Mass Destruction (PSX)

I like war tank since i own coloring book about tanks when i was 3 years old. Perhaps that fact will help me on video game tank, like in NMS software's Mass Destruction (1997) on Sony Playstation. 

 

Much like the gameplay (as we shall see), the title screen is simple and straight to the point. It's tank, what else did you expect? I like tank but to be honest the main reason why i play this game is because of its cover art which is better and more brutal than this main screen. Here it is:    

 

Awesome, ain't it? Back when i was younger, i saw this CD case with this brutal yet amazing cover in some shopping center. Back then, i was reluctant to ask to buy it but now it's time for revenge! The most intriguing part of this art is obviously the bloke who happens to be "stuck" on the left treads. There's no blood on him so he must be either target dummy or military crash dummy. No real human involved. So don't worry, folks!  

 

As per usual, i check the option menu. It contains difficulty setting, control setting, etc. The control scheme looks good but i reckon there's excessive buttons for cannon control. I'm fine with shoulder buttons to rotate cannon. I'm quite experience with that control. But i think set the cannon to center is fairly necessary though.

 

After selecting new game, i'm presented with this mission select. The rows represent campaign while the columns represent mission. I see that the mission on the most bottom campaign called " Stealth". I'm very curious how can you operate stealthily "Tenchu" style with tank. But i decide to choose "Manta" mission instead as the developer intend to. I suppose.

 

Then i get to choose between 3 tanks and behold they're the trinity of Final Fight character...kind of: One is average in both speed and durability, another one is fast but fragile, and the last one is slow but possesses highest hitpoint. I'm seasoned tank in Mobile Legends, so i very know my ideal definition of tank which is slow yet tough to crack. "Cobra" tank, i choose you! Although i'm objected with the codename. It should be "Rhino", "Elephant", or other heavy animal.  

 

So our enemy is Republican Army (which will be shorten as "RA"). Usually the evilness come from Imperial or Empire. Or maybe it's me who's the bad guy. Destroying water reserves and housings, is what the bad guy does. So, maybe i'm evildoer in this scenario.

As you can see that Mass Destruction is pull-out top down shooter game like Lost World or Team Buddies. But you have ability to shoot in other direction than your "body" facing. Most of the time, you need to move around to dodge enemy's projectile. Even with the slow tank, i can accomplish that pretty well. You can combine the body and cannon rotation, to make the tricky "shooting while moving" maneuver. While keep shooting, i will adjust my aiming with rotation of my cannon or tank body or even both. I like to call that crazy trick "Wild Calibration".     

 

My tank can submerge a bit. How adorable!    

 

There! I destroyed their water tank. By tank i mean reservoir and not the war vehicle like i have here. The enemies begin to tremble with my skirmish so they send airstrike on me. By observing the bomber plane's shadow, you can predict the bombardment and later move out of its way.

 

I can find these armor refill pickups in some places. Each of this item will replenishes my armor by 100 when picked up. You can see how many armor that i have now in bottom left corner. On to its right there's timer, score, and lastly weapon that i currently equipped. "Shell" weapon is the standard cannon's projectile that have unlimited ammo. On top of that, shell's rate of fire is practically resembles light machine gun. Soldier_specialcompleted04.wav

 

Heavy_specialcompleted08.wav. That guy will be  stuck on my tread like in cover art, for sure. It's much easier to kill him with my cannon but i like to test whether i can trample enemy soldier or not. And the answer is: yes, i can. Especially if they stand still and preferably stop shooting.

 

By pressing "Select" button, i can bring out the mission objectives (along with their current status) and pressing the same button i can bring this objectives map. You have to take my word for it that the objectives are blinking in the map, which is neat feature.

 

Once, i finished the mission. I have to move to designated extraction point where this big fat Chinook chopper will come pick me up. Soldier_thanks01.wav   

 

Then i get to see assessment of my performance like in classic Doom. By the God, i don't intent to set the Building Destroyed percentage into the "dirty" number. I swear. I only get so much on pickup collection, no wonder i don't get any special weapon. You know the thing that baffles me here or in any home console's game? There's score but no high score table whatsoever! Unless it reaches certain number that earns me extra life like in Super Ghouls and Ghosts, score is unquestionably useless. Take note that there's no life reserve in this game or at least as far as i know. Also no checkpoint. So you have to play the mission in one-go . After this you get to choose using either saving on memory card or password, to record your mission progress.

 

On next mission, i must pick up enemy's agent that goes rogue. It could be trap so to mitigate that i must destroy local power supply first but why? Ambush doesn't particularly related to power supply, right? Unless it power hidden turrets or whatnot.

 

Infantry love to hide behind trees (or just simply hard to spot). For example this flamethrower guy, manage to take me by surprise! Thing that i learn from Command & Conquer: Generals is: flamethrower is excellent against infantry and not vehicle. So he make bad mistake besides not counting the limited range of his flame weapon.      

 

This mission introduces us with anti-tank bunkers that will shoot me when i'm in their range. Because they're immobile, they're easier target than enemy's tanks. You can also destroy them from off-screen. Buildings in this game have 2 stage of destruction. The bunkers will cease to operate if they take damage to 1st stage of destruction. Some of them contain weapon or armor pickup, but you can only gain access to it if the bunker is destroyed in 2nd stage of destruction. In my opinion, there's no reason to not destroy all buildings to 2nd level destruction. Demoman_specialcompleted12.wav  

 

The power supply consist of wind turbines and they're guarded with hidden automatic turrets. But the turret's AI is -let's say- very stupid because they shoot at me while there's wind turbine between us which saves me from trouble.  Scout_beingshotinvincible32.wav   

 

That person in brown cloth on top right is the aforementioned agent. He's surrounded by bunkers so obviously i have to destroy them all first before picking him up. Unlike human infantry, he's safe from my treading when i approach him. Good for him. I have this hi-ex gun which is stronger version of the standard shell that travel very faster but has noticeable slower rate of fire.  

