What platforms is Thunderhawk on?

Thunderhawk was released on DOS, Amiga, Sega CD, Atari ST/STE.

When did Thunderhawk release?

Thunderhawk was first released on December 31, 1992.

Thunderhawk

Dec 31, 1992ShooterSimulatorDOSAmigaSega CDAtari ST/STE

Thunderhawk — frequently asked questions

What platforms is Thunderhawk on?: Thunderhawk was released on DOS, Amiga, Sega CD, Atari ST/STE.
When did Thunderhawk release?: Thunderhawk was first released on December 31, 1992.

About Thunderhawk

Thunderhawk (AH-3 Thunderstrike in North America) is a combat flight simulator video game developed by Core Design and released for the Amiga and DOS in 1992, for the Sega CD in 1993 and for Microsoft Windows in 1996. In the game the player flies a fictional AH-73M attack helicopter. The game consists of several campaigns for each one of ten world areas. The campaigns are themed around real events or activities in these areas (e.g. escorting a UN humanitarian convoy during the Bosnian War, fighting pirates in the South China Sea, etc.) A typical campaign consists of four or five missions. Each mission has a primary objective that must be completed to successfully complete the mission, there are other targets in each missions such as tanks and SAM launchers but these are only used to help the player boost their score. The primary target is usually a major structure like an enemy base or a bridge. Usually the player is equipped with a standard set of weapons - 16 missiles, 76 rockets, and a machine gun with unlimited ammunition. On some special missions the rockets are replaced by a weapon that is critical to the success of that particular mission, such as a runway cratering system when the primary objective is to destroy an airbase or a bomb when destruction of a bridge is the primary objective. The control system for Thunderhawk was fairly unique for the platforms supporting a mouse. It used the mouse for basic control, plus some keyboard input for rarely used commands. Moving the mouse would tilt the helicopter in the specified direction, and make it start moving in that direction. Pressing the left mouse button fires weapons. When the right mouse button was held, moving the mouse up and down changed altitude, while side to side yawed the helicopter side to side.

Summary via IGDB.

Game details

Platforms: DOS, Amiga, Sega CD, Atari ST/STE
Developer: Core Design
Publisher: Core Design
Game modes: Single player
Themes: Action

Details via IGDB.

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Period reviews	Fake risk
Sega CD	1993	$14	$26	$65	2 reviews	Low

Also released on: DOS · Amiga · Atari ST/STE. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Sega CD · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-11-02

Loose

$14

Complete

$26

Sealed

$65

Other releases and variants

Release	Loose	Complete	Sealed
European (PAL) release (Thunderhawk)	$7	$20	—
Japanese release (Thunderhawk)	$21	$21	$62

How often it sells

Loose: about once a month
Complete: about once a week
Sealed: about 2 times a year

Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-11-02.

Price over time

Loose
Complete

A loose copy sold for about $0.99 in Apr 2008, $12.50 five years ago, and $14.29 as of Nov 2026.

Show as table

Month	Loose	Complete
Jan 2009	$4.49	—
Jan 2010	$1.64	—
Jan 2011	$1.04	—
Jan 2012	$1.35	—
Jan 2013	$0.98	—
Jan 2014	$3.91	$8.95
Jan 2015	$7.99	$12.50
Jan 2016	$4.99	$12.00
Jan 2017	$7.50	$9.99
Jan 2018	$7.88	$11.34
Jan 2019	$8.00	$11.57
Jan 2020	$10.00	$14.75
Jan 2021	$10.00	$15.59
Jan 2022	$11.42	$24
Jan 2023	$12.50	$27
Jan 2024	$10.58	$22
Jan 2025	$10.74	$25
Jan 2026	$12.99	$18.95
Nov 2026	$14.29	$26

Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Nov 2026.

Release record

Territory	Date	Product number	Barcode	MSRP
North America	1993	T-60055	009119930574	—
Europe / PAL	1 September 1993	T-115015-50	5020717600015	—
Japan	17 September 1993	T-60134	—	¥7,800

Source: Japanese product numbers, dates and prices: Sega Japan's Mega-CD software lists, each number checked against MAME's Mega-CD software list. North American and European numbers: the number printed on the disc as recorded by Redump, shown where MAME's list agrees or has no number

Region: NA+EU+JP
Released: 1993
Authenticity: Low

Modern re-releases of these games are not tracked hereLow counterfeit risk

Sega CD prices, all games & how to spot a fake

Core Design's helicopter flight game was a showpiece Mega-CD release that drew strong praise from the magazines of its day.

This is the Sega CD remake of Core Design's Amiga and PC helicopter game, published with JVC Musical Industries. It came out in Europe on 1 September 1993, in Japan on 17 September 1993 and in North America in 1993 as AH-3 Thunderstrike. You fly a fictional AH-73M attack helicopter against tanks, armored vehicles and bases around the world. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised its textured backgrounds and its scaling and rotation.

Mean Machines Sega called it perhaps the greatest Mega-CD game ever conceived. Core co-founder Jeremy Smith recalled in 1997 that the Mega-CD version sold nearly 400,000 copies.

What the press said at the time

MegaTech Issue 23	November 1993	91%
Sega Pro Issue 34	July 1994	79%

“Mindless shoot 'em up it may be, but it's certainly fun and it really shows what the Mega-CD is capable of when the programmers know how to use the hardware.”
— MegaTech, October 1993

“Thunderhawk is awesome to watch, sonically extravagant but is downed in the fun department - almost, nearly but not quite the killer I had hoped for.”
— Mean Machines Sega, November 1993

“Negatives aside, AH-3 is one of the best simulator games I've seen for some time.”
— Game Informer, November/December 1993

“This is a game that could never be done on cartridge alone, and Core deserve a hearty pat on the back for making such a massive leap forward in CD playability.”
— MegaTech, November 1993

Also on other platforms

Amiga · MS-DOS · Atari ST

Before you buy

In North America look for it under the AH-3 Thunderstrike title. The US loose disc is below the middle for North American Sega CD games. The European disc usually costs about half as much loose and clearly less complete, while a Japanese disc usually costs more loose but somewhat less complete. Buy to match your console's region, and check the case and manual if you want a complete copy.