Technosoft/Tecnosoft Fans?

[terry.330]

Can we get some love for the Thunderforce series, Blast Wind, Hyper Duel?

[Neo Gold]

Yeah!! count me in... how about Elemental master!... my fave technosoft title by far.
Thunderforce 3 ruled as well...my fave one in the series.

[terry.330]

I have not played Elemental Master that I know of, what platform is it on?

Hell yeah TF 3 is what made me a TS fan back in the days of the genny :glee:

[Loopz]

Big, longtime Technosoft fan here. I love the ThunderForce series, Herzog Zwei, and Elemental Master. They really knew how to make the 68000 in the Genny do some crazy shit, as well as making amazing music. I will still always wonder what kind of insane magic they could have conjured up on the Neo*Geo.

[BIG]

I have not played Elemental Master that I know of, what platform is it on?

Mega Drive/Genesis.

Wouldn't call myself a Technosoft fan,but I did have a knack for TF3 back in the day.

BIG-

[Ganelon]

Yeah, great company. Were they ever spelled as "Technosoft?" I don't even remember anymore on the Genesis games.

[FatalError]

I've been a Technosoft/Tecnosoft fan for a very long time. Specifically the Thunderforce series (except Thunderforce II) and Elemental Master.

[Amano Jacu]

I love Thunder Force IV, my first Megadrive game, it was advanced to its time in graphics and music. A masterpiece.

[LoneSage]

Technosoft fan here. IMO, TF3>TF5>TF4>TF2.

But all of them were damned fine shmups. Good thing they axed the overhead levels from TF2. TF3 was just a beast for its time and pretty much what got me re-interested in shmups circa summer of 2003.

I just paid $70 for a mint Blast Wind, what's that like?

[Kiken]

I just paid $70 for a mint Blast Wind, what's that like?

Blast Wind is a very run-of-the-mill Tate shmup. Not quite the Thunder Force legacy, but still a good solid game in it's own right (if you've ever played the Doujin shmup Storm Caliber, you ought to recognize a bunch of the sound effects).

It's not very difficult, though. You'll most likely 1CC normal within a week or so.

One thing to note, the player 1 and player 2 craft each have different weapons (they aren't the same ship).

[Liquid Snake]

I love Technosoft. Too bad they are no longer existed.....

Technosoft games I have:

- Thunderforce 2 (Gen)
- Thunderforce 3 (Gen)
- Thunderforce 4 (MD)
- Thunderforce 5 (Saturn)
- Elemental Master (MD)

[Neo Gold]

I love Technosoft. Too bad they are no longer existed.....

Technosoft games I have:

- Thunderforce 2 (Gen)
- Thunderforce 3 (Gen)
- Thunderforce 4 (MD)
- Thunderforce 5 (Saturn)
- Elemental Master (MD)
All you need now is Devil crash!!.... THE best pinball game of all time...

[RBjakeSpecial]

I played the hell out of Thunder Force 5 usa version of playstation. I gotta get the saturn one and play through it again.

Out of the genesis ones, which do you recomend?

[terry.330]

@ jro Blast Wind is an OK game its worth owning but its extremly easy. The main "gimmicky" element is that the stages each have 2 diffrent paths through them and have a map on the side that shows your progress. In order to change paths you have to activate these large block/switch things buy touching them, some also give out points,Pow ups ect..

The game does however have some nice little touches tough and that classic Technosoft feel. ;)

@ RBjake I would recommend the TF gold packs on the Saturn.

GP 1 has TF2 & TF3
GP 2 has TFac & TF4 (buy this one)

TFac is the arcade version of TF3.

If you enjoyed TF V on the PSX the original Saturn version is about twice as good.
They changed alot in the port BGs,Intro,Music ect..

[RBjakeSpecial]

Thanks! Ill probably wind up buying gold pack 2 and the saturn port of TF5.

[terry.330]

If anybody likes Blazing Star you need to check out Hyper Duel on Saturn it ranks in my top 10 shmups for sure. Its like Blazing Star,TF 4 and Layer Section all mixed together.

Its rare though so be prepared to shell out at least $70

I'm pretty sure the rom is just the old version and not the updated saturn version(which has both on it) and there is a pretty big difference between the 2 versions.

[Takumaji]

Another big Technosoft fan here.

My fave games are TF IV, TF V, TF AC, and of course Herzog Zwei. It was the first real-time strategy game, and one of the few of the genre I love to death.

I love the soundtracks of the ThunderForce games.

Also, I've played the original ThunderForce game (tape image) using an obscure DOS-based PC-88 emu that I've found on a TF fansite... basically, it's another take on the Bosconian top-down formula, but it's a hell of a lot more difficult. If you listen carefully enough, you will hear a couple of typical Technosoft f/x samples (shots, explosions, etc.) in it that they used in later games, even in TF V, just like Wolfteam did with some of their signature sound f/x.

Technosoft, like Wolfteam, always were micro computer/console-only developers, probably that's why their games never reached major parts of the general gaming public. Even during the 80s when the whole world was pumping tokens into arcade games, Technosoft stayed home system-exclusive, another reason why TF IV on Genny still is one of the best-looking horizontal shmups the console has to offer and pushes the machine to its limits - when other companies that only had some experience with various arcade boards finally started creating games for the promising home console market, Technosoft already had more than ten years of experience in squeezing the last bit of power out of heavily limited hardware.

That said, I also like TS's only arcade game ThunderForce AC, it's more or less a souped-up version of TF III, but I dig its gameplay and the artwork.

Too bad that they are no longer around... another creative team that I really miss.

TF V - Perfect System is one heavily underrated game, btw. About the differences between the SAT and PSX version, well, TF V is subtitled "perfect system" on PSX with a reason - it's an officially Technosoft-authorized final version of the game, and after playing both the SAT and PSX version a lot, I wholeheartedly agree.

[LoneSage]

I honestly did not like Thunder Spirits on the SNES (port of TFAC). Yea, it added some new levels and the graphics didn't look as grainy...but to me, it just never gave me that "POW!" feel when I played TF3 on the Genney. In fact, I prefer that grainy Genesis look to the cleaner feel of the SNES game.

It's hard for me to explain, but in my eyes, TFAC is weak.

[FOMOCO&CO]

I felt a lot of snes games lost a lot of "feel" when acomplishing their "looks", but this is what also made some of their games so great....

I likes all the thunderforce games, even 2 because it added that overhead scenarios, But I love my TFV.

Herzog was by far my fav gen game for a while back in the day, but we had tons of people playing in in my neighborhood, tournies and all that...

[LoneSage]

Got to play Technosoft’s vertical Saturn shmup today, Blast Wind. It’s a pretty fun game, but even on the highest difficulty it isn’t too hard. For some reason, the graphical style reminds me of Technosoft; maybe because of some of the enemies. The most unique thing about this game is the ability to choose your own path in each level by pushing a button in the levels; this ultimately leads to a shorter or longer route with a different boss.

I haven’t beat it yet, but I really like it…good stuff.

gimme a coupla days, I'll be able to 1CC soon enough.

[Liquid Snake]

Question about Thunderforce V:

I have Saturn version and Techno released "upgrade version" on PSOne.
Should I get PSOne version as it contains "extra level and animations"????