Thunder Force VI, Subpar, Bad Game!!!

[chischis]

So, after all these years, a new Thunderforce.

I was probably as big a fan as many TF fans on this board. So I should have pre-ordered right?

Wrong, I didn't bother. All screenshots, and videos, bar ONE section, suggest to me that this is yet another shmup with no level design, or very little. Only "empty" areas full of enemies to shoot. Most of the fun in the Thunderforce games (well, 2-4), came from shooting things whilst navigating volcanoes, underground passages, ice caverns and the insides of space ships.

I don't see any of that present (except for about 5 seconds on the first preview video of some moving silver walls), and that completely kills my interest.

[ST Dragon]

??

It's just you.

It's just you.

Not too sure about that, seeing as I'm a big Thunder Force fan my self, I noticed quite a few people being dissatisfied with TFVI all ready...
It’s just that most have not played it yet… I was one of the few that pre-ordered it…

[Strider77]

It's just you.

[ST Dragon]

So, after all these years, a new Thunderforce.

I was probably as big a fan as many TF fans on this board. So I should have pre-ordered right?

Wrong, I didn't bother. All screenshots, and videos, bar ONE section, suggest to me that this is yet another shmup with no level design, or very little. Only "empty" areas full of enemies to shoot. Most of the fun in the Thunderforce games (well, 2-4), came from shooting things whilst navigating volcanoes, underground passages, ice caverns and the insides of space ships.

I don't see any of that present (except for about 5 seconds on the first preview video of some moving silver walls), and that completely kills my interest.

I'm afraid you're right!
Most of these elements that you mentioned are featured in 16-bit 90's shooters rather than modern shooters...

[nimitz]

From the Youtube videos I've seen, pacing seems to be a bit like Darius Gaiden. Short, simple levels punctuated by epic boss battles. Except the boss battles aren't so epic.

Comparing this poorly designed shmup with Darius Gaiden is pure blasphemy.

[yojo!]

So, after all these years, a new Thunderforce.

I was probably as big a fan as many TF fans on this board. So I should have pre-ordered right?

Wrong, I didn't bother. All screenshots, and videos, bar ONE section, suggest to me that this is yet another shmup with no level design, or very little. Only "empty" areas full of enemies to shoot. Most of the fun in the Thunderforce games (well, 2-4), came from shooting things whilst navigating volcanoes, underground passages, ice caverns and the insides of space ships.

I don't see any of that present (except for about 5 seconds on the first preview video of some moving silver walls), and that completely kills my interest.

I'm afraid you're right!
Most of these elements that you mentioned are featured in 16-bit 90's shooters rather than modern shooters...

It's kind of ironic that the producer said in his last interview that he was a big fan of old school shooters (space harrier, thunderforce) and that todays games were too manic. They should have let Treasure handle it...

[chischis]

I'm afraid you're right!
Most of these elements that you mentioned are featured in 16-bit 90's shooters rather than modern shooters...

Stage 3 video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APmGxW6PgrQ

This has the section with the "level design" I was talking about. It looks GOOD. Blocks to destroy, walls to fly between. Rather basic compared to TF4s caverns, but it's a step in the right direction and were more of the game like this I'd be itching to order it immediately.

I'm truly saddened that I haven't even seen a horizontal shooter in so long that has "level designs", so to speak.

[Strider77]

Not too sure about that, seeing as I'm a big Thunder Force fan my self, I noticed quite a few people being dissatisfied with TFVI all ready...
It’s just that most have not played it yet… I was one of the few that pre-ordered it…

I'm a huge TF fan also.... and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't really enjoyed this game. I've beat about 30 times now if not more. It's all I did friday night.

But.... I didn't go into the game expected the best out of the series or anything. I just wanted a new TF game that looked decent. It looks much better than decent to me and is alot of fun.

I didn't beef up my lives to nine and did use continues. Then i moved to hard ect. The game works for me.... True you can kill bosses quick with the over weapon but I could do that in 3 with the sever and in 5 with the free range.

It doesn't really feel to short to me. true IDEALLY I could have dealt with an extra stage or 2 but I don't feel it's to short. In fact I like that it's not as long as something like Gradius 5 (I love that game to just for the record). Most of my PCBs are about 20 minute affairs and I shelled ALOT more on those than I did on TF6. I still love those game to...

This is gonna be like anything else that's new... some folks want it to live up to past version or nostalgia. Some folks are gonna like it, others are gonna gripe about it. I say just be sure to PLAY IT FOR YOUSELF before you make a choice. Those hard settings are there for a reason also... don't credit feed or move your lives up to 9 either. This is assuming if you want this game to be hard. I never really found the TF series as known for being hard though.

[ST Dragon]

Yes the TF series is not considered hard, but none of the previous games featured such short levels or were that easy in Normal mode! The 1st 3 stages of TFVI, last less than 3 mins!
And that whistling sound effect when you fire the free-range weapon with the Phoenix ship is so annoying, let alone the uninspiring sound-track!

