[Coury] Amazing video for an amazing game. Believe me, I see all that precise keyframing on the sprites and absolutely feel your pain. Masterfully done - the definitive video on this game.
Haha! I'm glad you can appreciate the insanity of my key framing. If anyone could it would be you guys! Also, what you said really means a lot coming from you Coury. I mentioned this on Twitter, but you guys were a HUGE influence on me and were one of the reasons I brought this series back after a year and a half hiatus. The videos you guys produce inspired me to do my absolute best and challenge myself as much as I could. I'm sure you may notice stylistic touches I used that were similar to ones used in your vids, that was no accident! :D I have you guys to thank for introducing me to RGB and making what I do now possible. I really appreciate that and really appreciate you taking the time to watch my video and leave the amazing comment you did. Thanks again and I can't wait to see where My Life In Gaming continues to go in the future.
the boss rushs at the end was hilarious, but yea solid video and great work, I always want to do stuff like this but don't really have the tech savvy to pull it off. I follow also Pixelmusement aka Ancient dos games, his work is awesome too and covers my other favourites www.pixelships.com/adg/
i agree, i still remember that bangin fuckin intro, i think my favourite boss has to be the fighting around the battlecruiser and then that thing jumps out of it. I tried it on an emulator a year ago and the slowddown killed my enjoyment. I guess a ryzen 7 and a 2080 super isn't powerful enough to run this game.
Absolutely. It is rather the opposite, as it impacts many qualities of a game, including replayability. One thing a great game developer must understand, is what the game does NOT need to be, way before considering what it does. Every genre has its own signature traits that make the said genre attractive to the player. Failure to grasp and understand these canons, just as straying away from them - is a one-way ticket into an epic blunder or a forgettable mess. That still holds true even if the game combines a number of genres. "Genius is taking something complex, and making it simple".
Not only is it one of the greatest 16 bit shoot 'em ups of all time but technosoft were actually one of the few companies who cared enough about their games to make sure it was optimised to run in 50hz in europe. Great video man.
Thunder Force IV, holy hell what a game. Imo the best 16-bit shooter, with Musha, Raiden II and perhaps R-Type 3 and Space Megaforce standing tall beside it. This is seriously (for lack of better words) the coolest hardcore game I think I've ever played. Something about the color palette and the sprite art style combined with metal soundtrack is just so damn menacing that 3D graphics just don't measure up. It pains me to never see this achievement on "Top Ten Genesis lists" or greatest of all time lists, everything from the games music, graphics, and frenetic gripping gameplay scream all time classic. So many Gen games never get the attention they deserve. Thanks for giving it some!
@Retro Soul, you totally forgot the Darius games, man. Sure, they were not arcade perfect ports, but, given the hardware that they were on, they were some of the best arcade to home conversions of any 16-bit game.
@@HexenStar that may be true but the entire score is excellent altogether. Metal or not. Some of my favorite non "metal" tracks are Danger Zone and Great Sea Power.
@@retrosoul8770 Well...that's already a different discussion altogether. There are numerous Megadrive games with a great soundtrack, but TF4 loves to parade its allusions to heavy metal as one of its leading points - while it doesn't really deliver on this front.
I first played TF4 on my model 1 Genesis back in the day, and I remember a friend of mine told me I was supposed to play it using earphones, because I would be stunned when I listened to its music. I was dumbfounded, I could not believe the Genesis was able to pull that off! But, better yet, the stage designs, the graphics and sound effects were the best I had ever seen in a shmup. I am a shmup fan, I have played a plethora of games of this genre - even the overrated Axelay, and none ever had the same impact on me as TF4. Even the 3D Thunder Force games pale in comparison.
I agree 100%. There was another game I really liked: UN Squadron on the Super NES. But Thunderforce IV will always be my greatest love for a game. I remember trying countless times to finish it on maniac. I have it now on the Switch. It's so awesome! Unfortunately my reflexes really seem to have deteriorated over the last years 😂🙈
Play Axelay on hard mode. It is easily better than this overrated game with better level design and enemy variety. In fact, Space Megaforce, R-Type 3, U.N. Squadron, Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Soldier Blade, etc. are all much better than Thunder Force IV.
Thunder Force IV is the best ... I remember how challenging it was to finish it on Maniac difficulty when i played it on my Mega drive back in 1994 .. good times
I remember seeing it for sale at a software etc. back in 92 and I couldn't believe it had been released. The Genesis just has something special about it and this game was a big reason for it. The developers put a lot into this game and it shows, wow. I sometimes wish for the simpler and in some ways better gaming era of the 90s. I'll never forget that great era.
I agree that the 16-bit Era during the early 90s will always hold a very special place in my heart. Some of the best memories I sit and think back on have me and friends sitting around the TV playing Gunstar Heroes till we decide to put on Battletoads and fail over and over. Having sleepovers and playing games we rented from night-time video that even though we get the same game every weekend, oh to be young and innocent with zero responsibility... never know what you have till it's gone... l wanna be a little kid again!
This game inspired my young self in so many ways. Without Thunder Force IV I wouldn't have gotten into metal. Without Thunder Force IV I wouldn't have gotten into anime. Without Thunder Force IV I wouldn't be who I am today. It truly is art to last the ages.
Brilliant episode! Really insightful, fun to watch and very well produced! Especially all the differences between the various difficulty modes was awesome! Till 6 minutes in, I was like.. when is sonic going to get a lift from the Rynex.. haha (which you teased on twitter a while ago!). Again amazing work!
Thanks! So glad you liked it!! Seeing your Thunder Force Retrospective video really inspired me in a lot of ways. The first being to get a professional to narrate the video (Jared has worked in the broadcasting industry and I am grateful to know him). I also borrowed your idea for talking about the parallax scrolling although I tried to present it in my own way. I hope you don't mind :)
Amazing video! A worthy tribute to the finest 16 Bit shooter. I remember buying it back in 1992 and being blown away by it when I played for the first time. Still play it over 20 years later.
