Thunder Force 3 - videogame classics

[Daniel Thomas]

Time for more shameless plugging. I've just finished writing my latest addition to Videogame Classics -- Thunder Force 3.

It's always been one of my favorite Genesis games, and hopefully I'm a good enough writer to share some thought with you. As always, I appreciate everyone's thoughts, which keep me motivated to keep writing. Impressions of TF3? Favorite TF game? Think Guliani is just nuts?

Thunder Force 3 Review

Here's a short excerpt for ya:


"I’m trying to think of which scenes impressed me the most back in 1990, but it’s so tough to narrow everything down to a couple soundbites; there’s so much to enjoy, then and especially now. I think of the enormous animated bosses, like a giant fire-breathing lizard, a throbbing lobster, and various machines and spaceships. I remember creative enemies large and small, among these: a pack of killer sunflowers, insects carrying rockets, flocks of firebirds (the bird, not the car), a glass-shielded brain, an oversized golden crab, and gun-toting robots of all sizes.

"Best of all, I remember the rolling flames from the lava planet. Alternately hypnotic and stunning, this was one of the greatest visual effects ever seen on the Genesis. This was also pretty much the first of its kind, setting the stage for al the crazy, inventive, and just tripped-out special effects that marked the 16-bit era. Those lava backgrounds are spectacular."


Enjoy!

[Melf]

Excellent work as always!

[Daniel Thomas]

Excellent work as always!

I just sent you an email about this, actually. Throw it on yer site with S3K.

[thegreatescape]

Why oh why didnt it get a Euro release!!?! whyyyyyy!!!!!!

Looks like a good review though. Keep up the good work

[Graham Mitchell]

Good review!

I loved this game when I was younger. I remember having friends come over and telling me Genesis sucked, so I'd put on TF3. That shut them up.

In a related manner, anybody play the SNES port (called Thunder Spirits in the US)? It's horrible...it somehow misses the "magic touch" that the Genny version's got in spades.

And I'm glad you made a point about the music. The music is fantastic. I used to play the game long after I beat it just to hear the music (the fire level's my favorite.)

[rbudrick]

TF3 is an all time favorite of mine. I used to be so good at the SNES version, Thunder Spirits, that I could beat it with one hand....seriously. I think I used to beat the Genesis version on 1 or 2 lives. That game seriously rocks. A friend of mine burnt me a CD of the very rare soundtrack...good shit indeed.

-Rob

[Sotenga]

Right on, Daniel! I love this game, and if I do say so myself, it is among the absolute classics on the Genesis, and one of my favorite shmups to boot. It's fast-paced, gloriously designed, and damned challenging without going over the point of insanity. It be my favorite out of the Thunderforce series, and with good reason. You picked youself a good game for review, you did.

[Daniel Thomas]

Good memories for all. Thunder Spirits was a real disappointment, considering that the SNES was home to more than a couple great shooters. But the game was just poor on every level. They even switched off the autofire! What's the deal with that?

Thunder Spirits was actually a port of Thunder Force AC, which was put into arcades after TF3 hit the Genesis. It's odd that Technosoft's forays into the arcades were so mediocre. Genesis was really their baby.

[pookninja]

its a great game.it still holds its own today.one of the best shooters for genesis,and that is saying something considering all the great shooters for genesis.