 

Next mission takes place in snowy area so called it "Operation Polar Bear" is pretty reasonable. The mission objectives are the usual building demolition but i mustn't demolish nuclear reactor because it will cause total catastrophe. We will see about that.

 

Apparently my shelling goes astray and ends up destroying said nuclear reactor. I expected some massive radius explosion or mushroom cloud but no. My tank just explodes for no reason. Heavy_negativevocalization02.wav

 

So this building with nuclear symbol is the nuclear reactor. Thus i only need to destroy buildings that surround it including that chimney. The game change its pace from "mass destruction" to "systematic destruction" which kind of betraying its title.

 

Oh, i see that there's limit on how much my tank can submerge before explodes unreasonably! See that water effect on  the bottom? If it goes above the HUD, my tank is considered drown. It's quite neat feature.

 

Here's you see the mortar duel of the year. Just so you know that the wall can't be leveled to the ground so either i find a way to get inside of that complex and later squish that mortar guy or i utilize my own mortar. The mortar fires at fixed range so i have to adjust my position to hit that guy. If only there's crosshair to where the mortar lands, the aiming will be much easier.

 

Finishing the mission rewards me with this CGI movie. I have no idea whether that's my tank shooting at the chopper or my evacuation chopper is gunned down. Whatever the case, i reckon the quality of this CGI is pretty decent for its time.

 

Welp! I can't go next mission after Polar Bear operation. Maybe i need to clear other mission on other campaign first to unlock that last mission. Thus i skip to "Stealth" mission because i really curious about it.  

 

This doesn't look like stealthy at all. Maybe i can use (automatically) guided missile to kill that mortar guy behind seawall but i was panic and goes forward instead. If you choose "Cheetah" tank for this mission, you're in very big trouble as there's not much space to dodge around. I want you to know that there's gunboat behind me that ready to take potshot at my back.

 

To reveal further primary objective, i have to destroy the radar installation on southern part of this map. You have to be careful where you have to park the tank here because there's mines around here. You see that grey spots on my riverside? Those are mines.

 

I was freaking stupid to use all of my guided missiles on ground enemies while this chopper keep harassing with its own missile. I can't use my regular shells on it. Suddenly, i remember that CGI movie so i switch my weapon to machine gun and it tracks on the helicopter thankfully! I forgot to tell you that i have unlimited standard shell and machine gun weapon from the beginning. Machine gun is definitely can't be used to destroy enemy tanks or building but that doesn't mean it's entirely useless. Because it's hitscan weapon, i can dispatch infantry easier (which is appropriate with Command & Conquer: Generals' warfare where machine gun is excellent against infantry) and as you witness here it's very useful against chopper.

 

After destroying the radar, the HQ feels secured to give me more mission briefing. Next task is to destroy hangars which located behind these walls. Again, this type of wall can't be obliterated. But you can gain access to the walled premise by destroying either the gates or the cracked part of the wall.

 

I couldn't find any armor refill item even though i have already cleared so many primary targets. Finally, i find one inside this building. Moreover, it's the big one that replenish my armor by 500! I feel more invincible again! Soldier_taunts15.wav

 

I destroyed all of the primary target and evacuation chopper is ready to pick me up. But i'm not done yet! I must blast this town buildings (which are the secondary target of this mission) to the ground first before exit. Engineer_laughevil05.wav

 

Next mission's objective is another usual building destruction? I think i'm good for now. Spy_cheers01.wav

 

NMS software's Mass Destruction (1997) has addicting yet simple gameplay. You drive around a tank, you aim your cannon, and destroy all before you. There's some variety of weapon you can use like flamethrower, cluster mortar, and mine. Speaking of mine, i think it's hard to make it useful because the enemies in this game move in strategic manner and don't chase after you. If the enemies are mindless mob like in -let's say- Crimsonland or Loaded , the mines can be naturally useful. Even so, the enemies aren't fast on their trigger, mostly. They take quite time to fire their weapon (except flamethrower guy) so you can have chance to dodge their projectiles. You can also shoot them from off-screen for safer method. Also, the enemies doesn't take too many damage to destroy which is nice. The weapon cycle feels bit taxing because the weapon indicator is too small and too far from my tank. Even Gadget Twins has more reliability on weapon cycle [ :P ]. The camera will always lock your tank in center thus it works pretty well. The difficulty setting affects enemy's nimbleness. Also note that in easy difficulty, i can find more special weapon easier. As i mentioned before that the score is quite unnecessary to me. If by some miraculous coincident the game get remastered, they should put global score leaderboard so you can compete with your relatives or strangers. The minimap is functional to show you the mission objectives only, but still fairly useful to me. Due to emulation error, i don't hear any music within the game. Even though there's track selection on pause menu. What a shame. The sound effect is loud and good. 

 

Mass Destruction (1997) is perfect for those who looks for rather-mindless action game that emphasize on destroy everything. Even destroying innocent tree, will gives you score. Ah, the beauty of being evil! :D

Thunder Force III (Genesis)

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 around 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 and there's less narration. Also there's no "Haides" planet that i really hate. Nevertheless, i reckon TF III is one of best shmup in Sega Genesis. With enough practice you can beat "Haides" with 7 continues at your disposal. Once you get pass that dastard planet, it will be smooth ride of fine shmup experience.