WHen I WAS a lad, I used to paint the covers of the genesis boxes (my console was MEGA DRIVE II). Thunder Force was no expection, as I was fed up with trying to beat the game on maniac mode (always dead until the sea levels after obtaining the thunder sword). 30 years later I still recall the magical BGM that blew my mind and formed my taste towards heavy blasting beats and synth ^^ . Great video, well established and presented, much better than other channels!
If you guys are fans of Thunder Force IV, sincerely look into Devil Engine (2019) It's fucking amazing, and the devs made it as a loveletter to Thunder Force.
Hands down the best. So well designed, they even took advantage of the lag in the gameplay. Paralex Scrolling was fantastic & so many beautiful layers. The sound was so much better then Thunder Force Gold on Saturn.
Man I couldn't agree more. The shmup (or shooter, as we called it then) was my favorite genre as a kid. I had an SNES, but my best friend had a Genesis, and we played as many shmups as we could get our hands on. Thunder Force III was one of our favorites, and like you said in the video, we had no idea Lightening Force was the sequel. I think we must've missed that issue of EGM or something. I didn't get to play TFIV until late in the 90s with a Genesis emulator, and I was blown away. My opinion of best 16-bit shmup instantly switched from Axelay to Thunder Force IV, and I just don't see how anyone could argue any different. TFIV is such a tour de force. Perhaps if Axelay had two more super creative stages and weapons, but as it is, TFIV is just the best there is.
Thunderforce IV is really something special. Graphics and Music are obviously mind blowing but what I liked most about the game is the gameplay. The game is freaking hard if you play it on Maniac, but there is not a single situation in the whole game in which it is unavoidable to get hit. But despite the fact that I played this game like a maniac for 4 years I still managed it only 1 time to beat this game on Maniac without losing a single life.
I have just bought Thunderforce IV and discovered your amazing channel while searching for content related to this monumental shmup. Keep up the excellent work! 🤟
There is also 'Shield' power up in Ruin stage ! It hidden on the top ruin part ! Take 'snake' gun and shoot constantly close the top part of the stage and you will find it there even before fighting the pre-boss robot with gun ! 🤘🤩 Hope it helped )
Just found your channel a couple days ago. I share your passion, Thunder Force always had a large place in my childhood and I'm often playing it again, specially TF3 and TF4. Beatifully done!
I was thinking about making a video review of this game then I saw this and knew there was zero point. Incredible work man! RUclips did me VERY well today. The transition at 7:54. How in the hell haha
I am not a fan of this game, but the amount of effort put into the making of this video - is beyond staggering. It definitely took me by surprise. Respect.
@@zfunk007 Yes, unfortunately you're right: youtube's algorithm is a death warrant for creativity. Nonetheless, i really enjoyed watching it - even did so twice!
Superb production! Just finished TFIV on normal mode the first time some days ago - after fearing it for 25 years ^^' The Desert Boss is definitly the worst! Props for making it through that maniac mode and thanks for the great vid. By the way: in 50hz it runs slower but with less slowdowns than in fast 60hz. Even checked a japanese version in comparism to be sure.
The awesomeness of this game need go unstated, but can we take a second to appreciate this sublime sequence (18:06) that sets up and knocks down the bosses, one-by-one, followed by a perfect transition to.... that guy And that really is just the cherry on top. 10/10 absolutely fantastic video =)
How people perceive the final boss is a good barometer for how much they paid attention to the story. *YOU* are the final boss, they're scared and running for their lives, while you exact revenge set to one of the heaviest 16 bit songs ever.
Going to give you a big tip on both your trouble boss, Fomalhaut, and the rest of the game. For Fomalhaut, aim for the "Bib" under the head, if you focus enough firepower with Blade on it quick enough, you can blow the shield off and force it to respawn a new shield which you can instantly refocus again and blow the bib off completely before it can start moving around making it a cakewalk the rest of the fight. As for a tip for the rest of the game there's two types of damages, ineffective damage and effective damage. You can tell when you're doing ineffective damage when your explosions from twin shot are blue. When the explosions are red you're dealing effective damage and you're hitting the weak point. Play around with bosses and sprinkle them with twin shot to find the weak points and then you know what to focus on, on your next run through. Once you get the charge shot it makes bosses a joke when you're hitting their weak points directly with it. Hope this sparks you to play again and try it out.
Bosses adapted to your ship. Whenever you reached the Desert boss with a full weapons loadout, the guy became pretty unplayable. Same can be said from the Sentinel. Glorious
I really learned a lot from this video. The effects are top-notch as always. The variety is excellent! If you ever need a Shmup metal cover.. hit me up. Darius Twin Stage 1 may or may not be on my list.
Most PAL region Megadrive games actually have both the PAL and the NTSC versions on the cart. You don't need a modded system, just a converter cart, and the game will automatically detect the NTSC console and boot the correct version.
Great shmup indeed. This is one of my favorites for the Genesis/Mega Drive and one of my favorite 4th generation shmups, along with Gradius III, Space Megaforce and Blazing Lazers. And it has the best soundtrack I've heard on Genesis!
Ah, yes Formalhut, I remember him quite well. His shields, Energy shots, bullets, homing pods and THOSE FREAKING EYE BLASTS! Man, he was so frustrating. It took the 99 ship code and about 20 to 30 ships for me to beat him, especially in Maniac level.
I often say that Thunder Force IV is the best horizontal shooter of the 16-bit era while Super Aleste is the best vertical one but of course there are plenty of other great ones e.g. Thunder Force III, Lords of Thunder, R-Type III, Eliminate Down or the oldskool classic Slap Fight MD! Anyway great video mate, enjoyed it a lot, especially (since I already know most details about this game) the last part versus Fomalhaut (Daser boss) ;> Thunder Force IV is just amazing. Fantastic pixel art and music, superb gameplay with interesting boss fights and is an overall incredible achievement considering the relative small size - 8 meg - of the cartridge, pure Tecno Soft wizardry! Respect.
