Game Gallery #7

Thunder Force 3 by Techno Soft (1990) - MegaDrive

It has been a looong time since I did one of these, which is a bit strange considering how many screenshots I usually grab when playing games for reviews. I might as well put some of them to use, surely? Yes I should, and so it shall be once more. To that end, bewildering absence notwithstanding, the Game Gallery is now back! Since the last one was for Thunder Force 2, for this return I thought it's immediate sequel and 'Finest MD Shmup' title-holder, Thunder Force III was a logical choice.

Click here for the full review of this fine game.

Special Note: As many of you will know, players can choose between the game's first five stages from the start. This gallery, however, will feature them in the 'correct' order, thus:

Title and 'Secret' Config Screens:

Splendid MegaDrive Music #5

Thunder Force 2 (1989)

My new job sadly doesn't leave me as much spare time as my last one did, and that in turn means I have less time to do blog stuff, but one of the perks is that I can listen to music all day. Naturally I've therefore spent much of this time listening to stonking game soundtracks, and one that I find myself returning to often is Thunder Force 2, probably the most neglected installment of the celebrated Thunder Force series. Tomomi Ohtani's synth-rock soundtrack contains lots of great choons but I think my favourite is the one that accompanies the first side-scrolling stage. It's called 'A Ray of Hope' (in the X68000 version at least - the MD's tracks don't have names) and is quite awesome. Check it check it! :)

(full Thunder Force 2 review here)



Special Note: I didn't record this great tune myself, I'm just an admirer, so all credit goes to the original composer

Currently Playing...

Elemental Master by Techno Soft (1990) - MegaDrive

Much like the recent Raiden Fighters post, this is another one I'm a tad late with (not that it takes me ages to get around to everything of course), and was in fact the very next game I played as part of the Shmup League. Unlike that previous toughie, however, I had actually played this one before (I've even reviewed it - check here!) so I had hopes of putting in a better performance. Sadly this was only marginally realised (I finished 9th out of 12 - chortle) but it did also give me the opportunity to play it properly again for the first time in a rather startling five years.

The first thing I noticed when playing it this time is that it's harder than I remember. I guess that's often the case though, when you're long out of practise, but I found that Laden (the character you play as) seemed larger and slightly clumsier to control that he used to, and unsurprisingly I didn't get particularly far! To start with at least, but practise pays dividends as they say, and I gradually gained a degree or respectability (without ever threatening the upper half of the league of course, which consisted pretty much exclusively of 1CC scores). I soon polished off the first four stages, any of which can be selected from the start of the game, but it here that I again ran into problems.

Thunder Force Series - Part 8

Thunder Force 4 a.k.a. Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar (1992)
By: Techno Soft Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 494,440
Also Available For: Saturn (compilation)

Jeepers, has it really been two and a half years since I last visited this fine series?! I guess that could be because the wonderful third game has for so long been not only my favourite game in the series but my favourite shmup overall as well. Back in the early 90's I owned all three MD Thunder Force games and duly purchased the fifth game for the mighty Saturn when it was released too, but the second and third games, particularly the latter, have always been the ones I have returned to - for some reason I never really 'felt' the subsequent releases regardless of the acclaim they continued to receive. This fourth game, known as Lightning Force in the US for some bizarre reason, is often cited by fans as the pinnacle of the series, for example, so I guess it's finally time for me to devote the time and effort to it that it clearly deserves. Can it possibly be better than the third game?

MSX Games #1

Herzog (1988)
By: Techno Soft Genre: Strategy / Shooting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: MSX
Also Available For: NEC PC-88, Sharp X-1

The superb MegaDrive is correctly remembered as one of the finest consoles ever and was graced by countless fantastic games. One of its more under-appreciated gems is Herzog Zwei, a real-time strategy game from Techno Soft (yes, they of Thunder Force fame) which is often cited as one of the very first such games ever. Something that is seemingly even less well-known than this slightly obscure game, however, is that it was a sequel to an even more obscure MSX release called... Herzog! For the linguists among you, the name is actually German for 'duke' (no, I've no idea why a Japanese game has a German name) which does little to explain the premise. Unsurprisingly, the backdrop is warfare, namely a conflict between the 'Mercies' (blue) and 'Ruth' (red), and the goal for both sides is to reach their opponent's base and destroy it.

