Thunder Force III

[Melf]

As soon as you plug in Thunder Force III, you know you're in for a crazy-fueled ride. That vibrant title screen pops up amid scorching rock chords, and that signature theme gets stuck forever in your head. There's a certain confidence in many of the great video games, a bold swagger that spills over from the artists and programmers and musicians onto the screen. We are witnessing one of the great game studios at the top of their game.

[Thunderblaze16]

I am quite stunt how there's no discussion for this game, lol.

Great game btw.

[eddiespruce]

I agree. This game is great, it's one of the best shmups I've ever played. It's also great for people who are new to shmups or haven't played many of them, as it's fairly easy to complete. I'd recommend this game to everyone.

[Curryman123]

Yes, great game this one. I love the parallax and the detailed graphics. The music is fitting as well.

8.5/10

[Obviously]

I honestly like playing this one more than IV though which one I prefer seems to switch around frequently. I'd say it's a pretty solid tie between III and IV for me, leaning towards III. The gameplay and level design just feels very finely tuned.

[Curryman123]

The problem is TFIII is that it suffers from old school shooter difficulty, which means it's laid back and very easy to complete. There are no thrilling moments to keep you on your toes. Fun game, but beating it isn't as satisfying as TFIV. IMO TF IV does it for me.

[thesegadude]

This is my favorite shooter and it's because it was on the easy side. I always found these space ship shooter very difficult and I never really got far. I'm thinking of Thunder Force II, Musha and Gaiares as a few examples that were really hard (for me anyways)!
TFIII gave me a chance to make some progress and really get into the game. I also love how you could select which level you wanted for the first few stages (first four?). For me this one is 9/10 but could understand why someone would give it less because of how easy it is.

[Curryman123]

Yep, this game is a piece. Love the scrolling effects in the water level.

[sketch]

TF3 is on my list of all time top 5 console shmups. Great game.

[opwuaioc]

I'm not quite sure I'd place it in my top 5 console shmups, but it definitely is up there on the Genny. TFIII was the very first shmup I played on the Genesis. Before it my shmup knowledge was minimal, so the graphics utterly blew my mind at the time.

[sheath]

I actually played Whip Rush before Thunder Force III and was surprised when I did play the later that Whip Rush ripped off most of TFIII's bosses. It took me a while to really get into Thunder Force III, whereas Whip Rush hooked me right away, Thunder Force III's first level really turned me off. The first level and the Ice stage just really don't look as nice as they should, and don't have enough going on. But fortunately the rest of the levels are really great and the last two or three levels are the stuff of legends.

On another note, The UK apparently got Wings of Wor/Gynoug before TFIII came out over there. When Mean Machines put its archive online I was shocked to see Thunder Force III rated badly, having only ever heard of its greatness over here. Mean Machines specifically cited Gynoug as the better game, so much so that Thunder Force III need not be picked up by readers. This caused me to pick up Wings of Wor, but after a brief play I haven't been inspired to pick it up again.

I've noticed that my fast twitch reflexes aren't what they used to be, and learning some of these old games for the first time is much more of a chore than it was a decade or so ago.

[Thenewguy]

The UK apparently got Wings of Wor/Gynoug before TFIII came out over there.

Thunder Force III never came out in the UK, it was only rumoured to have been released in small amounts in Germany. During that time period UK magazines usually reviewed import copies when, and if they could get their hands on them.

Also, Thunder Force III got 86% in MeanMachines, which isn't really a bad rating.

Also they bring up Thunder Force III in their Gynoug review, so they'd already played it anyway, just hadn't gotten around to reviewing it yet. They essentially say that Gynoug has the best aspects of Thunder Fore III, and Hellfire combined.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Thunder Force III never came out in the UK, it was only rumoured to have been released in small amounts in Germany. During that time period UK magazines usually reviewed import copies when, and if they could get their hands on them.

Also, Thunder Force III got 86% in MeanMachines, which isn't really a bad rating.

Also they bring up Thunder Force III in their Gynoug review, so they'd already played it anyway, just hadn't gotten around to reviewing it yet. They essentially say that Gynoug has the best aspects of Thunder Fore III, and Hellfire combined.

That's an interesting titbit of information. I always assumed that Thunder Force III was released worldwide! I'm quite aware of the titles of the titles that never made it to North America but how many (popular) titles didn't make it to the PAL region?