Games Played 06/28/2009

Demigod - PC
Raiden Fighters Aces - X-Box 360
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends - PC
The Sims 3 - PC


RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


Thunder Force Gold Pack 1 (1996)
Developer: Technosoft Co., Ltd.
Platform: SegaSaturn
Purchase Date: 07/11/2002


Twin bosses are fun and the Twin Vulcan is no exception.

This collection contains two Thunder Force shoot-'em-ups from the Sega Genesis: Thunder Force II MD and the legendary Thunder Force III. I don't care too much about the former, especially its top down stages where you can move the ship in any direction - it's just awkward in its execution. The latter though has a huge impact on me. It's a game that has made me cry because I couldn't own it while I was growing up - my parents didn't get me a Genesis until Thunder Force IV showed up. I can still remember to this day how painful it was to want that game so badly. Everyday I would daydream about playing it and I often had dreams about it at night. Yes, I had it bad. So what is so special about Thunder Force III? For starters, it looks awesome. Not that great too gawk at these days but still, that swirly lava effect on the Gorgon stage still manages to look cool and current. Then, you have the awesome synth metal soundtrack that still remains, composition-wise, as some of the best ever on the Genesis or any other game console in existence. Unlike number II, this one only contains side scrolling stages. Your ship has multiple weapons you can use from homing shots to powerful laser beams. The trick to the game is to keep replenishing your shield power-up so that you can always keep your "claws" with you at all time - these units rotate around your ship and gives you additional firepower. I just love the big "Emergency" warning sign that scrolls across the screen whenever a gigantic level boss shows up. Unfortunately, this version has a slight issue when it comes to the soundtrack - when the background music reaches the end of its track, there is a slight delay before it loops back to the beginning and of course this didn't happen on the original cartridge.

LIBRARY STATUS: 4 out of 5