Saturn Shmups #2

Blast Wind (1997)
By: Techno Soft Genre: Shooting Players: 1-2  Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Sega Saturn  First Day Score: 472,450
Also Available For: Nothing

The name of Techno Soft is one that was and still is revered by the retro gaming community. A large reason for this is their awesome Thunder Force series but they are still known for a few other titles as well. One of these, however, is generally not Blast Wind which, while still a shoot 'em up, is a rare foray into vertically-scrolling territory for them. It was released exclusively in Japan and only on the Saturn (although an arcade version was apparently planned), which certainly wasn't unusual for Sega's planetary powerhouse, but it does mean there's a fair amount of kanji, including in the intro sequence. The premise behind the game is therefore something of a mystery to me (even the static intro images don't really help with that) but I believe it has some sort of environmental theme and a good deal to do with a creature/object/place called Gorn. Anyway, whatever it is, let's go kick its arse!

Game Gallery #6

Thunder Force 2 by Techno Soft (1991) - MegaDrive

My love of Techno Soft's Thunder Force series is well known by regular readers here at Red Parsley and while the third game is definitely my favourite, I've always retained a lot of affection for this second game too. So, after a recent play-through of the tough son-of-a-gun, I managed to get a few screenshots as well and, in accordance with my crusade against the wanky websites that tag their shots, here are the results of my endeavours for your viewing pleasure!

Title and 'Secret' Config Screen:

Thunder Force Series - Part 7

Thunder Spirits a.k.a. Thunder Force AC (1991)
By: Toshiba EMI / Techno Soft  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo SNES  First Day Score: 65,210
Also Available For: Arcade, MegaDrive (variation)

Wherever you stand in the whole MegaDrive vs SNES war, if you're level-headed and of sound mind, you can't possibly think that either system wipes the floor with the other. I was and remain a huge MegaDrive fan - 'Sega 4 Life' and all that - but I can humbly acknowledge that the SNES is still a pretty awesome console with some fantastic games. It's true that Sega's machine is better for some genres, while Nintendo's is better for others, but one area I always thought they were pretty close was shoot 'em ups. Both systems have some great examples of this technically-demanding genre but there are surprisingly few that appear on both machines so a direct comparison is not often possible. One notable example, however, did eventually appear on both systems. It was a much revered game on the MegaDrive whose name was, and still is, uttered with the utmost reverence. It has once again undergone a name change but it's still a game whose name begins with 'Thunder'...

Thunder Force Series - Part 6

Thunder Force AC (1990)
By: Techno Soft  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Arcade  First Day Score: 564,850
Also Available For: MegaDrive (variation), SNES

Despite having two quality prequels, it was Thunder Force 3 on the MegaDrive/Genesis which really saw Techno Soft's innovative franchise take off. So much so in fact, that later in the same year that they lit up the MD's release schedule, its amazing success convinced them to take the unusual step of quickly creating an arcade version too! Developed by the same team and released by Sega on their own arcade hardware, the game was to all intents and purposes a 'Directors Cut' of Thunder Force 3. Whilst initially appearing to be a direct port of the MD game, it is actually home to a few unique features. Aside from some slight cosmetic changes, however, it takes a while to discover what is new here.

Thunder Force Series - Part 5

Thunder Force 3 (1990)
By: Techno Soft Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 1,269,320
Also Available For: Arcade, SNES (variations)

The first two Thunder Force games were pretty innovative but no one could really say they were smash hits. For all their original ideas and addictive gameplay, the series was still only really known outside of Japan for the second game on the MD, and even then it was hardly viewed as a masterpiece. Then, however, Techno Soft quietly unleashed the monstrous sequel we have before us here, and the rest, as they say, is history! I'm rather keen on TF2 (for the MD - the X68k version is too hard!) but even I have to admit it pales in comparison to this game which is actually a less complicated outing than before. So, is there anything in particular that Techno Soft did to raise the series to such heights, or did it just take some flashy graphical effects to get everyone's attention?

MegaDrive Shmups #2

Elemental Master (1990)
By: Techno Soft  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 145,770
Also Available For: Nothing

If you mentioned the name Techno Soft to, say, ten retro gamers, it's a safe bet that at least nine of them would reply with the words Thunder Force, with the remaining reply possibly mentioning Dragon's Fury or perhaps even Herzog Zwei. I'm confident, however, that none of them would mention this game, and that's both odd and a bit of a shame for it's a little known but far-from-shabby vertical-scroller that is well worthy of anyone's time. Having owned the Japanese version since it came out, though, I've never been too sure about the story, but it was quite clear that it was set in a world about as far removed from Thunder Force's futuristic space battles as possible, with this conflict being waged over ground by sorcerers wielding magical arts, not to mention hordes of mindless-yet-malevolent evil minions they've managed to summon to their cause!