Thanks! And yeah, I would LOVE to cover some PC-Engine/TG-16 games but the system is SO damn expensive and the games are even worse. My rule is no emulation so I'm not sure I'll ever be able to properly cover that system. Although I may considering getting one and using a flash cart...
Nice review! Very impressive production values and great green-screen effects. I need to aspire to this kind of video quality! I love thunder force IV, such a nice looking game.
Thanks man! Yeah, this video was a labor of love for me. It took about 6 months to put together (not including the months of practice it took me to capture my 1cc run of the actual game!). Lot's of collaboration too with music and commentary as well. I got another video planned of this scale for sometime this year. It's just SO much work, as I'm sure you know!
Oh my god! The RUclips algorithm has magic powers. I'm just finishing producing a cover from the credits songs that I will release tomorrow and your video showed up in my feed. Great info and entertainment video.
The Lightening Force font looks from a medieval-themed beat 'm up from 1989. On the other hand, I never had a Sega Mega Drive so I would've been happy with any of the versions (and a console). Fortunately I can play it now on The Sega Mega Drive Mini and I can use save states BUT only for recording my highscores. If you cannot pass the first four levels (on normal), beating highscores makes the game even more fun.
Ok,so i was really guilty of overlooking this game despite the fanbase,i had it briefly in a bundle of gen shmups and it left in another trade years back.Anyway i watched this video cause i thought man what a bold statement the title was,long story short,i bought on switch yesterday and just finished what has catapulted into maybe my top 10 of all time,amazing level design,cool enemies and as you learn the game you really start feeling like a badass once your efficent w weapons.Just a masterpiece and i owe you a huge Thank You!!Oh and that music is epic as hell
Such a great review. I started playing this one last night on the normal difficulty. I wiped out shamefully at the stage 7 boss. Much practice will be needed.
Well, I can now clear it no problem on normal. I was stuck on the second form of the bug boss in stage eight for the longest time. For some reason, I didn't pick up on the fact that you could hold down when caught in the updrafts to avoid being rammed into the ceiling and I thought this was just an instant kill attack for way too long. It was pretty maddening wasting all those credits. Totally doable once I finally figured it out, though. ;)
Just got done with my own review, if case you're interested. Thanks again for inspiring me to pick it up. twentiethcenturygamer.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/lightening-force-quest-for-the-darkstar-genesis/
OK man, I finally got to sit down to my TV to watch this thing, cuz I was holding out...... Dude, you gotta make more videos. The animations and visual effects were out of this world! Really love what you did with the bosses at the end. Man, this video makes me want to pop it in right now! I also loved the little history lesson at the beginning. I have both Lightening Force and the PAL version of TF IV, but didn't really know if there were any differences or not. I can't believe how much the PAL version is going for. I bought it for $8 about eight years ago. Killer video, man! I hope we don't hafta wait too long for the next one. I'll check out your 1CC run here, soon.
Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it! I knew you would. You are a guy after my own heart with the style of vids you do. And don't worry, I'm taking a week off then starting my next one. All the great feedback I have been getting on this one is making me want to jump right into the next one. Although my next video won't be as crazy simply because the game I will be covering isn't anywhere near as good as Thunder Force IV. Either way I'll try my best to stay creative :)
That....that trick at 18:30...I have NEVER thought to try that in all my years of playing TF4. I always figured he'd be too quick and he'd smack me good.
Haha! Yeah, I've watched some other runs of this game and haven't seen anyone attempt it either. It takes some practice but once you are good at it, it is way safer and more reliable than confronting him head on while he's charging you with those lasers. I used that trick in my Maniac 1LC run (go watch it if you haven't) and it worked great!
4 years late to the party, i need to make some corrections: the japanese and us versions have some more differences: some enemies shield themselves - you can see that on the animation as well, making it harder to play and also harder to score - lightening force is easier.
I almost missed out on this because of the name change. I saw it on shelves for /years/, having no idea it was a sequel to my favorite shooter of all time. When I finally saw a note about it in a gaming magazine, I immediately bought it (probably too late to help Technosoft) and was completely blown away. It was such a dumb idea. Thunder Force 3 was why I bought a Genesis in the first place.
Man, your RGB capture looks waaaay better than the composite I had to record with for my review. Great video and review, nice to see more people talking about and appreciating this game! Though you should have mentioned that playing the Japanese version of the game might be easier for Americans than playing the PAL game since you only need a JP/US switch on your Genesis.
I've only discovered the game recently and I am yet to play it (also I have had long and VERY vague childhood memories of some kinda SEGA Genesis spaceship game I could never remember the name of, that turned out ironically enough to be Thunder Force II...), but HOLY SH*T did the music immediately win me over in TFIV. "Metal Squad", "Lightning Strikes Twice/Intro", "Sea of Flame", and certainly that amazing and beautiful ending theme, "Stand Up Against Myself". It simply amazes me such rockin' and metal tunes are on a relatively early Genesis game, let alone 16-bit. Not just that either, the shear amount of music they stuffed in the game as a whole. About an dang *hour and a half*... 😲 I grew up mostly with the SNES and fellow shooters Gradius III, Darius Twin, BioMetal, and Super R-Type. I love those shooters to no end and also think they all have fantastic tunes and I still listen to them for nostalgia to this day, but compared to the soundtrack of *Thunder Force IV* and ALL of its badass themes, from a game I've NEVER played before as of typing this, there is just no contest. Heck, even the previous and later Thunder Force games don't come close. 😎😎😎
@SHMUP Master: Fomalhaut is the most amazing boss in this game, edging the boss from Wall. There is just no sure-fire tactic to beat him, you have to constantly move and let yourself be backed into a corner. Although once he loses his lower half he is toast.
