Thexder was Game Arts' first product, released in Japan for the PC-8801mkII SR in April 1985. It was created by Hibiki Godai and Satoshi Uesaka, and Godai also composed the music. The player controls a fighter robot that can transform into a jet; in robot form it fires auto-aiming lasers and can raise a shield. The name combines three games that influenced it: Theseus, Exoa II Warroid and Grobda.
Square released a Famicom version on 19 December 1985 under license from Game Arts. Sierra On-Line brought the game to North America in 1987 for Apple IIGS and MS-DOS, and it became known outside Japan through these and the MSX conversions.
The sequel Fire Hawk: Thexder - The Second Contact followed in 1989, the Windows 95 remake Thexder 95 in 1995, and Square Enix's rework Thexder Neo in 2009. On 26 October 2023 the PC-8801mkII SR version came to Nintendo Switch as part of the EGG Console line.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | ThexderApple IIGS; Japanese Wikipedia gives September 1987. | Other | 1987 | Sierra On-Line | 1 |
| NA | ThexderEnglish Wikipedia gives September 1987, Japanese Wikipedia October 1987. | MS-DOS | 1987 | Sierra On-Line | 1 |
| NA | Thexder | Mac | 1990 | Sierra On-Line | 1 |
| JP | テグザーTeguzāPC-88 (PC-8801mkII SR), the original release. The release list on Japanese Wikipedia gives June 1985 for PC-8001mkII SR and July 1985 for PC-8801/mkII. | Other | April 1985 | Game Arts | 1 |
| JP | テグザーTeguzāFM-7/77/77AV. | Other | October 1985 | Game Arts | 1 |
| JP | テグザーTeguzāFamicom; port by Bits Laboratory, licensed from Game Arts. | NES | Dec 19, 1985 | Square | 1 |
| JP | テグザーTeguzā | PC-98 | April 1986 | Game Arts | 1 |
| JP | テグザーTeguzāConversion by Compile. The infobox gives July 1986, the article body 1987. | MSX | 1986 | Game Arts | 1 |
| EU | Thexder | Amiga | 1988 | Activision | 1 |
| JP | テグザーTeguzāProject EGG release of the PC-8801 version; FM-7 (2006) and MSX (2020) versions followed. | Windows | Nov 1, 2002 | D4 Enterprise | 2 |
| JP | EGGコンソール テグザー PC-8801mkIISREggu Konsōru Teguzā PC-8801mkIISREGG Console release of the PC-8801mkII SR version. | Switch | Oct 26, 2023 | D4 Enterprise | 2 |
Also known as: テグザー JP2Teguzā JP2THEXDER JP2
Box art by region
JP テグザー
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
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GameplayFamicom
In Square's Famicom version the robot fires bursts of three round bullets instead of auto-aiming lasers, so enemies are harder to hit, but firing no longer costs energy.2
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ContentFamicom
The Famicom version drops the increase in maximum energy and has 99 levels made from a repeating five-level cycle.2
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DifficultyMS-DOS (Sierra)
In Sierra's PC version some enemies restore 2% energy instead of 8%, touching enemies without the shield drains energy faster, and some hidden bonus characters are in different places.2
Translations
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English Official
Sierra On-Line1987MS-DOS · Game Arts originalReleased · complete
Sierra On-Line licensed the game from Game Arts and released it in North America from 1987 on Apple IIGS, MS-DOS and other computers.1
Reception
More than 500,000 copies had sold in Japan by 1987 and over a million worldwide by 1990. Compute! called the Apple IIGS version the computer's first true arcade game, The Games Machine gave the Amiga version 74%, and Dragon gave the Macintosh and MS-DOS versions 4 out of 5 stars in 1991.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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