Thunder Force II (MD, 1989)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-8/6* Challenge-8.5 (9)
Level Design-7.5/6* Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-7.5/6* Originality-7
Overall Score-7
*Overhead stages
+
Good variety overall
Intense sidescrolling gameplay (sometimes overhead gameplay too)
Great power up system (weapon inventory with 6 different weapons+two default weapons in the first two slots, spinning shield (which can be upgraded) and regular shield power ups, different set of weapons for top down and sidescrolling levels, most weapons are useful and there's good variety, homing spread shot weapon - Hunter)
Pretty good bosses in the sidescrolling levels
Fast paced overall
Dark 80s anime atmosphere at times
Satisfying sfx
Fairly impressive music for such an early game
Difficulty options (normal and hard, number of lives per credit; training mode only lets you play the first level sadly)
+/-
Respawn on the spot but lose all collected weapons
Funny voice samples
Bonus points for beating the overhead levels quickly (time bonus) which leads to more 1-ups
No 2-player mode
Somewhat forgiving hit detection
Limited continues (6) however there's also a level select in the options menu letting you skip ahead to level 5
Somewhat forgiving hit detection - player ship's hit box is smaller than its sprite
-
Repetitive and maze-like overhead levels with poor control (no speed adjustment yet) and no map feature
No speed adjustment except for the final level where the DES weapon acts like a speed upgrade
Somewhat underwhelming final boss (top down view "fight" where you go back and forth into a small corridor to hit the core)
Some distracting backgrounds
Some trial & error (closing walls in stage 4, some level 6 hazards, stage 8 speed tunnel, boss patterns), need to press A to continue - pressing Start makes the game go back to the main menu!)
Power ups disappear when going off screen in the overhead levels and it happens quite easily when you're focusing on fighting enemies or navigating tight spaces (they can also get stuck inside walls; it would've been better if the blue power up ships where invincible for a second or two after entering the screen)
The invincible orb enemies in overhead levels sometimes get annoying
Compared to X68K version:
+ Improved overhead stage graphics (and some side-view stage sprites), Some improved music
+/- Tank boss is somewhat different
- Some worse music (intro and ending), missing two stages, missing pre-level still screens and some stills in intro and ending cutscenes, missing two overhead stage weapons, much worse voice samples, missing explosion samples (though they weren't great to begin with), no map screen before each overhead level
Notes:
-Audio is streamed from CD in the Gold Pack Saturn version and fades out at the end of each loop (throws you off since the original game switches music for bosses). Some sfx are replaced by samples which are sometimes a bit muffled
Comment:
One of my faves back then and one of the first MD games I owned. Thunder Force as a series doesn't get enough props for modernizing shoot 'em ups with the weapon inventory, respawning on the spot without overly harsh penalties and being able to adjust your speed on the fly from the get go. This game is more old school however, you lose all but your default two weapons after dying and there's no speed adjustment as a default feature. In retrospect, the top down levels aren't as good and while the speed is just right in the side view levels, it's a bit too fast here - being able to slow down would've really come in handy in level 5 for example. There's also no map feature (the X68K does show you one before beginning each top down level; they should've kept it and let players access it via the pause menu), which would've really helped later on as there aren't many landmarks. Still, once you know the layouts you can beat most of those levels pretty quickly, and this is also encouraged by the game with additional points leading to 1-ups. Overall this is a solid game, one of the better early ones for the system and the OST is worth looking up even if you don't want to play it.
Level Design-7.5/6* Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-7.5/6* Originality-7
Overall Score-7
*Overhead stages
+
Good variety overall
Intense sidescrolling gameplay (sometimes overhead gameplay too)
Great power up system (weapon inventory with 6 different weapons+two default weapons in the first two slots, spinning shield (which can be upgraded) and regular shield power ups, different set of weapons for top down and sidescrolling levels, most weapons are useful and there's good variety, homing spread shot weapon - Hunter)
Pretty good bosses in the sidescrolling levels
Fast paced overall
Dark 80s anime atmosphere at times
Satisfying sfx
Fairly impressive music for such an early game
Difficulty options (normal and hard, number of lives per credit; training mode only lets you play the first level sadly)
+/-
Respawn on the spot but lose all collected weapons
Funny voice samples
Bonus points for beating the overhead levels quickly (time bonus) which leads to more 1-ups
No 2-player mode
Somewhat forgiving hit detection
Limited continues (6) however there's also a level select in the options menu letting you skip ahead to level 5
Somewhat forgiving hit detection - player ship's hit box is smaller than its sprite
-
Repetitive and maze-like overhead levels with poor control (no speed adjustment yet) and no map feature
No speed adjustment except for the final level where the DES weapon acts like a speed upgrade
Somewhat underwhelming final boss (top down view "fight" where you go back and forth into a small corridor to hit the core)
Some distracting backgrounds
Some trial & error (closing walls in stage 4, some level 6 hazards, stage 8 speed tunnel, boss patterns), need to press A to continue - pressing Start makes the game go back to the main menu!)
Power ups disappear when going off screen in the overhead levels and it happens quite easily when you're focusing on fighting enemies or navigating tight spaces (they can also get stuck inside walls; it would've been better if the blue power up ships where invincible for a second or two after entering the screen)
The invincible orb enemies in overhead levels sometimes get annoying
Compared to X68K version:
+ Improved overhead stage graphics (and some side-view stage sprites), Some improved music
+/- Tank boss is somewhat different
- Some worse music (intro and ending), missing two stages, missing pre-level still screens and some stills in intro and ending cutscenes, missing two overhead stage weapons, much worse voice samples, missing explosion samples (though they weren't great to begin with), no map screen before each overhead level
Notes:
-Audio is streamed from CD in the Gold Pack Saturn version and fades out at the end of each loop (throws you off since the original game switches music for bosses). Some sfx are replaced by samples which are sometimes a bit muffled
Comment:
One of my faves back then and one of the first MD games I owned. Thunder Force as a series doesn't get enough props for modernizing shoot 'em ups with the weapon inventory, respawning on the spot without overly harsh penalties and being able to adjust your speed on the fly from the get go. This game is more old school however, you lose all but your default two weapons after dying and there's no speed adjustment as a default feature. In retrospect, the top down levels aren't as good and while the speed is just right in the side view levels, it's a bit too fast here - being able to slow down would've really come in handy in level 5 for example. There's also no map feature (the X68K does show you one before beginning each top down level; they should've kept it and let players access it via the pause menu), which would've really helped later on as there aren't many landmarks. Still, once you know the layouts you can beat most of those levels pretty quickly, and this is also encouraged by the game with additional points leading to 1-ups. Overall this is a solid game, one of the better early ones for the system and the OST is worth looking up even if you don't want to play it.