First of all, I apologize for being a week late with this, I got a little carried away last weekend and I never had a chance to do this review. (In order to make up for it, I'll either do a second review this weekend for Neverending Story or do two reviews next weekend). Anyway, on to the review...

Thunder Force III
Year Produced: 1990
Publisher/Developer: Technosoft
Game Style: Space Shoot'em up
Sample Video of Gameplay: CLICK HERE
Additional Information: The sample video posted is part 1 of a 3-part speed run.

Plot: The hopes of the Galaxy Federation rest upon you being able to destroy the five components of a cloaking device which conceals the base of the ORN empire as well as it's emperor (a bio-computer named Cha Os). Please forgive me if the plot section isn't in great detail, this is the only Thunder Force game I've played enough to review, having never played the first and barely touching the second. I got this from the Thunder Force III Wikipedia article, read that if you want a more detailed description.

Personal Experience: Before our family had a Super Nintendo, we had a Sega Genesis and while two of my three favorite games for it have the words "Sonic the Hedgehog" followed by a number, this is the only one that doesn't. To be honest, this was actually a pleasant surprise to me when I first played the game. At the time, I had barely played Thunder Force II and I simply wasn't impressed with what it had to offer. Plus, there were two other shoot-'em ups that I had played that I enjoyed more than Thunder Force II. One of them being Sol-Deace (AKA: Sol-Feace), which I will be getting to in a future review, and the other one I can't remember the title of off the top of my head (something like biohazard, but as I said, I can't remember the title without seeing it for myself).

Anyway, when I first tried out Thunder Force III, I saw A LOT of things that I liked about the game and was into it from the very start (even to the point where I was up at 3 or 4 in the morning playing the game when I was about 16). For that, you'll have to read down below and I'll describe how I feel about it in more detail. Before that though, a little extra special addition to this review...a guide to the different weapons you obtain in the game.

> To begin with you have two standard weapons...dual laser cannons that shoot forward and single laser cannons that shoot in front and back of you. However, you can also upgrade these as well as obtain other weapons. Be warned, if you die with these weapons equipped, you will lose them, but only the one you had on when you die, unless you get game over.

Sever (Approximate Equivalent: Laser in Contra 4): The upgraded forward shooting weapon. Fires two to four concentrated laser beams at your opponents (depending on whether or not you have the CLAWs...but I'll get to that later)
Usefulness: Moderate (can be effective of making short work of tough enemies)

Lancer (No known video game equivalent): The upgraded dual cannons. Shoots three continuous laser beams (five with CLAWs), one in front and two (or four) in back.
Usefulness: Moderate (highly effective in areas where you have enemies trying to attack from behind)

Wave (Approximate Equivalent: Spread Gun in any of the Contra Games): Emits a wide ranging beam of energy in front of you. Add in the CLAWs for a very wide frontal range that can cover much of the screen.
Usefulness: High (Arguably the most valuable special weapon in the game...though if enemies come at you from behind, then you're fucked. Use this for areas with a LOT of enemies)

Four-Way (Approximate Equivalent: Missle Weapon in the Gradius games): Shoots normal shots from front and behind as well as missles from above and below. Adding CLAWs causes them to emit an energy pulse when you fire, adding to it's destructive power.
Usefulness: Low (the least valuable special weapon in the game. Only really useful in areas with a lot of ground-based enemies...which are generally few and far-between)

Hunter (Approximate Equivalent: Homing Sniper from Mega Man 8): Shoots photon torpedo-like balls of energy at opponents that follow their intended targets.
Usefulness: Moderate to High (Useful for areas where there are a fuckton of enemies coming at you in all directions and a must-have item when you face Cerberus)

CLAWs (Approximate Equivalent: Rotating Option from Gradius III): Two claw-like options that circle around your ship and add firepower...they also serve as shot-erasers, adding to your defense.
Usefulness: MUST HAVE!!! (Get this as soon as you possibly can and whatever you do, DON'T DIE WHILE YOU HAVE THEM!!! These things can save your bacon and make your weapons a hell of a lot more useful...except for the four-way).

There is also a shield power-up in the game as well, but I don't think I need to explain how that works...if you've played Gradius or Gradius III, you'll know how it works already.

What works with the game

+: The gameplay (Highly addictive and fast paced, again I refer you to the part where I stayed up late playing this game back in High School)
+: The music (This game (arguably) has the best music in a genesis game that I've ever heard. The only thing that I can think of that comes close to matching its awesomeness would be the music from Sonic 3.)
+: Being able to switch weapons at any time (not only is this a neat feature, but it's also ESSENTIAL)
+: Being able to select which stages you want to play in what order (though personally, I recommend the order that is done in the sample video and the other parts of the speed run)
+: Being able to control the speed of your fighter (from slow to OMGWTF fast)

What doesn't work about the game

-: The difficulty (while it can be adjusted, this game can be a bullet hell for those who aren't willing to put in the effort to play the game. Also, let me tell you this from experience, the ORN base and Cha Os are HARD MOTHERFUCKERS!)
-: Trying to understand the voice acting in the game when you pick up an item (Yeah I know it's a Genesis game and Genesis games usually aren't known for their sound quality. But this game has really good music and the voice sounds very difficult to understand.)

Things that have me asking questions about the game

?: WHERE THE HELL CAN I FIND THIS GAME?!! (Seriously, I've checked several retro game stores in town and I haven't seen one copy of this thing. I'm not going on EBay either, since I'm not willing to pay god knows what for it. I love the game, but I'm not going to spend an arm and a leg for it)

CONCLUSION: To me, this game alone is reason enough for me to buy a Genesis again...that is, if I can ever FIND the damn thing. This is a really good game and I think it deserves a look.

Graphics: 9 (Considering this was released in 1990 and was a Genesis game, it does it's job very well and it actually feels almost like a Super Nintendo game)
Music (sound effects): 10 (As good as it gets on the Genesis)
Story: 6 (Somewhat reminiscent of Star Wars with the "evil Empire" and lone fighter trying to restore peace to the galaxy)
Gameplay: 8 (Being able to switch weapons and control speed helps, but this game can be a bullet hell)
Replay Factor/Intangibles: 6 (Has many features that are reminiscent of Mega Man, which is good but it's also not unique to the game)

FINAL GRADE: 7.9/B+ (Despite the fact that it just missed getting an A, I highly recommend playing this game)


Next VG Review: Sol-Deace
Next Review: Neverending Story