ThunderForce IV... still stands the test of time?

I played TF IV today on my Saturn (ThunderForce Gold Pack 2) for a good hour or so... very fun shmup, for sure. The boss in the desert gives me some trouble though. It seems like we battled for hours.

Anyway I pulled this from another poster elsewhere, thought it was an interesting "old-school" rant...

RANT MODE ON

TF4 is still the greatest and probably will be the greatest shooter ever. No other shooter made since has come close, why???

1) TF4 is LONG. 10 stages, and it takes about an hour to play through the whole game.

2) TF4's enemies and bosses actually required SKILL and learning their patterns to defeat them, not by how many SUPER BOMBS you have in your inventory.

3) TF4's heavy metal soundtrack kicks butt over any other music out there... even if it was only FM generated.

4) TF4 is CHALLENGING. Mania mode is damn near impossible (hey but I beat it) B)

The excellence of TF4 compared to other 32bit games today just shows how much this industry has forsaken good design and gameplay for the flashy graphics.

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So, what do you think of TF IV? Still holds up well today? Best shmup ever? You miss the 'good old days'? You want to fly like an eagle? ... whoa, where did that one come from.
At any rate, discuss. Oh yeah, anyone ever beat TF IV?
I'm still working on level 7... the one with the damn tentacles for a boss!

TF4 is amazing.
Before I sold off my MD, I played it one last time...and it almost made me re-think the sale.

I mean, what technosoft pulled of with the genesis is just amazing. It easily could trick the unassuming into thinking it's a Neo game. EASILY. No offense to the Neo.

It's a good time, and if you're a shooter fan you should really check it out. I'm sure loopz will chime in on this thread sometime. Maybe I'll go kill a child.

Like Aphex said, this ThunderForce IV love rant is predictable coming from me, but fuck it, I'll bite.

To me, TechnoSoft had major fucking skills. Just as good as Konami, Sega, Nintendo, any of the majors...play any of their 16-bit Genesis masterpieces, and you'll know that at whatever point they were released, they were way ahead of the curve. Whether they were creating the true predecessor to every RTS game with Herzog Zwei, or ripping apart the horizontal shooting genre with the ThunderForce series, they were masters at creating challenging games that looked and played better than most others on a given piece of hardware. ThunderForce IV is indeed a miracle on the Genesis. Compare it to most shooters on the Neo released at the same time...it totally holds it's own.

The real genius in designing a pure, at-home console shooter is making the game balanced with regard to difficulty and length.
Most shooters are either quarter-eating coin-op bitches or far too easy...the TF games were always the perfect blend...they gave you enough weaponry and decent control to get you through unscathed, provided you learned the level well enough. This would keep you coming back, providing enough challenge while remaining fun is perhaps the trickiest bit of game design, and these guys had a major grip on it.

Knowing what 2D feats are possible with the likes of the Neo and CPS2, it will always haunt my gamer dreams as to what these skilled peeps could have done on a more powerful piece of kit.

I am a Technosoft fan since the days of TF2 and HZ2 on Genny and just had to buy the other two TF games when they came out. TF4 is such a great game, even more as the Genny version features absolutely stunning graphics compared to other horizontal shmups on that platform.

The diff level is very high, prolly that's why the game never got decent reviews from your average mainstream gamer/reviewer but it's still manageable to some extend, tho I have to admit that the later levels are quite sadistic. TF4's challenge level is definitely up there with Pulstar.

I like the extra weapon system with front and rear upgrades, the shots look cool and the weapons all make sense. Finding out strategies to beat certain enemies with the right extra weapon (and the right speed setting) is very important, most bosses seem practially unbeatable with the normal shot, even sub-bosses are very hard to defeat with it.

Anyway, yeah, I do think the game can hold up against modern-day shooters because it still offers lots of great gameplay and options, 8 different weapons, good graphics, cool bosses, very attractive level design and an excellent soundtrack. On the downside, it's not as scoring-intensive as the new breed of shooters like Border Down, Ikaruga, etc. TF4 was made at a time where many arcade and home console players changed from die-hard freaks with masochistic tendencies to ppl that still wanted a good challenge but also had higher expectations in artwork, sound and game features. That's why TF4 was appreciated as not yet another R-Type clone but a horizontal shmup that actually came up with new things.

Hell Yes.

