

Anyone else read that logo as Thexder neD??

Ooh, I loved Thexder on my Apple IIGS. So looking forward to the PS3 version that Joystiq said was coming. Hope it's still in the cards.

I own Thexder for Famicom and it isn't good, but this one does look pretty good.

Oh man I remember playing this in 1987. Probably my first robot game ever.

yeah Spyder, why bother checking out great remakes of great games, or original titles, heck, just skip over anything that looks interesting at all, and just wait on the edge of your seat for Assasin's Creed 2.

Seriously, wtf? I say things like "why do I even bother anymore" when I keep playing the same mainstream money grabbers... it's games like this that keep my attention. Give the off beat stuff some more credit man!

Never played this, but I'm really surprised how awesome the original looked for its time. Very forward-thinking. I'll definitely be getting this if they put it up for ten bucks.

I dont know why but the music and the look of the game reminded me of an old game I had back on SNES called Sparkster though the gameplay looks nothing like it. Any way the game looks pretty fun, hope it comes to XBLA or PSN some time since I cant get a PSP at the moment.

I remember playing Thexder on the family Apple ][ way back when.

Is it just me, or do some of the screens look familiar? Is this just an updated port of the original, or is it a whole new game? Considering the amount of hours my brother and I spent learning how to get through some of those screens (like the lava with the walls you had to fly over/under), I'm a bit worried that this might be a bit too challenging to play on a small screen with such a small joypad on a bumpy train.

Hopefully they fixed the control issues... As I recall, if you hit a wall or any sort of obstacle as a plane, you automatically transformed back into a robot which was rarely a good thing.

day one buy! oh shit its a psn exclusive, and i live in Iceland! oh well ill have to wait til the disc version comes out.

I played the original Thexder on my IBM XT with a CGA graphics capability. That was 4 colours to enjoy. It did support EVGA which was either 16 or 32 colours and when my dad upgraded his computer to an IBM AT I was finally able to play it the way it should have been. I lost the game years back but found it at a garage sale for a buck. Ah the memories. I think I might finally be investing in a PSP.

hrmmm....one more game that could tip me towards finally buying a PSP....I remember playing Thexder at RadioShack back in the day. sweet nostalgia.

then I don't understand your comment either I guess. It came across to me as if you were putting down this and all other games that look different. It'd be different if you said "this doesn't look very fun" or something, but you generalized, and I only assume from the context that, because this game looks different from most carbon copy games out there, that you have a vendetta against originality. I hate people who hate originality. That's what drives money grabber titles and hampers unique titles that provide experiences we've never had before.

Granted, this is a remake, it's old enough that many people haven't played it. Since it is very different from any other shmup or platformer, I'll grant it the classification of "unique."

I dunno. I'm not going to change your mind, and that's fine. I just hate that train of thought. If enough people put down originality, we won't have any left, and we'll just keep getting the same sequels over and over. This industry is already bloated enough with greedy money.

Thexder was the very first PC game I ever bought!! Instant purchase, for me, simply for the nostalgia factor - and it was pretty damn fun.