Here's another game that i know from my childhood that need enclosure. Unlike Roar of The Beast, it's not bad game. It's: Techno Soft's Thunder Force III (1990) on Sega Genesis/Megadrive.
If you're expert on horizontal shmup games, you most likely know the legendarily famous Thunder Force. Thunder Force III is probably the first horizontal shooter game that i play. Another reason i pick this game because i have -kind of- debt to myself and to reader about last review: Gadget Twins. I have to show off a real horizontal shmup game this time! There's no main menu after pressing "start" button but i think there's hidden option menu which can be access with certain button pressing. I'm not sure myself. If it exist, why Techno Soft hides it? I have no idea why.
Once i press "Start" button, i get to choose between 5 planets as first stage. Initially the cursor is at the green planet called "Gorgon". But i choose planet Ellis instead because i remember my older brother choose it in order to obtain powerful weapon as soon as possible. Before entering the level, you have some time to read about the boss of this level. Certainly, the most important info is its weak point. You don't expect to defeat it by randomly firing weapon at it, do you?
Planet "Ellis" is ice stage so you can expect there will be fire-themed stage. Anyway, the control is: d-pad for ship movement, "A" button to change your ship's speed, "B" button to fire your weapon, and lastly "C" button to switch your weapon. The ability to change ship's speed is already a standout feature from other game of its peer. You can see the speed setting on top HUD below life counter, which is represented by small blue triangle. Initially, the setting is at 3 but i feel the ship is too fast for me. Thus i change it to 2. The order of speed switching is in ascending:1 to 2, 2 to 3, etc. And it will cycle back to 1 if the speed setting is in 4.
My ship also have ability to fire backward! Perhaps, this game is the root of my dislike to any shmup game that don't allow me to fire enemies behind me. Initially, you have 2 weapon: twin shoot that fires 2 lines of vulcan bullets in front and back-fire that fires vulcan bullets back and front. There's no power-up items that enhance your arsenal everytime you pick them. Instead there's weapon pickup that replace your initial weapon to be more powerful. For instance "Lancer" here replace back-fire and it fires 2 lines of big plasma bullet backward and single line forward. Heavy_specialweapon09.wav
Here's the powerful weapon that i mentioned before: "Sever" which is powerful laser that fires alternatively bit up and down. It replaces the twin shot weapon. Here's the thing: If you die, you will lose the weapon that you equipped like in Contra Hard Corps. Because the "Sever" weapon replaces the twin shot weapon which is the strongest weapon among 2 initial weapon, I'm forced to use either "Lancer" or "Back-fire" which is not ideal weapon but fairly strong enough to blast the lesser enemies. You see that small ship that flies along the ground? That's the power up container. It often sees on the ground rather in middle sky like in other shmup. Why it's so shy? Probably the power up items are very valuable in this game. They're all good, you shall see.
As you would expect from ice stage, there will be ice stalagmites appear out of thin air that obviously lethal to touch. I happen to find this rotating options which probably the best one in my gaming experience. They block enemy's projectile and for the usual 1-hit death mechanism on this ship, they're helpful. Also they fire their weapon depends on what i currently equip. If i equip "Sever", they also fire the long laser. If i equip "Lancer", they also fire the plasma backward. Not ideal for dealing enemies in front, for sure. But it's exceptionally great against any sneaking enemies from the back.
Oh look! A blaring "Emergency" alert. The boss must be near.
As informed by the intermission, Mobile Fort here has weakness on its center. So shoot it in the middle also the ships that it keep dispatching otherwise you will get rammed by them. You can also destroy the top and bottom "hand" part but they will shoot claws when destroyed.
Meanwhile at Thunder Force AC (Arcade)...
Mobile Fort is the boss on 5th stage but don't worry! In any version it's not tough opponent. Just keep firing and dodging its projectiles, you will be fine. There's some distinct different on Sega Genesis version if compared to this Arcade version: 1) The HUD is in top and there's no name of weapon that you equip 2) Stage selection as opposed to linear playthrough 3) Stage intermission that informs you about the stage's name, the boss's name and weakness while in arcade version you don't get any of that. Also i feel like that all of the enemies (including sub-bosses and bosses) in Genesis version take more damage to defeat than in Arcade version.
From here and forth, i move to next stage in clockwise order. So next stage is "Hydra" planet which supposed to be the "proper" first stage and presumably the home base of the Red Skull's organization in outer space after The Avengers destroy his base on the moon, that is.
I like to show you this "Fire" weapon which is the most versatile weapon. There's 2 part: 1) A single line of vulcan bullets forward 2) Missiles that travel upward and downward initially. But when they hit surface, they will travel along it until they hit enemies. If you have the options, they will emit small shockwave forward and backward within close range. Soldier_specialcompleted04.wav
Another thing that i like from this game is the design of sub-bosses/bosses. Like here for example. It's floating ship head with claw that shoot yellow plasma and it's gorgeous. Also i like the way to deal the sub-bosses/bosses. They're not just big thing that take dozens of damage before destroyed. You need to hit them in certain part of them and firing your weapon at anywhere on their body, is noticeably inefficient. But you can get the clue whether your attack misses or not by the color of hit impact. If it's blue, you hit the wrong spot. If it's red/orange, you hit their weak spot. In this case, this sub-boss weakness is in its windshield part.