By the way, why wasn't the broken Thunder soundtrack used for the PS-2 release? The TF series strong point has always been the music; this is the 1st time they did sloppy job on the audio tracks.

This Thunder Force VI teaser trailer from 2000 for the DC looks interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd9gOICs ... re=related
If it had been released back then we might have seen a better Thunder Force title.

[kozo]

"I played it yesterday and completed it in less than 20 minutes!" - "Did you 1cc it already?" - "No I did not 1cc it, I just used continues."

Missing the point, aye.

Let's stop whining about Broken Thunder and the old Dreamcast video. Neither of them are better than TF6.

And that whistling sound effect when you fire the free-range weapon with the Phoenix ship is so annoying, let alone the uninspiring sound-track!

And the weapon noises in the other TF games aren't annoying? Just turn the sound down a notch below the music. Also, the soundtrack is just fine. Tamayo is great, and the rock boss tracks sound like the old Thunder Force sound to me.

As for the complaints against level design, see my post in the main TF6 thread. What the game lacks in level design it makes up for with style and plain, good old shooting fun. But they could have tried harder on the textures, that is for sure.

[zukan]

It's a kind of game only a TF fan would be able to enjoy, and even then you might have to give some extra effort into liking it.
The first five minutes (3 whole levels) are very underwhelming and so are the bosses. They feel more like fillers compared to what you played against in previous TF games. But the game picks up after that. It shows the devs decided to focus on the last 3 stages of the game, it's all fan service from there and on.
Music is bad, I only liked the intro movie song and the TF3 theme remake. It's nowhere near the kind of soundtrack you would expect from a TF game. I'll be playing this with older TF OST's running in the background instead.

I can understand it would be difficult to live up to the previous games legacy, especially when you've revived something lying dormant for over 10 years. But I hope the game will sell enough to grant development of another TF game in the future. It's still somewhat fun and it shows promise, I would still like to give SEGA a second chance on making an even better TF game since it's been such a long time. I can only hope they would try to bring back even more of the same team that worked on the previous games next time.

[John845]

I played Thunderforce 5 and hated everything about it. I should probably try 1-4...

[The Coop]

Yes the TF series is not considered hard, but none of the previous games featured such short levels or were that easy in Normal mode!

I'm going to have to strongly disagree with you on that point. TF II, III and IV are very easy on Normal, and TF V is a breeze on Normal until you reach the final boss (that bastard still kills me almost every time). Hell, TF III is easy on Mania... and I'm not that great a shmup player.

[Kaiser]

Yes the TF series is not considered hard, but none of the previous games featured such short levels or were that easy in Normal mode!

I'm going to have to strongly disagree with you on that point. TF II, III and IV are very easy on Normal, and TF V is a breeze on Normal until you reach the final boss (that bastard still kills me almost every time). Hell, TF III is easy on Mania... and I'm not that great a shmup player.

I have to agree with The Coop, TF series tend to be easy on normal, well V was pretty hard on normal due last boss being the biggest challenge , he was pain in the butt to 1-life but do-able... still i prefer V over VI anytime

[Octopod]

"I played it yesterday and completed it in less than 20 minutes!" - "Did you 1cc it already?" - "No I did not 1cc it, I just used continues."



LOL.....

[Jockel]

It's a kind of game only a TF fan would be able to enjoy, and even then you might have to give some extra effort into liking it.

You know what, i never played the old TFs for a long time and i enjoy this game
(only TF3 for like 5min)

"I played it yesterday and completed it in less than 20 minutes!" - "Did you 1cc it already?" - "No I did not 1cc it, I just used continues."

Didn't know that we have mainstream game reviewers in here.
Oh noes teh gaem is too shortt!!111
ANd no challenge, because you can always hit continue!1111111

[Guardians Knight]

cred feeding is evil! go to the naughty corner!!

[professor ganson]

"I played it yesterday and completed it in less than 20 minutes!" - "Did you 1cc it already?" - "No I did not 1cc it, I just used continues."

Yeah, this nearly discounts ST Dragon's impressions, since the game WASN'T MEANT TO BE PLAYED THAT WAY.

In any case my copy arrived today! I'll probably play it this weekend.

[Shelcoof]

It’s not you, I feel the same way though I don’t think Thunderforce VI is a bad game at all, feel that it didn’t do enough to satisfy fans of the Thunderforce series.

I wrote a huge post in the other thread regarding Famitsu’s review of the game here’s the quoted text.

I actually agree with Famitu's score of a 26/40 for Thunderforce VI. The game however, is not all that bad but considering today’s standards the graphics gameplay, music etc. aren’t up to par with recently PS2 games.

