Welcome to the eighteen episode of 23 Endings: The Early Years, the show where we put old school video game endings into proper context. Today we're teaming up with the greatest spy duo in video game history to spoil Rolling Thunder 2. Will Albatross and Leila be able to keep Neo-Geldra from starting a third World War? Find out now when you watch this brand new episode of 23 Endings: The Early Years!


Before we can talk about Rolling Thunder 2, we need to go back to the influential Namco game that started it all. The original Rolling Thunder was a simple game starring a guy with superhuman jumping skills infiltrating the enemy base in order to rescue a missing female agent named Leila Blitz. The game ends with Albatross defeating the evil terrorist organization known as Geldra and saving Leila from certain doom.

Apparently the mission was a success in more ways than one, because Rolling Thunder 2 picks up with the two spies partnered up and ready for the next mission. The good news for them (and bad news for pretty much everybody else) is that Geldra has returned under the name Neo-Geldra with a diabolical plot to destroy a bunch of communication satellites and plunge the world into chaos. But don't worry, because gaming's best spy couple is on the case.

Rolling Thunder 2 kicks off with Albatross and Leila sailing into Miami Beach to investigate a suspicious arms dealer at his swanky estate. They crash a party filled with tyrants and warlords, only to discover that there's a secret underground base that turns into a bio-research center where androids are being created from ocean vertebrates. The two spies eventually realize that the person they're looking for isn't in Miami, but rather Giza. So they parachute into Egypt and immediately start shooting up the place.

Long story short, Albatross and Leila discover that this guy named Gidmo has a bunch of weapons that will be used to start a series of global conflicts, ultimately bringing the entire world to war. It's up to these two spies to make sure that doesn't happen. Here's what happens after you memorize the pattern and defeat Gidmo.

What I like about this ending has nothing to do with Albatross and Leila boarding a space shuttle and taking down Gidmo's plans for world domination, but rather how it allows these two spies to have a quiet moment all on their own. It reminds us that the core of this game is about the relationship between two of the WCPO's best agents. It's the sort of ending that makes you root for these two to drive away from the spy game forever and spend the rest of their lives safe and secure in some undisclosed location. And believe it or not, that's pretty much what happens. Instead of bringing the spy couple back for Rolling Thunder 3, Namco introduced a terrible new character named Jay that single-handedly ruined the franchise.

Getting back to the ending at hand, you may have noticed that we're given a password to open up a more challenging second quest. Don't get too excited, beating Gidmo again won't unlock a different ending. All you get for your trouble is this static screen. Well, at least Namco is proud of me.