Genesis Thunder Force III overload !!! 1990 magazine previews, reviews and more. Lots of images (and spoilers)

[parallaxscroll]

This is for Thunder Force III fans, every magazine article I could find from 1990 for the king of scrolling shoot 'em ups of the time.
Yes, you'll notice a mistake here and there, as was the norm for video game magazines. I remember every one of these articles.

The last image is the ending, so don't look if you don't wish to have it spoiled.

Enjoy.

Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 9 - April 1990
http://i.imgur.com/2qROM5k.jpg?1

Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 10 - May 1990
http://i.imgur.com/F4cUQg7.jpg

Mega Play issue 1 - November/December 1990
http://i.imgur.com/ebOTeKh.jpg

Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 14 - September 1990
http://i.imgur.com/LYEZpUg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mpeMWCH.jpg

Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 16 - November 1990
http://i.imgur.com/PfO5dGQ.jpg

Mega Play issue 2 - January/February 1991
http://i.imgur.com/HaMAKZ0.jpg

Game Player's Sega Genesis Strategy Guide issue 1 - Fall 1990
http://i.imgur.com/LwngGXd.jpg

Sega Visions issue 3 - Winter 1990
http://i.imgur.com/vnVU0bW.jpg

Video Games & Computer Entertainment - October 1990
http://i.imgur.com/OqtNfbD.jpg

GamePro issue 16 - November 1990
http://i.imgur.com/ordjls5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/iFbAhzg.jpg

Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 19 - February 1991
http://i.imgur.com/15ztfz4.jpg?1

Thunder Force AC arcade flyer
http://i.imgur.com/9eb5Xkl.jpg

Japanese Megadrive and U.S. Genesis box covers
http://i.imgur.com/gq8CAdM.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/a8FMFaZ.jpg?1

Japanese and U.S. promotional material
http://i.imgur.com/IIRsNae.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ILwVQ6q.jpg

From 'Official Sega Genesis Seal of Quality' print advert
http://i.imgur.com/4vYFRgO.jpg

Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 19 - February 1991
http://i.imgur.com/iWNHUUF.jpg

[Emperor Megas]

Do any of the articles talk about how you can make a member of the crew wave their hand, and later blink their eye (well HER eye) during the ending cinematic stills if you repeatedly press the button B button? I think it was the button anyway.

Man, I love this game. I can beat it every time on a single life, but it's ALWAYS blast. It's one of the few Genesis favorites that I lost have haven't found a replacement copy for yet. It, Phantasy Star IV, and Gain Ground.

[parallaxscroll]

Do any of the articles talk about how you can make a member of the crew wave their hand, and later blink their eye (well HER eye) doing the ending cinematic stills if you repeatedly press the button B button? I think it was the button anyway.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was in tips & tricks / cheats sections of several magazines. I'll look for those.

[RPG_Fanatic]

Thunder Force III and M.U.S.H.A are my favorite Shumps of all time.

[Steven]

Incredible job, OP! This is amazing. I love TFIII and was disappointed by Thunder Spirits on SNES. I like III more than IV, which seems to put me in the minority.

[parallaxscroll]

Incredible job, OP! This is amazing. I love TFIII and was disappointed by Thunder Spirits on SNES. I like III more than IV, which seems to put me in the minority.

Thanks! I tried to include as much TF III material as I possibly could. Although I don't have access to all the regular monthly issues of Game Players magazine, so there's more than likely an article or two on just TF III alone.

Thunder Spirits on SNES was a port of Thunder Force AC. I remember renting it from Blockbuster when it came out, only to be disappointed. As for Thunder Force IV, technically it was a more impressive game than TF III, it had more levels thanks to more memory and offered greater challenge. That said, I am more fond of TF III. Such amazing memories of reading those first two EGM previews and then waiting til Fall 1990 to get my hands on that cart. I was so hyped for 5 Genesis games coming out that fall: Strider, Sword of Vermilion, Phelios, Dando and TF III. I got 4 of those because Dando (an action RPG by Treco that looked like Legendary Axe) got scrapped!

[lendelin]

Thanks for posting these great pics! I have a collection of game mags myself from the end 80s throughout the 90s (Nintendo Power, EGM, GamePro), and it is just great to read through them sometimes, the old games come alive in just and unjust reviews and the hype of the preview sections.