Apparently, Hydra install anti-air missiles on ceiling and floor. I can shoot them but not fast enough to clear them all. So the only option that i have is: fly through with maximum speed gear and it works!
I also like the visual design of these robotic hornets. "We know that put sting to our enemies will kill us in process. So we develop more effective way to harm our enemies: we launch big rocket at them. Brilliant!"
The boss stage is Gargoyle. Not winged demon like Cheogh from 90's fps Blood. He more looks like dragon with frilled head. I mentioned him before in Saint Sword review. In Thunderforce AC, he's all yellow for no reason. Although he's "proper" first boss, i reckon that it's still very tricky to dodge those fireballs in between.
Next stage is "Gorgon" planet which is -let's be honest" the fire-themed stage. So you will expect to encounter rising lava, fire ball, and molten rocks...
...but not large missiles! Those aren't natural! Scout_jeers11.wav
There's also faster auto-scroll section where i blast phoenixes with "Wave" weapon that emit yellow fast shockwave that will split into smaller wave if hit enemy. This weapon is also good.
The game tempts me with that free 1up. There's fireballs that occasionally jump around it so you need to be careful to pick it up. But if you have shield like me here, you can ignore the fireball and just pick it like no care. :P
The bosses called Twin Vulcan for nothing. They attack in pair and like to make you cornered by moving around like that boss level 2 of In The Hunt. Their weakness is that hydraulic top part that constantly moving up and down which makes them harder target...unless you use "Hunter" weapon which is 3-way homing orbs that swiftly home in boss' weakpoint.
This water planet called Seiren, is home to naval mines and those sea urchins that spray bullets at vicinity. The naval mine can either blown by itself but it leaves grey explosion that last quite long and kills you in contact. If you manage to destroy the mine in time, it will leaves orange explosion instead that harmless.
I think this sub boss is mechanical pomfret fish. He loves to blow destructible bubbles along with other projectile. Like Mobile Fort, he has weakness on its center.
Our target this time is "King Fish". He unleashes beam rings that intentionally leaves the gap on center but he occasionally fills it with quick bullets. So be careful!. His weakness is in his single eye while it's open. "Hunter" weapon is probably the best for this boss fight.
Excluding "Ellis" planet, all the stages is in the arcade version. This "Haides" planet is exclusive to Genesis version but it's not welcome addition, i tell you.
This planet is the main reason why young me, my brother, and my cousin can't finish this game. It feels overlong and jarring. Just look at this! The ground moves up to trap me! If you're on the most left screen you will be crushed. Also you have to make account of enemies that come at you from the front. Needless to say that there's more "moving" ground or ceiling in this stage. Camera that scroll to other direction that right, feels more fair than "moving" environments. It feels more natural and moves at reasonable pace.
You know that rotating fireballs in Koopa's castle in Super Mario Bros? This game also has that kind of hazard but in form of stone. I like to mention that in this section there's another rotating stones behind me that rotates in counter clockwise as opposed to this one. You will get pass the first rotating stone more easily If you take bottom route, but you will be certainly crushed by the second one. To trick you further, there's power up container on bottom route that contain "Lancer" weapon. So you have to ignore the weapon and struggle through the top route otherwise certain dead. What a dastardly trap! Demoman_negativevocalization06.wav
There's also this dead end! No, you can't choose the top route initially because it's totally blocked. But the game shows little mercy here. The camera stops here and later moves backward slowly.
Then the middle ground descends and this sub boss appears. To be honest i have no idea what this sub boss based on. It's most likely have earth theme on it as i encountered lesser enemies like Mole's claws, giant worm, or drilling machines.
Oh look! This rotating stone tries to trap me from getting that 1up. How nice! [Medium Sarcasm]
I like to say that the waterfall is freshen the view but it looks too grating to be enjoyable in my opinion.
I forget to tell you that there's falling rocks in this stage. See those 2 stones in front of me? They're hopping stones. If i get close to them, they will jump up for no reason. I'm not kidding. They probably get hiccup when i happen near them. Stupid rocks!
The boss of this bastard level is: Giant Lobster. Not exactly earth theme, huh? He appears from behind! He lacks of bravery unlike other bosses, i see. His weakpoint is his eyes which is located on the center of him, again! He shoot some missiles that you can destroy and spike laser from its claw. Again, "wave" weapon seems effective here.
Cerberus? Am i about to kill the legendary 3-headed giant dog that guard hell's gate?
Not really. Those jet thrusters! I know this stage too well. This big spaceship level also in arcade version. The difference that i notice early is how smooth the flame exhaustion here unlike in arcade version that has rough surface.
