Double Take: Thunder Force III

[Melf]

If you ask a Genesis fan which shooter they're most partial to, most of them will likely mention one of the Thunder Force games. Better known than probably any other series in the genre, the three titles released on Sega's little black box have become the stuff of legend. Most would argue that the fourth game, confusingly (and incorrectly) renamed Lightening Force in the U.S., is the best, but there are those with a soft spot for the epic third installment. The latest installment of Double Take looks back at Techno Soft's masterpiece and recalls fond memories of the great times playing it. Check out the full article (http://www.sega-16.com/2008/06/double-take-thunder-force-iii/) for more!

[steve]

TFIII blew me away back in 1990 when it came out. Remember playing it with my old family friends, back when everyone was young and had time to visit. It was senses-shattering, and to this day I still prefer III over IV

I played the Saturn port years ago, and somehow, it just wasn't as sweet as the Genesis one



EDIT: Bought TF III a couple years ago off a nice ex-gamer I found on Craigslist. Got this whole lot for just one crisp 20


http://www.rvgfanatic.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_32701/IMG_1158.JPG

[Kollision]

TF3 is really one of the best - even though my favorite is part 4. That's because I think TF3 gets a little repetitive in the last stages.

And yeah!! Hydra is also my favorite stage!

[Joe Redifer]

I've always liked Teknoe Soft. Like any game from the company, you can get to the options screen from the title just by holding A and pressing Start (no need to hold C as well. The voices in part 3 are MUCH worse than those in part 2. Thunder Force 2's voices were very smooth and really not very scratchy at all (except the opening male voice). Check out these examples (uncompressed WAVS) I made using the REAL HARDWARE and the REAL GAMES of how each game sounds during actual gameplay:

Thunder Force 3 (http://www.joeredifer.com/crap/thunderforce3.wav) - Hunter, Claw, Saber

Thunder Force 2 (http://www.joeredifer.com/crap/thunderforce2.wav) - Hunter, Clash, Side Blaster

They are poorly pronounced, but this is no fault of the Genesis, but lots of people like to say that the voices even in Thunder Force 2 are mutilated by the Genesis' pathetic sound chip (I'm not accusing you of this, Ken... just speaking in generalities).

[Jason Allen]

Great article. TF III was an instant classic among my friends and I.

[Zebbe]

A little grammar error: "Besides, that awesome boss is always the first thing I want want Thunder Force newcomers to see". And a spelling error: "Bruce Dickenson" - it should be "Dickinson".

Other than that, top notch stuff as always. I think this one was my first Genesis game, so it has a special feel for me as well. It as actually the soundtrack that I love most about it, with the songs "Gargoyle" and "Final Take a Chance" being my favourites.

Joe Redifer: It is the sounddriver to blame. TFIII had a new one, which was splendid for FM but piss-poor for PCM.

[Benjamin]

I think Thunder Force III appealed to me so much because it was the first shooter I played which was easy enough for me to beat. The only (minor) gripe I have now about the game is that is has so much dead time in each stage where nothing much is happening due to its easily dispatched enemies that don't respawn often enough, but it doesn't really detract from the game.


Other than that, top notch stuff as always. I think this one was my first Genesis game, so it has a special feel for me as well. It as actually the soundtrack that I love most about it, with the songs "Gargoyle" and "Final Take a Chance" being my favourites.

Yeah, the Technosoft Megadrive shooters always tend to have great music. I really love easton888's piano renditions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mze62wkWf4) and would love a CD of them.

[Melf]

Ben, you can embed YouTube videos now!

v/8mze62wkWf4&hl=en

[steve]

^ Wow that's pretty damn good. I know I sure as hell couldn't do that, lol

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

Hah ha, great article Ken. Good stuff. But isn't it redundant to say "teenage, amnesiatic, angst-ridden teenager"? I would change the first teenage into blue haired or something.

[Melf]

True! I took out that first "teenage."

Thanks!

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

No problemo

[segagamer]

It has been a while since I last played it, but it was one of my favorite shooters on the Genesis. It was a pretty intense shooter, but was a bit on the easy side in terms of difficulty.

However, I think that all upgraded weapons are lost as soon as you lose your ship on difficulty levels higher than normal. Can anyone else confirm this?

[Joe Redifer]

That is incorrect.

[Mod_mongerer]

Gosh! Has it already been 18 years since this game was released? I remember getting this game when my mom & dad bought me my Sega Genesis back in 1990. At the time, a promotion was running for the Genesis which gave away a free game (in addition to the Altered Beast pack-in) with any new Genesis system purchase. I remember filling out the mail-in form for the game, which listed a bunch of games and asked for my first-choice, second-choice, third-choice, etc. Of course, I chose Thunder Force III as my first choice - but I never actually suspected that I would receive my first choice, but maybe my second (Batman) or third (can't remember which game this was). Boy, was I blessed to actually receive my first choice! I too agree that this is one of the best shooters on the Genesis. The graphics and soundtrack blew me away back then...and I sometimes still get goose-bumps whenever I play it now!

