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Lethal Thunder (Japanese: Thunder Blaster) is a 1991 [[UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame arcade]] [[VerticalScrollingShooter vertical]] ShootEmUp by IREM.

The game's main mechanic is that of ButtonMashing: Your ship has an energy bar that constantly drains, and also affects the strength of its attacks. To fill it up, the player has to mash the shot button. The faster the player mashes the shot button, the faster it fills, and the stronger the player's shot becomes. Players take on an armada of [[AlienInvasion alien invaders]] and thwart their attempts.

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!!'''This Game Provides Examples of:'''

* ButtonMashing: The main mechanic of the game. The faster you mash the button, the stronger your power bar gets.
* CoresAndTurretsBoss: More than half the bosses are these, including the final boss.
* DifficultyByRegion: The Japanese version (Thunder Blaster) is ''by far'' a lot more difficult than the English versions. For starters, you face off many more enemies, including foes that come from behind to bump into you, and it also uses a checkpoint system instead of instant-respawning.
* ExcusePlot: There's aliens, go and stop them.
* FighterLaunchingSequence: This happens at the start of the Japanese version of the game.
* FluffyTheTerrible: "Green Peas" may sound like a [[NonIndicativeName non-indicative]] AtrociousAlias (he's white), but his reason for that naming is because he fires out [[BulletHell loads]] of homing, indestructible small green balls in Thunder Blaster. (In Lethal Thunder, he's [[WarmUpBoss as lame as that name gets]]).
* GiantMook: Several kinds, many of which are DemonicSpiders.
* LawOfChromaticSuperiority: The bosses are named after colours, and the FinalBoss is called "Gold Mine".
* MultipleEndings: You only get the good ending (Ending A) if you do not let any of the bosses escape. Otherwise, you get endings of increasing depressing-ness for each boss you let escape, the worst one has the earth being destroyed.
* NintendoHard: Besides having to button mash to deal enough damage to foes, there are many enemies that are extremely nasty.
* ReflectingLaser: One of the Mooks in the final stage shoot these.
* SmartBomb: You power it up by ButtonMashing.
* SpaceMines: One of the Mooks. Destroying it makes them explode into a spread of shrapnel.
* SpreadShot: Three of the four weapons are these, the last one being a single-stream flamethrower. The Yellow (Ball) weapon is a variant- if the player holds forward, they spread out even more, if the player holds back, they concentrate into a single beam.
* StatusEffects: Getting hit by a green blob will give you an energy drain status, draining your weapon power faster and forcing you to button mash even more to get it back high.
* ThemeNaming: The enemy alien bosses are named after colours. (White Feather, Red Tide, Bluish Green, Dark Brown, Green Peas, Silver Scale, Gold Mine).
* TimeLimitBoss: Several of the bosses will "time out" and escape if you take too long to beat them. This will affect the ending you receive- let any boss escape and the ending gets worse.