After destroying the jet thrusters, i went aroun the ship from top, front, and finally arrive at the bottom. Needless to say that, "Lancer" weapon is very valuable here. To get inside of this giant ship in order to destroy its core, i must destroy that enemy spawner on top-left. Once it's destroyed, a hole appears and i can proceed to the interior.
Here's the core. It will constantly spawn laser cannons for offensive (retaliation) and defensive (blocking my projectiles) purpose. There's small alcove on top in case you're not fast/strong enough to destroy the cannons thus they shoot at you. "Sever" works best here. To be honest, it's the best weapon to deal massive damage to boss but i'm afraid losing it so i hesitate to use it.
After blowing the Cerberus, i move on to Orn base. I also familiar with this robots that ride hoverboard. If you kill them first, the hoverboard won't do harm to you. Because of the missiles that travel along the floor and ceiling and the fact every level consists of 80% ceiling and floor, The versatile "Fire" weapon can be considered very useful especially in non-boss part.
The sub-boss in this level is uninteresting. It's gate that keep spawning this yellow orb that will emits 7-way lasers. All of them can block my projectiles! One thing that the Genesis version feels more favorable than the Arcade version is: there's less of this annoying orb! It's not related to easiness but i like to add that the orb in arcade version is blue instead of yellow here.
There's this closing gates that you have to pass it quickly and carefully. There's small mercy here. The last gate doesn't fully close unlike in arcade version. Also the gates are in green-gray color on arcade version.
Ah, i remember this schmuck! The boss in right corner and occasionally shoot long blue laser on its center (which is the weakpoint. Combine the laser with the 4 flying giant box, you get the most tedious boss fight in this game. Yes, i know that the box will lit one of arrow cursor to telegraph where they will move next. The problem is 1) The arrows are small 2) They're 16 (4 x 4) of them 3) There's the freaking blue laser flies in center! I can't keep up with all of those! It goes without saying that the boxes block my shooting. So i'm forced to fly close by the boss. Sniper_jeers05.wav
My next target is CHA OS. What kind of Operating System is CHA? Oh, i see! It's chaos with space. Engineer_goodjob02.wav
We finally arrive at the final stage and there's not much lesser enemies here meaning they're cornered badly. You probably can guess that this sub-boss' weakpoint is in the center. I would say that they weakpoint design is monotone to say the least. Speaking of weakpoint, sometime the game isn't nitpicking about the precision. When you hit the weakpoint slightly off to up or down, the game see that as "Yeah, close enough!" and allow the sub-bosses/bosses to take damage properly. The game is pretty nice sometime.
In this version you only need to defeat that 1 sub-boss whereas in arcade version you have to defeat two of them. Anyway here's the CHA OS itself. It sure can shoot a lot but it takes damage from everywhere. Overall, it's easy.
Of course, that's not all. That was just mere casing to this brain machine. The weakpoint is definitely the brain part. The final boss true form has 2 attacks: 4 bullets that spinning forward and the small shockwaves. The latter projectiles can be destroyed so i suggest "fight fire with fire" strategy. Unleash your own "wave" weapon at it and you will hit the weakpoint easily. If you manage to keep the "wave" weapon that is.
Then the Orn base exploded in distance while the ship flies safely a la Star Wars. And you get this very long text. This narration is accusatory: "Think about it, human!". Meanwhile in arcade version...
...you get shorter ending text. I also notice the difference of heroine's name. In here she's Sherry while in Sega Genesis version is Shely. There's also difference in ending picture. Let's compare them side by side.
The left is Sega Genesis version while the right is Arcade version. What's wrong with that blonde guy on left? He looks horribly deformed. Also what's with that bearded bastard that kisses Shely suddenly? If he's not her relative or lover. That's considered sexual harassment.
Techno Soft's Thunder Force III (1990) is the good old-school horizontal shmup but it's more intended for veteran of its genre. Because i feel like the enemy's projectiles are fast and not so significantly visible so it's hard for me to dodge them. And then there's the bastard "Haides" planet. Other than that, all the stages are casually enjoyable. The pick up items are all valuable. Speaking of it, i forget to tell you that the shield item has different color than "sever" weapon even though they're both letter "S" icon. Shield can absorb approximately 3 hits before worn off and there's no time duration of it. When the shield turns orange, that means it only takes 1 more hit before it's completely gone. TF III leans more on "precision of shooting" type and not "bullet hell" type. Then there's default weapon that allow you to shoot enemies backward. With that virtue alone, the game earns my seal of approval. I also like the weapon system that doesn't use stackable "power up" and ability to set the ship's speed manually instead of using "speed up" items. There's web on some section that you need to destroy to proceed or attack enemy hides within. "Wave" weapon will pass through it without destroying it. "Fire" weapon's missile will travel along with it because it's considered environment. So you have to use other weapon to get rid of it. The music is pretty good, i especially like the one in "Hydra" planet. The graphic is fairly impressive although the game comes out in very early 90's.
Personally, i like Thunder Force AC better than Thunder Force III (1990) because enemies take less damage
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