I think the vast majority agree that this is "the shumap"... I also think, the difficulty is well balanced and you don't need to keep using bombs to get past the bosses like in aero fighters or truxtron, the graphics are beautiful, a real tour by bosses and giant ships. Not to mention that his damage indicator is one of the best: the enemy doesn't change color, or uses life bar, in most cases the ship starts tearing and destroying the enemy in parts. It was an exquisite job to finish the series in the golden age of games.
The best Génesis Shoot 'Em Up. I love The Steel Empire too. Also the Shoot 'Em Up levels in Gunstar Heroes and The Adventures Of Batman And Robin are incredible.
I think the fight may be between R-Type 3, Gate of Thunder (some people may not count it since it`s a TG CD game) M.U.S.H.A., Thunder Force 3, Thunder Force 4 and Axelay (mainly in terms of presentation) For people mentioning Aleste, LOL. For people mentioning Parodius, all 3 games are arcade ports so they don`t really count.
Yeah, 95% of that footage was capped with a Framemeister (and I challenge you to tell me the 5% that wasn't, I bet you can't tell). The footage really is amazing and lets you zoom wwwwaaayyy in without losing a lot of quality. It enabled me to do things that would have looked completely horrible if I had used a composite connection. In fact, I'd argue the footage is better than you can get with an emulator simply because to capture at that quality (1080p 60fps) using something like Fusion you'd have to use FRAPS and you'd likely get lag as a result.
Wondering if you don't have a saturn, according to many people, the console with the hardest shooters of all, like Batsugun, Galactic Attack, Soukyuguretai and Radiant Silvergun (this last one was made by treasure, so you know that it's hardcore)
My dad re married 17 years ago and I gained a 12 year old step brother, I lent him my Megadrive along with this game, TMNT hyperstone heist, SOR 2, Road Rash 2, Robocop V Terminator and a few other classics, a year later he somehow "lost them" I'm still waiting for my dad to repay me and they aren't getting any cheaper.
[Coury] Amazing video for an amazing game. Believe me, I see all that precise keyframing on the sprites and absolutely feel your pain. Masterfully done - the definitive video on this game.
Haha! I'm glad you can appreciate the insanity of my key framing. If anyone could it would be you guys!
Also, what you said really means a lot coming from you Coury. I mentioned this on Twitter, but you guys were a HUGE influence on me and were one of the reasons I brought this series back after a year and a half hiatus. The videos you guys produce inspired me to do my absolute best and challenge myself as much as I could. I'm sure you may notice stylistic touches I used that were similar to ones used in your vids, that was no accident! :D
I have you guys to thank for introducing me to RGB and making what I do now possible. I really appreciate that and really appreciate you taking the time to watch my video and leave the amazing comment you did. Thanks again and I can't wait to see where My Life In Gaming continues to go in the future.
the boss rushs at the end was hilarious, but yea solid video and great work, I always want to do stuff like this but don't really have the tech savvy to pull it off. I follow also Pixelmusement aka Ancient dos games, his work is awesome too and covers my other favourites www.pixelships.com/adg/
If "my life on gaming" say so I believe
@@l30S3UX You may try having your own opinion. Where`s your self respect?
i agree, i still remember that bangin fuckin intro, i think my favourite boss has to be the fighting around the battlecruiser and then that thing jumps out of it. I tried it on an emulator a year ago and the slowddown killed my enjoyment. I guess a ryzen 7 and a 2080 super isn't powerful enough to run this game.
PAUSE , UP , RIGHT , A , DOWN , RIGHT , A , C , LEFT , UP , B , UP.....
that was the cheat to get FULL weapons!
ABC and start on title screen for menu, set lives to zero for 99 lives
@@GreyCollector that’s right, I remember that too😎
Something modern gamers and modern game devs need to learn
Complex game-play doesn't always mean better game-play
@TurquoisePaladin, but being simple as fuck does not always mean good game play either.
@@paxhumana2015 "Everything ingenious is simple".
Absolutely. It is rather the opposite, as it impacts many qualities of
a game, including replayability. One thing a great game developer must
understand, is what the game does NOT need to be, way before considering
what it does. Every genre has its own signature traits that make the said
genre attractive to the player. Failure to grasp and understand these canons,
just as straying away from them - is a one-way ticket into an epic blunder
or a forgettable mess. That still holds true even if the game combines a
number of genres.
"Genius is taking something complex, and making it simple".
Not only is it one of the greatest 16 bit shoot 'em ups of all time but technosoft were actually one of the few companies who cared enough about their games to make sure it was optimised to run in 50hz in europe. Great video man.
Consoletronix Yup! I mentioned that in the video 😉
Thunder Force IV, holy hell what a game. Imo the best 16-bit shooter, with Musha, Raiden II and perhaps R-Type 3 and Space Megaforce standing tall beside it.
This is seriously (for lack of better words) the coolest hardcore game I think I've ever played. Something about the color palette and the sprite art style combined with metal soundtrack is just so damn menacing that 3D graphics just don't measure up.
It pains me to never see this achievement on "Top Ten Genesis lists" or greatest of all time lists, everything from the games music, graphics, and frenetic gripping gameplay scream all time classic.
So many Gen games never get the attention they deserve. Thanks for giving it some!
@Retro Soul, you totally forgot the Darius games, man. Sure, they were not arcade perfect ports, but, given the hardware that they were on, they were some of the best arcade to home conversions of any 16-bit game.
@@paxhumana2015 Really? GAIARES? Elemental Master? Steel Empire? Hellfire?
Actually, heavy metal tracks constitute only a
small portion of the in-game soundtrack.
@@HexenStar that may be true but the entire score is excellent altogether. Metal or not. Some of my favorite non "metal" tracks are Danger Zone and Great Sea Power.
