Thunder Force deathmatch

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:18 am

I like it when people criticize TF5 for the soulless and empty game it is.

jp · Post by jp » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:31 am

Rob wrote:I like it when people criticize TF5 for the soulless and empty game it is.

Indeed.

Thunder Force V has a ton of votes, but I didn't feel like bothering to count them. :p

Thunder Force IV is indeed a much better game than TFIII!

The boss fights are much better designed, and its a much more challenging game.

Thunder Force IV was the best in the series, IMO. Followed by Thunder Force AC since it took out a lame level from TFIII and added two really cool levels. Then Thunder Force III. Then Thunder Force V since TFII and undoubtedly TF sucked. Though TFII would be pretty good if they had ever made a "No top down levels" mode.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:52 am

Now I have to add Thunder Force II. Overhead levels are awesome. Just imagine if they kept those for every Thunder Force.

jp · Post by jp » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:54 am

*shudders*

Could've been neat if they had worked like Salamander and were just typical vert shmups, as opposed to that weird arena style thing they did which controlled horribly.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:57 am

TF V is also pretty ugly; it doesn't even help much to play it with a PS2 and texture smoothing. IV however still looks good.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:21 pm

Thunderforce III is pretty classic, but man IV is so much better. How come it always gets beat by III? Maybe it's the soundtrack. III's soundtrack is phenomenal, not that IV's is a slouch.

I actually prefer the gameplay of III (in Maniac mode). I also feel the game's length and direction is more 'to the point' - TFIV is a bit longish and the pacing seems to stall at times, which is not to say it's not awesome, because it is.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:19 pm

In both games that multi-screen battlecruis3r should've been dropped. Taking a slow trip around a giant space block with gunpods you can destroy almost instantly is really really lame.

TF3 seems to have less flaws than TF4, it's just that one of them is that it's terribly easy even on mania.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:31 pm

Thunderforce V "soulless"? I would have accepted anything, like "worst of the series" or "too easy" but... Soulless? Like, Hyakutaro Tsukumo's work can be described as soulless? I am speechless. it's probably better that I have no words.

henry dark · Post by **henry dark** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:37 pm

I can safely say without hyperbole, that TFV is a million times better than TF3 and 4.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:02 am

Best thing to happen to TF stage designs was opening them up with free vertical scrolling. TF5 scaled back to boxed in TF3 designs and its 10 second bosses + a broken weapon/scoring system meant there was nothing to the stages. It lacked every improvement in TF4 and felt like a TF3 remake with nasty 3D graphics and foul synth-metal versions of classic TF songs.

jp · Post by jp » Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:01 am

Rob wrote:Best thing to happen to TF stage designs was opening them up with free vertical scrolling. TF5 scaled back to boxed in TF3 designs and its 10 second bosses + a broken weapon/scoring system meant there was nothing to the stages. It lacked every improvement in TF4 and felt like a TF3 remake with nasty 3D graphics and foul synth-metal versions of classic TF songs.

True story.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:49 am

I prefer my screen edges clearly delineated, thankyouverymuch.

Post by **Ghegs** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:03 am

it290 wrote:I prefer my screen edges clearly delineated, thankyouverymuch.

Amen. I love it in TFV and I love it in Psikyo games.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:46 am

Ghegs wrote:
it290 wrote:I prefer my screen edges clearly delineated, thankyouverymuch.
Amen. I love it in TFV and I love it in Psikyo games.

Me too.

it lacked every improvement in TF4

It had it all. The broken weapon thing starts in 4, where free-way is ridiculously powerful. Middle-game ship transformation? Check. So it'd be more correct to say it has every improvement in TF4 save for the free vertical scrolling.

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:36 am

Rob wrote:TF5 scaled back to boxed in TF3 designs and its 10 second bosses

The boxed in stage designs feel a lot tighter and finely honed than getting lost in TFIV's bloated levels. 10 seconds bosses are also preferable to 10 minutes ones.

jp · Post by jp » Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:16 pm

I really don't get the TFV love. The bullet patterns were horrible, the scoring system revolved around on incredibly lame weapon, and the level design wasn't even in the same league as TFIII/TFIV.