I believe this is the exact same game that was canned for the Dreamcast a couple of years ago. If you look at the game, it defiantly was not designed for the PS2. Graphics look exactly like a Dreamcast game, you notice this by the design of the graphics. Dreamcast makes up for a low polygon count with excellent textures. A good example of this style of graphics is Border Down. Take a look at it and you’ll notice a similar graphic style to Thunderforce VI. Even if Border Down was graphically the same as Thunderforce VI, there are literally no slowdowns during game play.

Slowdowns occur in Thunderforce VI due to bad (or rushed) programming when they ported it over to the PS2. Thunderforce VI doesn’t push the PS2 graphically in any way and at this stage of the PS2’s life, programmers should be familiar enough to eliminate slowdowns. But due to the low budget of the project to revive a cult classic (or make a quick buck off of an old project), they neglected to do a good job in all departments.

I can understand why the game was canned for the Dreamcast. The game in my opinion does not meet Thunderforce standards. If you look back at previous games, each Thunderforce release improved over the previous title. Previous Thunderforce games felt balanced and satisfying when you completed each game, Thunderforce VI on the other hand left you with an empty unsatisfying feeling at the end, making fans crave for more, making them feel gyped that that’s all they got. There was nothing entirely new with the game besides the update in graphics (which fell short from being average for a PS2 title) and the title being the shortest Thunderforce title I can remember.

This game would have been acceptable back then on the Dreamcast a few years ago but it being released right now on a more powerful system like the PS2, you sort of feel that there should be more to it.

Now all this being said, I still would recommend Thunderforce VI to any TF fan of the series. Even though the game recycles a lot of previous material, Thunderforce VI still offers a short enjoyable experience. Disappointing yes but still worth playing. I don’t regret buying the game but I still am left unsatisfied and wishing that Sega would have done a better job.

[Elixir]

Fans are never pleased with sequels.

[Shelcoof]

Fans are never pleased with sequels.

I was pleased with Thunder Force IV and V

I can't really remember any other sequels I've been disappointed in except for Toshinden 3 that was horrible lol.. but that wasn't a shooter

[ST Dragon]

A good example of this style of graphics is Border Down. Take a look at it and you’ll notice a similar graphic style to Thunderforce VI. Even if Border Down was graphically the same as Thunderforce VI, there are literally no slowdowns during game play.

Well, I would say Border Down is graphically superior to TFVI imo.

Even though the camera movement during the starfleet battle, at the Galaxy Federation's home world orbit, is more impressive than the equivalent that takes place in BD and the descent with the flames in the upper atmosphere is a very nice touch indeed.

[clp]

"I played it yesterday and completed it in less than 20 minutes!" - "Did you 1cc it already?" - "No I did not 1cc it, I just used continues."

lmfao lrn2play or go back to auto aim halo or somthing .

[t0yrobo]

Yeah I wouldn't say that it's a really great game, but it's not bad at all, just mediocre. Probably the easiest of the TF games imo (although I haven't played 5 yet). It's still fun and with how short it is I'll have the motivation to 1cc it before I start losing interest.

[ArmoredCore]

i guess im the only one that sort of likes the soundtrack :/ . i like stage 1's soundtrack

[sideshow]

Lightening Force is still the pinnacle of the series for me but I still enjoyed this one. This game is so much better when you unlock the second ship where you can lose your weapons and you have to collect the craws.

[Shelcoof]

Lightening Force is still the pinnacle of the series for me but I still enjoyed this one. This game is so much better when you unlock the second ship where you can lose your weapons and you have to collect the craws.

Oh yhaa the unlockable ships was the saving point for me. On my first play through the game I was soo soo disapointed.

But after using the 2nd and 3rd ship, it started to feel like an actual Thunderforce game.

Lightning Force (Thunderforce IV) is my favorite as well and when I played with the Thunderforce IV ship I later started really enjoying the game.

Thank God lol

[J-Manic]

and the music is horrible!

I was prepared for this a LONG time ago. I was right with my assumption. And I know I wasn't the only one.

[sideshow]

I agree that the music is forgettable but the small insertions of previous thunderforce music on the boss of stage 5 was pretty cool.

[kozo]

I like about 2/3 of the music. You guys are dissing Tamayo and effin' Motoaki Furukawa, two of the greatest shmup - and VGM in general - composers of all time. For the uninformed, Tamayo did tons of Zuntata (Taito) stuff, and Furukawa did Gradius II, among others. Some legendary stuff, and two huge names if you're in the right circles. I was expecting a good soundtrack and found a good one with a few crummy songs.

Tamayo's jazzy jazz is nothing new, I'm shocked that a lot of people complain about her work in TF6. Sounds just like Rayforce to me. I found it very fitting, and it counters the rapid onscreen motion well and makes for a smooth flight. And I believe Furukawa was behind the rock tracks for TF6, which blew me away.



However, if you just don't like the *style* of music, that's a whole different and totally understandable thing. But most of it was quite well produced. Stage 5 is just awesome.