@@retrosoul8770 Well...that's already a different discussion altogether.
There are numerous Megadrive games with a great soundtrack, but TF4
loves to parade its allusions to heavy metal as one of its leading points -
while it doesn't really deliver on this front.
I first played TF4 on my model 1 Genesis back in the day, and I remember a friend of mine told me I was supposed to play it using earphones, because I would be stunned when I listened to its music. I was dumbfounded, I could not believe the Genesis was able to pull that off! But, better yet, the stage designs, the graphics and sound effects were the best I had ever seen in a shmup. I am a shmup fan, I have played a plethora of games of this genre - even the overrated Axelay, and none ever had the same impact on me as TF4. Even the 3D Thunder Force games pale in comparison.
I agree 100%. There was another game I really liked: UN Squadron on the Super NES. But Thunderforce IV will always be my greatest love for a game. I remember trying countless times to finish it on maniac. I have it now on the Switch. It's so awesome! Unfortunately my reflexes really seem to have deteriorated over the last years 😂🙈
Play Axelay on hard mode. It is easily better than this overrated game with better level design and enemy variety. In fact, Space Megaforce, R-Type 3, U.N. Squadron, Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Soldier Blade, etc. are all much better than Thunder Force IV.
@@davidaitken8503 , stupid basic bitch, please, Axelay is ironically the overrated one and it honestly pales in comparison to Gradius III.
@@davidaitken8503 I concur.
Ciao, sono perfettamente d'accordo con te , Thunder Force 4 è veramente il Top.
Technosoft were incredible! This still looks/sounds and plays better than games years after on more powerful systems. 👍
@Craig Davies, elitist much? Also, the voice audio sucked in this game in comparison to Thunder Force II.
Thunder Force IV is the best ... I remember how challenging it was to finish it on Maniac difficulty when i played it on my Mega drive back in 1994 .. good times
I remember seeing it for sale at a software etc. back in 92 and I couldn't believe it had been released. The Genesis just has something special about it and this game was a big reason for it. The developers put a lot into this game and it shows, wow. I sometimes wish for the simpler and in some ways better gaming era of the 90s. I'll never forget that great era.
I agree that the 16-bit Era during the early 90s will always hold a very special place in my heart. Some of the best memories I sit and think back on have me and friends sitting around the TV playing Gunstar Heroes till we decide to put on Battletoads and fail over and over. Having sleepovers and playing games we rented from night-time video that even though we get the same game every weekend, oh to be young and innocent with zero responsibility... never know what you have till it's gone... l wanna be a little kid again!
The production quality in this video is actually astounding. There are youtube channels with millions of views that can't touch this level of editing!
Thanks! I'm slowly making my way up...
This game inspired my young self in so many ways. Without Thunder Force IV I wouldn't have gotten into metal. Without Thunder Force IV I wouldn't have gotten into anime. Without Thunder Force IV I wouldn't be who I am today. It truly is art to last the ages.
Brilliant episode! Really insightful, fun to watch and very well produced! Especially all the differences between the various difficulty modes was awesome! Till 6 minutes in, I was like.. when is sonic going to get a lift from the Rynex.. haha (which you teased on twitter a while ago!). Again amazing work!
Thanks! So glad you liked it!! Seeing your Thunder Force Retrospective video really inspired me in a lot of ways. The first being to get a professional to narrate the video (Jared has worked in the broadcasting industry and I am grateful to know him). I also borrowed your idea for talking about the parallax scrolling although I tried to present it in my own way. I hope you don't mind :)
I love how everyone just unanimously agrees that this game is absolute gold.
Amazing video! A worthy tribute to the finest 16 Bit shooter. I remember buying it back in 1992 and being blown away by it when I played for the first time. Still play it over 20 years later.
WHen I WAS a lad, I used to paint the covers of the genesis boxes (my console was MEGA DRIVE II). Thunder Force was no expection, as I was fed up with trying to beat the game on maniac mode (always dead until the sea levels after obtaining the thunder sword).
30 years later I still recall the magical BGM that blew my mind and formed my taste towards heavy blasting beats and synth ^^ .
Great video, well established and presented, much better than other channels!
Man excellent video production! I wanna get to this level some day to be honest heh! TFIV is honestly the best of its kind, no question.
Thanks! And yeah, it's a special game worthy of a video that took forever to produce lol
Ever play Eliminate Down? That is a sick game
Mega Drive Profile I have actually. Another one of the best on the Genesis.
Excellent video congratulations the end was very funny
Ha, I just want to make good content in the first place.
If you guys are fans of Thunder Force IV, sincerely look into Devil Engine (2019) It's fucking amazing, and the devs made it as a loveletter to Thunder Force.
Probably the best video editing I've seen on a retro game RUclips video.
Oh Shtaap! :P
Hands down the best. So well designed, they even took advantage of the lag in the gameplay. Paralex Scrolling was fantastic & so many beautiful layers. The sound was so much better then Thunder Force Gold on Saturn.
I'm currently developing a homebrew shmup for the NES, and I have to admit this game has influenced me to a great extent.
How's the game going?
Did you keep going at it?
Man I couldn't agree more. The shmup (or shooter, as we called it then) was my favorite genre as a kid. I had an SNES, but my best friend had a Genesis, and we played as many shmups as we could get our hands on. Thunder Force III was one of our favorites, and like you said in the video, we had no idea Lightening Force was the sequel. I think we must've missed that issue of EGM or something.
I didn't get to play TFIV until late in the 90s with a Genesis emulator, and I was blown away. My opinion of best 16-bit shmup instantly switched from Axelay to Thunder Force IV, and I just don't see how anyone could argue any different. TFIV is such a tour de force. Perhaps if Axelay had two more super creative stages and weapons, but as it is, TFIV is just the best there is.