Regarding Thunder Force IV...I played it for a few moments once, but I wasn't impressed by the way the screen moved when I moved the ship all the way up or down. I guess most people would consider this a great feature of the game, but not me. Perhaps I should give it another chance, but I digress...

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

I would give it another look and maybe go to the options and crank up that dificulty and give yourself zero ships (which actually gives u 100 ships I think). Its an awesome game and a worthy sequel

[Genesis Knight]

It dazes me to think that anyone could consider TFIII - a worthy game, no doubt - to be superior to the god-awesomeness of TFIV. If you want to say III is better than the last installment (V) for Sat/PSX, I understand - it was a little rough around the edges at times. But IV is so honed, so polished, and so rim-rattling intense that it seems like the no-brainer choice for best shmup in the franchise.

[Joe Redifer]

I think that Thunder Force 4 is technically superior on quite a few levels, but the thing I really don't like is the excessive amount of vertical headroom you have. In other words, I don't like going up and down so much on a side-scrolling stage.

[Genesis Knight]

That does seem to be a problem for many; for me it makes the levels less claustrophobic at the expense of my security, as I always think I'm missing something important off-screen.

[Zebbe]

If you want to say III is better than the last installment (VI) for Sat/PSX, I understand - it was a little rough around the edges at times.

That game was Thunder Force V. Thunder Force VI, which was apparently planned for Dreamcast, got canned.

[Genesis Knight]

Whoops, typo.

[Noiman]

Just finished reading that great article. I pretty much agree with Ken, while TF4 is awesome, TF3 will always be THE Thunderforce for me. We're talking about a top-3 horizontal shooter here guys, so if anyone hasn't got the chance to play it yet, that must surely be the next thing to do! The amazing graphics and music, the acceptable level of difficult which will cause no problem to shmup beginners and will please even the experts, the selection of great weapons, you hardly find ALL these things in the same game! Certainly a 10/10 game for me.

[segagamer]

That is incorrect.

Actually, I just tried it myself and ALL upgraded weapons are lost when you lose a ship on the default difficulty level (ie, normal). I do not know whether this applies to non-NTSC Japan versions, but that is the one I have tried.

[Joe Redifer]

On Thunder Force 2 your ass loses EVERYTHING when you die! On each game after that you only lose whatever weapon you happen to be using at the time.

I own:
Thunder Force 2 - US Version (can be the JP version with a Game Genie or a region switch)
Thunder Force 3 - JP version
Thunder Force 4 - JP and US versions
Thunder Force 5 - JP Saturn version

[JFLY]

I think that Thunder Force 4 is technically superior on quite a few levels, but the thing I really don't like is the excessive amount of vertical headroom you have. In other words, I don't like going up and down so much on a side-scrolling stage.Agreed. Android Assault also had this annoying problem.

[segagamer]

On Thunder Force 2 your ass loses EVERYTHING when you die! On each game after that you only lose whatever weapon you happen to be using at the time.

I own:
Thunder Force 2 - US Version (can be the JP version with a Game Genie or a region switch)
Thunder Force 3 - JP version
Thunder Force 4 - JP and US versions
Thunder Force 5 - JP Saturn version

I did not realize that the ship you control in TF2 is called "ass."

Actually, isn't TF3 dual region (JP and US)?

I agree with your comments on TF4 and TF5, but I will try the US version of TF3 to see if the same thing occurs.

So are you saying that your copy of TF3 does not lose all weapons when your ship dies, but mine does? Perhaps different revisions...

[segagamer]

Agreed. Android Assault also had this annoying problem.

Actually, I liked the limited vertical movement in both games, but especially TF4, as some levels let you choose your paths, and some paths were easier than others, and some contained power-ups that were not in other paths.

[Joe Redifer]

Correct. My Thunder Force 3 just loses the WAVE if you happen to be using WAVE when you get hit. Japanese version being played on a US Genesis.

[segagamer]

Correct. My Thunder Force 3 just loses the WAVE if you happen to be using WAVE when you get hit. Japanese version being played on a US Genesis.

Got my answer: Just tried JP TF3 on US Genesis, and it does confirm my suspicion that the game is a dual region game. When you plug it into Genesis, the game switches over to Genesis mode (confirmed by the spelling "Techno Soft" on the title screen). When you plug it into MegaDrive, the game switches over to MD mode (confirmed by the spelling "Tecno Soft" on the title screen).

The difficulty is also automatically adjusted based on region. JP mode normal=US hard, etc. So all weapons that were picked up were lost on JP normal (ie, US hard). US normal is the only difficulty that retains upgraded weapons as long as you did not use at the time of death.

TF2 also has dual region mode: JP mode has TF2 MD on the title screen, while US mode simply has TF2 on the title screen. I cannot remember whether the difficulty was adjusted for each region.

[ott0bot]

Awesome Thunder Force article. I didn't play this until my girlfriend moved in a couple years back and brought her genesis(nice!). It's definately one my favorites, though I like 4 a bit more. The levels look great and the boss battles are fun and challanging...not annoying! I played TF II back in the day and felt so-so, i ususally level selected to the hori levels and skipped the overhead stuff. But i'm sure glad I picked this back up and tried out the rest of the series.