Your talking about my favorite shooter series here!

Thunderforce IV does stand the test of time, as I still play mine once every few months or so.

My first touch with Tecnosoft was with the illustrious and original pioneer of RTS; Herzog Zwei. My friend and I would play that for hours, usually consisting of 1-3 games within that timeframe. I'll never forget playing a couple hair-loosing bouts that took almost 3 hours each. And great music, fantastic engine, and nice gameplay.

Then I found TF III. I marveled at the programming efficiency of TF III, with the multi-jointed bosses (particularly level 1, friekin amazing to watch still), the speed of the shooting engine, even the blue homing balls move around at very fast and orgainzed speed. Whenever I see the homing weapon used, I think "Math Coprocessing"

Then I thought to look backwards and find the older version... TF II. Lets just say that I was enough of a TF fan to really play through the game. I don't ever remember finishing TF II, it was a very tacky game at times (it remembered me of TG16's work at the time) but I had fun with the H and V scroll stuff, which offered a passionate nostalgia to my experiences with Herzog Zwei.

I then found Elemental Master. I was psyched that this game was finallly coming out, many years late. Made during/after TF III, it offered an alternative commando-style of TF I still like today. And this challenging cousin to the TF series still gets my time.

It was all over when I met TF IV. I remember it being in our store (Babbages) for not more than a month until it was discounted to $30. I snatched that bitch so fast man... when I plunked the cart and watched one of the best introductions to a game, only to be treated by a sample of some great FM synth metal music and SFX with the title I sat there staring at the screen thinking, WTF is this my Genesis doing this?

<A> + <Start> = Ahh... the famous Tecnosoft options screen, good! Adjust this and that... ok play

Well, I was outright knocked on my ass during the time I was trying to beat the game for the first time, being caught up on that stinking long level witht the boss that has those 2 arms and the bugs... I kept thinking to myself, Jeeze although Last Resort is a slow, juggernaught graphics/music fest, TF IV gives it a run for its money. After beating TF IV I really began to appreciate the game more and more, going back to the game weekly to try the harder levels. Nowadays I will play it to be treated to some good FM music, and a chance to get challenged by a hard and rewarding shooter. I have played TF IV more than Last Resort I admit, and you know what, TF IV is probably a better shooter than anything on the NEO, considering what hardware they had to work with.

The only crime to all of this is that I've never played TF V on the Saturn.

Originally posted by Electroman [...] The only crime to all of this is that I've never played TF V on the Saturn. [/B]

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I have Thunderforce V - Perfect System on PSX and it's a typical Technosoft TF game, it has about the same challenge level as TF4, if not higher. Graphics are nice, tho all enemy ships, etc. are made of polygons and look a lil' pixelated sometimes. That does not change the fact that it's a kick-ass shmup with very cool and unique extra weapons that is well worth tracking down if you can cope with the overall high difficulty.

the only thing i hated about TF IV was that first level with all those obnoxious colors in the sky[that really hurt your eyes if you played the game at night w/ the lights off] in which enemy bullets would blend in with really well and was like flying blind in a sense because it was so hard to makeout the bullets.

I still think this is the best shooter ever!

fantastic

The whole thunderforce series is awesome and Herzog Zwei still ranks as my favourite game EVER, just a shame there was no sequal

Hidden BGM in TF IV in sound select

Does everyone here know about the extra/hidden music tracks available within the options screen AFTER you finish TF IV on any skill level?

1.) Beat the game. Skill level does not matter.
2.) The ever familiar <hold A> + <Start> to get to the options screen.
3.) Go to the BGM selections, and press left on the Dpad to flip to the rear of the BGM playlist and swim around in the new selections. Badda boom badda bing! Omake 1-xx, and some others...

Must be some BGM's that the developers made for the game but never used... unless there are hidden levels?

Re: Hidden BGM in TF IV in sound select

Electroman said:

Does everyone here know about the extra/hidden music tracks available within the options screen AFTER you finish TF IV on any skill level? [...]

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No, there are no hidden levels, these are extras that are called Omega Tracks, but in the Genny version, you can only unlock them by beating the game on Maniac difficulty. I suppose you're referring to the SAT version?

Btw., you can hear one of these tracks in a remixed version in TF V.

TFIV is a masterpiece that is too this day untouched. RIP Technosoft.