It is sad that modern Shmups more into bullet hell than "adventure" Shmups like this one. More over, the 6th really killed this series fo real x_x
Fake Replica Good thing we got Sine Mora. It's still a story driven Shmup.
Old post but Devil Engine is basically a spiritual sequel to this game. You'd love it.
broken thunder should have been finished T-T
@@CardboardSliverits not a very good shmup tho
Thunderforce IV is really something special. Graphics and Music are obviously mind blowing but what I liked most about the game is the gameplay. The game is freaking hard if you play it on Maniac, but there is not a single situation in the whole game in which it is unavoidable to get hit. But despite the fact that I played this game like a maniac for 4 years I still managed it only 1 time to beat this game on Maniac without losing a single life.
I have just bought Thunderforce IV and discovered your amazing channel while searching for content related to this monumental shmup. Keep up the excellent work! 🤟
Thank you so much! Very much appreciated!
Thunder force is truly the greatest game in gaming history even touhou fans bow to this game’s amazing soundtrack and gameplay
There is also 'Shield' power up in Ruin stage ! It hidden on the top ruin part ! Take 'snake' gun and shoot constantly close the top part of the stage and you will find it there even before fighting the pre-boss robot with gun ! 🤘🤩 Hope it helped )
Yup, I am aware of it :D
Just found your channel a couple days ago. I share your passion, Thunder Force always had a large place in my childhood and I'm often playing it again, specially TF3 and TF4. Beatifully done!
ThunderForce IV is fucking metal, absolute. One of my favourite games ever with a mind blowing OST.
I was thinking about making a video review of this game then I saw this and knew there was zero point. Incredible work man! RUclips did me VERY well today. The transition at 7:54. How in the hell haha
My favourite game ever. This video reminded me it took me quite a few attempts to beat that Daser boss.
I am not a fan of this game, but the amount of effort
put into the making of this video - is beyond staggering.
It definitely took me by surprise. Respect.
Thank you, I appreciate that. Sadly RUclipss algorithm doesn’t reward quality or effort. Or I’d still be making these videos.
@@zfunk007 Yes, unfortunately you're right: youtube's algorithm is
a death warrant for creativity. Nonetheless, i really enjoyed watching
it - even did so twice!
The sound and music on this game are UNREAL. A complete masterpiece.
Superb production! Just finished TFIV on normal mode the first time some days ago - after fearing it for 25 years ^^' The Desert Boss is definitly the worst! Props for making it through that maniac mode and thanks for the great vid. By the way: in 50hz it runs slower but with less slowdowns than in fast 60hz. Even checked a japanese version in comparism to be sure.
The awesomeness of this game need go unstated, but can we take a second to appreciate this sublime sequence (18:06) that sets up and knocks down the bosses, one-by-one, followed by a perfect transition to.... that guy
And that really is just the cherry on top. 10/10 absolutely fantastic video =)
Thanks so much! This video was a labor of love... don't think I could ever do it again!
@@THESHMUPMASTER The love definitely shows; you really bottled lightening with this one ;-)
Fuck yeah!, the best shooter of 16bit era.
A great video covering a masterpiece - the metal soundtrack covers sound amazing, thanks for making this - awesome content.
Thanks so much!
This is a great review! You can tell so much effort has gone into this. Keep up the good work :)
I'm glad you're making videos again!
Thanks! Me too! it's been tooooooooo long lol
How people perceive the final boss is a good barometer for how much they paid attention to the story.
*YOU* are the final boss, they're scared and running for their lives, while you exact revenge set to one of the heaviest 16 bit songs ever.
Arguably my favourite game of all time, this one...
The best video review I've seen about one of my favourite all-time shmup. Thumbs up!
You tell me that intro doesn't want to make you smash things.....Unbelievable game.
I like your video so much that I use to see it every time I'm playing this fantastic game!
Going to give you a big tip on both your trouble boss, Fomalhaut, and the rest of the game. For Fomalhaut, aim for the "Bib" under the head, if you focus enough firepower with Blade on it quick enough, you can blow the shield off and force it to respawn a new shield which you can instantly refocus again and blow the bib off completely before it can start moving around making it a cakewalk the rest of the fight.
As for a tip for the rest of the game there's two types of damages, ineffective damage and effective damage. You can tell when you're doing ineffective damage when your explosions from twin shot are blue. When the explosions are red you're dealing effective damage and you're hitting the weak point. Play around with bosses and sprinkle them with twin shot to find the weak points and then you know what to focus on, on your next run through. Once you get the charge shot it makes bosses a joke when you're hitting their weak points directly with it. Hope this sparks you to play again and try it out.
Bosses adapted to your ship. Whenever you reached the Desert boss with a full weapons loadout, the guy became pretty unplayable. Same can be said from the Sentinel. Glorious
Agree! Moves well and graphics are great...
Definitely want to play this game. BTW awesome hair! lol Great soundtrack to match the gameplay.
I really learned a lot from this video. The effects are top-notch as always. The variety is excellent! If you ever need a Shmup metal cover.. hit me up. Darius Twin Stage 1 may or may not be on my list.
Agreed. I think it's my favorite SHMUP period.
Blimey this brings back good memories, took me ages but I finished it. One of the best games I ever played......soo much fun! Great video guys!
That Sonic animation was GREAT!
SonicPAJ Thanks! It was A LOT of work! Lol
Thunder force is a game i grew up with
My blood is napalm, my heart beats with a power of a V8, my hands - THE CLAWS of THUNDA
Nicely made video, really pleasant to see all the effort you've put into editing and detoured sprites of the game.
Great review
, I love the Thunder Force series.
Most PAL region Megadrive games actually have both the PAL and the NTSC versions on the cart. You don't need a modded system, just a converter cart, and the game will automatically detect the NTSC console and boot the correct version.