It is a shame that the era of print mags are over.

[parallaxscroll]

No problem, it was actually a lot of fun putting all of these together.

Also, Thunder Force AC World Record - Set 1/29/2016 at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL. which is the largest arcade in NA.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ps9ybStFE

[parallaxscroll]

"It's not déjà vu, it's Thunder Force II!"

GamePro - January 1990

http://i.imgur.com/hIWwfAl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/T1n09qa.jpg

Video Games & Computer Entertainment - December 1989

http://i.imgur.com/eClOpbg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/080iWa4.jpg

EGM #4 November 1989

http://i.imgur.com/YS9uTcM.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lD1vVGa.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/arYdKaq.jpg

EGM #5 December 1989

http://i.imgur.com/3RNk7fB.jpg

Game Players issue 5 - November 1989

http://i.imgur.com/QcJh1p2.jpg

[Graham Mitchell]

These are awesome, thank you OP!

I've been on the lookout for a Thunder Force AC board for awhile. Anybody got one they wanna sell? ;)

For those of you who haven't played the Sharp X68000 version of Thunder Force II, do so immediately. It wipes the floor with the Genesis version (which isn't bad by any means. But the 68K version is amazing.) Plus, it has swearing!!

I really wish they made TFIII and IV for the 68K. The thing is essentially a CPS-1 board, so they could have done amazing stuff with it.

[parallaxscroll]

Thunder Force II on X68000 is really awesome. Better graphics, better audio, more levels, more weapons, and yes, swearing.

Yeah, I definitely wish TF III, Herzog Zwei and TF IV had been on X68000, with a similar amount of difference as there is between TFII on Genesis and X68000.

[SpaceHarrier]

This is good content.


I still pour over my retro magazine collection from time to time, looking at how various games of interest were covered/reviewed between EGM or GameFan, etc... so it's really neat to see someone pick a specific game and gather all of this together.

[parallaxscroll]

This is good content.


I still pour over my retro magazine collection from time to time, looking at how various games of interest were covered/reviewed between EGM or GameFan, etc... so it's really neat to see someone pick a specific game and gather all of this together.

Thanks. That was my single, undeviating goal :)

[Eternal Champion]

Very cool. I had the EGMs for years and now I regret getting rid of them. EGM was hugely instrumental in getting me to move into 16-bit - I seem to remember the '89 issues with the Genesis and Altered Beast, and then their earlier photos of the Super Famicom.
TFIII... how amazing it was at the time. I still pop it in from time to time, sometimes even to just crank the music through my big stereo.

I've always had a soft spot for TFII; one of the first games I played when I got my Genesis. I had grown up on stuff like River Raid and later Zanac so I've always loved shooters (as a kid I just called them "space games", though of course River Raid isn't...)

[parallaxscroll]

Update: SEGA announces acquisition of Technosoft’s IPs

Thunder Force III will be in the new Sega 3D Archives volume.


SEGA has announced that they have acquired Technosoft’s library of video game IPs, which makes sense since they announced earlier today that they will be adding Technosoft’s Thunder Force III to the new SEGA 3D Archives volume. Now we know that the reason for this is the fact that SEGA has acquired Technosoft’s games. But what have they made? Not too much that is overly popular these days, especially in America. I would say Thunder Force is their most well known franchise.

Some of Technosoft’s franchises:

Thunder Force (AGAIN!)
Herzog Zwei
Elemental Master
Hyper Reverthion

SEGA did say during the SEGA 3D Archives stage show that they are looking into reprinting Thunder Force IV, V and even Herzog Zwei. So now SEGA adds another lump sum of Japanese IPs to its already full belt line, what do you think of this news?

http://i.imgur.com/O7SKLfN.jpg

http://segabits.com/blog/2016/09/17/sega-announces-acquisition-of-technosofts-ips/

Boom.

[Emperor Megas]

Wow, that's interesting.

[Graham Mitchell]

The thunder force games would be awesome in 3D. So much parallax scrolling...

[parallaxscroll]

The thunder force games would be awesome in 3D. So much parallax scrolling...

Yes, indeed.