Thunder Force Series - Part 4

Thunder Force 2 (1988)
By: Techno Soft  Genre: Shooting   Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sharp X68000   First Day Score: 30,710
Also Available For: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis

My quest to uncover the origins of the much-loved Thunder Force series has led me to some interesting systems. The next? The Sharp X68000. After having finally used one of these fabled machines, albeit under emulation, I'm unable to decide if Sharp were geniuses or idiots. For the X68000 is apparently a system of formidable power and impressive abilities. So how did they manage to keep it from everyone outside Japan? During the course of its life it was famous for the standard of its arcade conversions, but there were a few original games released on it too, and among them was Thunder Force 2. Contrary to popular belief, this was also the first system to see it too.

Thunder Force Series - Part 3

Thunder Force 2 (1990)
By: Techno Soft   Genre: Shooting   Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 363,130
Also Available For: Sharp X68000

My recent investigations into the origins of the Thunder Force series have yielded some very interesting results but this is where it all started for me - 1989, a friend's house, an imported MegaDrive, and a handful of games. One of the first ones we played? That's right, it was the underrated Thunder Force 2. Mere mention of the words 'Thunder Force' is enough to bring pleasant memories flooding back for a great many gamers who were growing up around the time of the 16-bit console boom, but for many, these memories concern the visual tour-de-force that was Thunder Force 3 or even the oft-heralded Thunder Force 4. The second game was not so well known. Released alongside the MegaDrive, at least here in the U.K, Thunder Force 2, while one of the best launch games money could buy, was still something of a missed gem for many.

Crush Series - Part 3

Dragon's Fury (a.k.a. Devil Crash MD) (1992)
By: TechnoSoft Genre: Pinball Players: 1-2 (alternate) Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis First Day Score: 22,593,300
Also Available For: NEC PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Download For: PlayStation Network

For two years, Devil's Crush had been thrilling Japanese (and to a lesser extent, American) PC Engine gamers before, unlike its prequel, it finally received a conversion, and it was MegaDrive owners who were the lucky ones to receive it. Handled by Technosoft (famous for the Thunder Force series), it's a more or less a straight conversion of the Engine game (aside from the unnecessary name change), but there are a few noteworthy differences. Aside from a few small, almost unnoticeable changes, the main table in this version looks pretty much the same as it did on the Engine - everything's in the same place and everything does the same thing, though the ball feels a little weightier and doesn’t seem to bounce around quite so much.

Thunder Force Series - Part 2

Thunder Force (1984)
By: Tecno Soft   Genre: Shooting   Players: 1  Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: NEC PC-98 
Also Available For: NEC PC-88, NEC PC-6001 Mk II, Sharp X1, Sharp MZ-1500, Fujitsu FM-7

During the course of my long struggle to finally see and play the original Thunder Force game for the PC-88, I saw some screenshots of the PC-98 version, which appeared to have fancier graphics, so I decided it might be a good idea to include that version in this feature too. I soon regretted it, of course. This turned out to be even harder to get to play than the the PC-88 version! However, after a long and arduous struggle, fraught with many problems, and once again with the help of some splendid fellows from the Retro Gamer forum, I managed to get it running.

Thunder Force Series - Part 1

Thunder Force (1984)
By: Tecno Soft Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: NEC PC-88
Also Available For: NEC PC-98, NEC PC-6001 Mk II, Sharp X1, Sharp MZ-1500, Fujitsu FM-7

Yes, this is the title screen in all its glory!

It has long been my intention to cover entire game series' from start to finish here, in addition to odd games, so to satisfy my own curiosity I thought I'd start with this classic and much heralded series of shooters. Pretty much all Mega Drive fans are already more than familiar with the series, no doubt, with the second game being one of the better launch titles for the console here in the UK, and the stonking third and fourth games remaining particularly popular among shoot 'em up fans, but what of the original game from which the others evolved? Before the days of the internet it was a complete mystery to me; I had heard many conflicting rumours but no definitive details and had certainly seen no screen shots, so solving this mystery seemed like a great place to start my humble blog.