Thunder Force III for Genesis

Image: MobyGames

Thunder Force III

Almost perfect

Genre: shooter - horizontal

Publisher: Technosoft

Year: 1990

System: Genesis

Gameplay Score: 4

Gameplay Notes:

Removes all the gimmicks and makes everything readily available. Spawn where you die and only lose the weapon you were using. Love it A toggles speed. B fires. C toggles between up-to-five weapons which can each be upgraded once. They're all awesome too. The only knock is that this is a very short game and fairly easy once you have it memorized. There's also a lot of times when very few enemies are on screen so it becomes even easier to just hold down on the homing weapon.

Level Design Score: 4

Level Design Notes:

Choose from any of the five levels. Only five levels, but they're quite long. All levels require twitch gameplay while most also have segments which require R-Type-level memorization.

Theme Score: 5

Theme Notes:

Gradius on steroids

Art Style Score: 5

Art Style Notes:

Extensive use of parallax scrolling to express speed, distortion, obstacles, and wonder. Wonderful use of color. Everything is clear to see. Enemies flash when taking damage and have satisfying death animations. Your ship and the rotating options look awesome. No wimpy ship here.

Audio Score: 5

Audio Notes:

Lovely soundtrack. The music takes center stage with a variety of rocking tunes that match the action perfectly. Sound effects are also great, with the main shot having a deep, thump similr to the laster shots from the G.I. Joe cartoon. Every hit on an enemy plays a sound so you know they're taking damage and hitting obstacles that might fall on you also give a distinct sound. Very well designed sound.

Overall Score: 85

Review ID: 1324