The music was pretty good, the fan service was pretty good, and... that was about it. Everything else was a step back as far as I'm concerned.

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:37 pm

most people suck at shmups, so its difficulty's just right for them apparently

jp · Post by jp » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:11 pm

Now that I think about it, TFV is a lot easier than the other entries in the series.

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:18 pm

lol i got whooped by TFIII

i was all like wtf why can't i kill these bosses

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:19 pm

jp wrote:Now that I think about it, TFV is a lot easier than the other entries in the series.

Bullshit, and you know it. TF3 is 10x easier.

Post by **nZero** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:25 pm

TFIII first time to last boss = hey that was easy
TFV first time to last boss = I feel violated

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:06 pm

Turrican wrote: It had it all. The broken weapon thing starts in 4, where free-way is ridiculously powerful. Middle-game ship transformation? Check. So it'd be more correct to say it has every improvement in TF4 save for the free vertical scrolling.

TF4 is the one TF where all weapons are useful and are (at least by myself) rotated throughout the stages. TF5 is at the opposite end. TF4 has 10 stages w/ action. It was like Gradius V to TF5's SNES Gradius 3 minus a stage or two.

The transformation stage in TF5 sucked, but at least with its mammoth ship casing you might get hit. The transformation in 4 makes it better.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:26 pm

Sorry Rob, I think I don't get the Gradius analogy.

And nothing you say does justify calling the game "soulless" in my eyes.

jp · Post by jp » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:35 pm

Rob wrote: TF4 is the one TF where all weapons are useful and are (at least by myself) rotated throughout the stages. TF5 is at the opposite end. TF4 has 10 stages w/ action. It was like Gradius V to TF5's SNES Gradius 3 minus a stage or two.

The transformation stage in TF5 sucked, but at least with its mammoth ship casing you might get hit. The transformation in 4 makes it better.

Exactly. There wasn't one super powered weapon that you had to constantly use if you wanted to play for score. Also, the level design and boss fights in TFIV were just insanely better done than they were in TFV. I mean seriously... every boss in TFV is just a jerk fest with the Free Range gun and lasts less than a minute. In TFIV at least I actually have to, you know, fight something and like, dodge.

In so far as TFIII being easier than TFV, alright, yeah, TFIII/AC is easier than TFV. But TFIII/AC is much more fun than TFV regardless!!!

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:47 pm

jp wrote:Exactly. There wasn't one super powered weapon that you had to constantly use if you wanted to play for score.

There wasn't any point multiplier either in the previous ones, so...

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:05 pm

They had end of game point multipliers!! But don't make any excuses for TF5. It was a very pale reanimated freezerburnt corpse. To be fair, Thunder Force 6 would've been worse.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:13 pm

Everyone's a necrophile for TFV.

jp · Post by jp » Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:29 pm

Turrican wrote:
jp wrote:Exactly. There wasn't one super powered weapon that you had to constantly use if you wanted to play for score.
There wasn't any point multiplier either in the previous ones, so...

Another plus for them, since the implementation of that was completely asinine.

To be fair, Thunder Force 6 would've been worse.

True story.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:51 pm

Rob wrote:But don't make any excuses for TF5. It was a very pale reanimated freezerburnt corpse.

Did somebody say...

...Frankenshmup?

The definition of soulless. :(

it290 · Post by **it290** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:01 pm

TF4 is the one TF where all weapons are useful and are (at least by myself) rotated throughout the stages. TF5 is at the opposite end. TF4 has 10 stages w/ action. It was like Gradius V to TF5's SNES Gradius 3 minus a stage or two.

Wait... what? All the weapons in III are useful - event the Wave comes in handy during a couple of sections. TFIV, on the other hand, has that stupid Snake which is only marginally useful on one boss. And what's up with the Blade actually being worse against some bosses than the standard Twin Shot?