Great shmup indeed. This is one of my favorites for the Genesis/Mega Drive and one of my favorite 4th generation shmups, along with Gradius III, Space Megaforce and Blazing Lazers. And it has the best soundtrack I've heard on Genesis!
Ah, yes Formalhut, I remember him quite well. His shields, Energy shots, bullets, homing pods and THOSE FREAKING EYE BLASTS! Man, he was so frustrating. It took the 99 ship code and about 20 to 30 ships for me to beat him, especially in Maniac level.
I often say that Thunder Force IV is the best horizontal shooter of the 16-bit era while Super Aleste is the best vertical one but of course there are plenty of other great ones e.g. Thunder Force III, Lords of Thunder, R-Type III, Eliminate Down or the oldskool classic Slap Fight MD!
Anyway great video mate, enjoyed it a lot, especially (since I already know most details about this game) the last part versus Fomalhaut (Daser boss) ;>
Thunder Force IV is just amazing. Fantastic pixel art and music, superb gameplay with interesting boss fights and is an overall incredible achievement considering the relative small size - 8 meg - of the cartridge, pure Tecno Soft wizardry! Respect.
Thanks! And yeah, I would LOVE to cover some PC-Engine/TG-16 games but the system is SO damn expensive and the games are even worse. My rule is no emulation so I'm not sure I'll ever be able to properly cover that system. Although I may considering getting one and using a flash cart...
Nice review! Very impressive production values and great green-screen effects. I need to aspire to this kind of video quality!
I love thunder force IV, such a nice looking game.
Thanks man! Yeah, this video was a labor of love for me. It took about 6 months to put together (not including the months of practice it took me to capture my 1cc run of the actual game!). Lot's of collaboration too with music and commentary as well. I got another video planned of this scale for sometime this year. It's just SO much work, as I'm sure you know!
Oh my god! The RUclips algorithm has magic powers. I'm just finishing producing a cover from the credits songs that I will release tomorrow and your video showed up in my feed.
Great info and entertainment video.
Thanks so much! Glad the algorithm is doing its job! And feel free to drop the link 😉
@@THESHMUPMASTER Thanks. Its cool to share with others fans : ruclips.net/video/SYfbCP1AD_Q/видео.html
Wow this was so well done, amazing job.
Dope editing! I subbed!
Thanks! Be sure and check out the newer vids as well 😉
The Lightening Force font looks from a medieval-themed beat 'm up from 1989. On the other hand, I never had a Sega Mega Drive so I would've been happy with any of the versions (and a console). Fortunately I can play it now on The Sega Mega Drive Mini and I can use save states BUT only for recording my highscores. If you cannot pass the first four levels (on normal), beating highscores makes the game even more fun.
Ok,so i was really guilty of overlooking this game despite the fanbase,i had it briefly in a bundle of gen shmups and it left in another trade years back.Anyway i watched this video cause i thought man what a bold statement the title was,long story short,i bought on switch yesterday and just finished what has catapulted into maybe my top 10 of all time,amazing level design,cool enemies and as you learn the game you really start feeling like a badass once your efficent w weapons.Just a masterpiece and i owe you a huge Thank You!!Oh and that music is epic as hell
Thank you! I appreciate it!
That's not a bold statement thats a straight fact.
Holy shit this is some amazing editing
Such a great review. I started playing this one last night on the normal difficulty. I wiped out shamefully at the stage 7 boss. Much practice will be needed.
Well, I can now clear it no problem on normal. I was stuck on the second form of the bug boss in stage eight for the longest time. For some reason, I didn't pick up on the fact that you could hold down when caught in the updrafts to avoid being rammed into the ceiling and I thought this was just an instant kill attack for way too long. It was pretty maddening wasting all those credits. Totally doable once I finally figured it out, though. ;)
Just got done with my own review, if case you're interested. Thanks again for inspiring me to pick it up.
twentiethcenturygamer.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/lightening-force-quest-for-the-darkstar-genesis/
Still the best Thunder Force video out there
Loved this game back in the day.
OK man, I finally got to sit down to my TV to watch this thing, cuz I was holding out...... Dude, you gotta make more videos.
The animations and visual effects were out of this world! Really love what you did with the bosses at the end. Man, this video makes me want to pop it in right now!
I also loved the little history lesson at the beginning. I have both Lightening Force and the PAL version of TF IV, but didn't really know if there were any differences or not. I can't believe how much the PAL version is going for. I bought it for $8 about eight years ago.
Killer video, man! I hope we don't hafta wait too long for the next one. I'll check out your 1CC run here, soon.
Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it! I knew you would. You are a guy after my own heart with the style of vids you do. And don't worry, I'm taking a week off then starting my next one. All the great feedback I have been getting on this one is making me want to jump right into the next one. Although my next video won't be as crazy simply because the game I will be covering isn't anywhere near as good as Thunder Force IV. Either way I'll try my best to stay creative :)
I still have this in my collection, the track on stage 8 is the best.
That....that trick at 18:30...I have NEVER thought to try that in all my years of playing TF4. I always figured he'd be too quick and he'd smack me good.
Haha! Yeah, I've watched some other runs of this game and haven't seen anyone attempt it either. It takes some practice but once you are good at it, it is way safer and more reliable than confronting him head on while he's charging you with those lasers. I used that trick in my Maniac 1LC run (go watch it if you haven't) and it worked great!
This released on the Nintendo Switch under the Sega Ages line. I'm definetly getting it for only €7
Yup. A lot of people have mentioned that here... I may pick it up as well at some point...
4 years late to the party, i need to make some corrections: the japanese and us versions have some more differences:
some enemies shield themselves - you can see that on the animation as well, making it harder to play and also harder to score - lightening force is easier.
I almost missed out on this because of the name change. I saw it on shelves for /years/, having no idea it was a sequel to my favorite shooter of all time. When I finally saw a note about it in a gaming magazine, I immediately bought it (probably too late to help Technosoft) and was completely blown away. It was such a dumb idea. Thunder Force 3 was why I bought a Genesis in the first place.
