Thunder Force III

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Thunder Force III
Studio JapanJapan Technosoft
Publisher JapanJapan Technosoft
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 JapanJapanJune 8, 1990 1990
North AmericaNorth America EuropeEurope
platform Sega Mega Drive , arcade game , SNES
genre Shoot 'em up
Game mode Single player
control Gamepad
medium Cartridge
language Japanese , English
Age rating
PEGI recommended for ages 3+

Thunder Force III is a 2D shoot 'em up from Technosoft and was released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1990 . It is the third part of the Thunder Force series. The game was ported to the arcade as Thunder Force AC . In 1991 a port for the SNES appeared under the name Thunder Spirits .

Game content

Thunder Force III is a mostly left to right scrolling space shooter. In contrast to its predecessor, the level from a bird's eye view has been omitted, other peculiarities such as the weapon and upgrade system have been retained. Two other special features are new: Of the total of eight levels, the first five can be completed in any order, and the player can switch the flight speed of the spaceship he controls in four stages.

In the ports for the amusement arcade and the SNES, there is no level selection option, with the latter version some levels have also been redesigned.

reception

The game was largely enthusiastically received in the trade press. Martin Gaksch rated the game in Power Play magazine with 85 out of 100 possible points and called the game "the definitive action orgy for the Mega Drive". He highlighted the learning-oriented level design, which provides motivation because “you always get a little further”, called the extra weapons “brilliant” and concluded that “[no] an action freak will come this noble module over, no matter how many and which other shooting games he already owns. "

The magazine Video Games shares this assessment and in issue 1/1991 listed Thunder Force III, rated 87%, on the list of the “best mega-drive games” in third place behind The Revenge of Shinobi and Klax . It was commented that the game “offers pretty much everything that pleases the heart and thumb of an action player.” Each level shines “with varied graphics, brilliant sound and imaginative bosses.” Peter Braun from der also judged retrospectively Megablast magazine made the game very positive. In a review of the mega-drive parts of the series, he rated Thunder Force III with 85% and praised "varied opponent formations, well-drawn backgrounds, beguiling rhythms and explosive FX" and also emphasized that the game is always fair. In 2014, Thunder Force III was finally listed in a review by Retro magazine at number 11 of the best mega-drive games, noting that the game was the best shoot 'em up for the console.

On the other hand, Christian Müller came to a negative assessment of the game in Play Time . Above all, he criticized technical defects such as the small sprite of the player's spaceship, the confusing, high-contrast background graphics and the "carelessly typed in a typewriter" manual. In conclusion, Müller called the game “a real low-budget production” that “made the sea of ​​mass-produced goods a little bigger” and rated it with only 36%. The SNES implementation Thunder Spirits was also criticized. Julian Eggebrecht rated the porting in the video games edition 2/1992 with 59% and complained that the graphics and playability were copied from the Mega-Drive original, "but always a bit worse than the original." The graphics also jerked sometimes drastic, which was a common problem with shoot'em ups on the SNES at the time. Elsewhere, in his already mentioned review of the series, Peter Braun casually referred to the SNES port as a “low point in 16-bit history”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Gaksch: Review of Thunder Force III , Power Play 9/1990
  2. ↑ Julian Eggebrecht: The best mega-drive games , Video Games 1/1991
  3. ↑ a b Peter Braun: The Thunderforce series , Megablast 1/1992
  4. ↑ Matthias Knoll : The Mega Drive: Sega's Storm on Fortress Nintendo , Retro # 31, summer 2014.
  5. ↑ Christian Müller: Test report on Thunder Force III , Play Time 11/1991
  6. ^ Julian Eggebrecht: Test report on Thunder Spirits , Video Games 2/1992

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