Great video! This game looks really fun! Never played it myself though!
can u imagine shmup master broadcasted in the early 90's on our televisions, i mean i would it skip school just to see this videos
Haha... If it was the early 90's my green screen would have look more like the music video I did :P
lol.I remember watching Advance Video Games show on channel 3 PBS i think in the mid 90s
Man, your RGB capture looks waaaay better than the composite I had to record with for my review.
Great video and review, nice to see more people talking about and appreciating this game! Though you should have mentioned that playing the Japanese version of the game might be easier for Americans than playing the PAL game since you only need a JP/US switch on your Genesis.
That IS a good point. But I figured the European version would be better since it's in English and no speed difference.
I've only discovered the game recently and I am yet to play it (also I have had long and VERY vague childhood memories of some kinda SEGA Genesis spaceship game I could never remember the name of, that turned out ironically enough to be Thunder Force II...), but HOLY SH*T did the music immediately win me over in TFIV. "Metal Squad", "Lightning Strikes Twice/Intro", "Sea of Flame", and certainly that amazing and beautiful ending theme, "Stand Up Against Myself". It simply amazes me such rockin' and metal tunes are on a relatively early Genesis game, let alone 16-bit. Not just that either, the shear amount of music they stuffed in the game as a whole. About an dang *hour and a half*... 😲
I grew up mostly with the SNES and fellow shooters Gradius III, Darius Twin, BioMetal, and Super R-Type. I love those shooters to no end and also think they all have fantastic tunes and I still listen to them for nostalgia to this day, but compared to the soundtrack of *Thunder Force IV* and ALL of its badass themes, from a game I've NEVER played before as of typing this, there is just no contest. Heck, even the previous and later Thunder Force games don't come close. 😎😎😎
@SHMUP Master: Fomalhaut is the most amazing boss in this game, edging the boss from Wall. There is just no sure-fire tactic to beat him, you have to constantly move and let yourself be backed into a corner. Although once he loses his lower half he is toast.
I think the vast majority agree that this is "the shumap"... I also think, the difficulty is well balanced and you don't need to keep using bombs to get past the bosses like in aero fighters or truxtron, the graphics are beautiful, a real tour by bosses and giant ships. Not to mention that his damage indicator is one of the best: the enemy doesn't change color, or uses life bar, in most cases the ship starts tearing and destroying the enemy in parts. It was an exquisite job to finish the series in the golden age of games.
Great work, can't wait for the next one!
The best Génesis Shoot 'Em Up. I love The Steel Empire too. Also the Shoot 'Em Up levels in Gunstar Heroes and The Adventures Of Batman And Robin are incredible.
Bloody brilliant. Well worth the wait, friend!!
Well you helped make it what it is! I'm looking forward to the next collab!
I just discovered this channel and holy shit is it good! Amazing editing and content.
Thanks man! It's been a few months since I've released a video, but I hope to remedy that before too much longer 😁
this was and still is a criminally underrated game.
This is considered the greatest 16-bit shump its hardly underrated do some better research.
20:02 I never forget playing this boss. Its one of my top ten intense bosses I have ever battled as a gamer.
The fucker just wont give up!
metal storm is near the most popular song from the game, that pushed sound chip to overdrive, replay for just that
I frickin love this show. Please keep on !
Killer vid.
There's no SNES shooter over come Thunder Force 4. I dear any Nintendo fanboy discuss that.
I love the SNES as well but I agree, Thunder Force 4 is the best on any console in the 16-bit generation.
Josue Ortiz One word... AXELAY!
Negative. Axelay didn't have as good a soundtrack, wasn't as interesting overall.
Patrick McLaughlin Your opinion.
...and? You voiced yours as well.
I think the fight may be between R-Type 3, Gate of Thunder (some people may not count it since it`s a TG CD game) M.U.S.H.A., Thunder Force 3, Thunder Force 4 and Axelay (mainly in terms of presentation)
For people mentioning Aleste, LOL.
For people mentioning Parodius, all 3 games are arcade ports so they don`t really count.
What are you saying?
The framemeister really does wonders
Yeah, 95% of that footage was capped with a Framemeister (and I challenge you to tell me the 5% that wasn't, I bet you can't tell). The footage really is amazing and lets you zoom wwwwaaayyy in without losing a lot of quality. It enabled me to do things that would have looked completely horrible if I had used a composite connection. In fact, I'd argue the footage is better than you can get with an emulator simply because to capture at that quality (1080p 60fps) using something like Fusion you'd have to use FRAPS and you'd likely get lag as a result.
I prefer Thunder Force III, Blazing Lazer.. Thunder Force IV is up there tho.
Great work, congratulations!
This was seriously well done, please do one on MUSHA next!! Those 2 are by far the best 16 bit shmups
Mark Thanks! I'll do MUSHA eventually...
I am terrible at this game...but it's damn awesome
Wondering if you don't have a saturn, according to many people, the console with the hardest shooters of all, like Batsugun, Galactic Attack, Soukyuguretai and Radiant Silvergun (this last one was made by treasure, so you know that it's hardcore)
I don't own a Saturn sadly. But I've always wanted to try Radiant Silvergun...
MUSHA Aleste is a close contender for the best 16-bit shmup, but I agree. TFIV is something special!
Yeah many say MUSHA is great... Sadly I have not played it... But I will remedy that at some point :)
My dad re married 17 years ago and I gained a 12 year old step brother, I lent him my Megadrive along with this game, TMNT hyperstone heist, SOR 2, Road Rash 2, Robocop V Terminator and a few other classics, a year later he somehow "lost them" I'm still waiting for my dad to repay me and they aren't getting any cheaper.
Fantastic look at an amazing game!