Thunderforce V opinions?

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

IV
II
III
VI
V

II is horribly underrated.

[J-Manic]

TFV marks the debut of VGM composer Hyakutaro Tsukumo (the guy in my avatar). And this game possesses one of the best damn soundtracks my ears have ever heard.

[Captain]

To me, the styles of TF 4 and 5 are evenly matched.
But TF 5 is on PSX so it has better music capability.
Heres my favorite two tracks in thunder force.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qIAkbHCXOQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qIAkbHCXOQ

[J-Manic]

But TF 5 is on PSX so it has better music capability.

I have to disagree with you on that. The Saturn version is superior both graphically and soundwise, especially the BGM. And unlike in Blast Wind and Hyper Duel, TecnoSoft successfully synced the volumes of the BGM and sound effects perfectly.

That's one of my biggest complaints I have about Blast Wind and Hyper Duel. The sound effects in both games (Saturn mode in Hyper Duel) are too loud, and they overpower the BGM. A damn shame.

[Captain]

You missed the point, Since both BGMs are superior to TF IV

[dunpeal2064]

You missed the point, Since both BGMs are superior to TF IV

I agree with you that V has a better soundtrack, but just because its on a disc doesn't necessarily mean it has a better soundtrack.

See: MUSHA and Robo Aleste

[Kiken]

Did Working Designs mess with the US release of Perfect System? They were notorious for jacking up the difficulty of games for no good reason, and at the expense of playability and balance. Oh yeah, and they put "SPAZ" on the box (which is considered hate speech towards the mentally disabled in the UK).

They didn't mess with the difficulty... they messed with the scoring. In the US version of TFV Free Range adds a secondary proximity based multiplier (each of the distance reticles serves as a multiplier marker.. the values increase the closer you get to the craft) which no other weapon has. So it actually forces you to use Free Range exclusively.

[J-Manic]

You missed the point, Since both BGMs are superior to TF IV

Ohhhh. I thought you meant PSOne version > Saturn version. My bad!

[Captain]

^_^

Hey, who here prefers to play TF V and VI with no overweapon?

Also, that's what I'm saying.
If it weren't for the boost the quality of TF V's music gives, they would be equally good.

But you are right, I heard music of worse quality being better than the new music many times.

[Austin]

I think Thunder Force V is great, but a lot of that is because I played the hell out of TFIV before it. It has some familiar gameplay and weapons, and the remixed TFIV intro theme found in it probably made me shit my pants at the time (I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff). Visually it was pretty impressive for the time and still looks cool (especially the Saturn version), but the PlayStation one plays better (no frameskipping). I can see where people won't like this one as it's heavily memory based, nor is it very difficult. The free-range weapon can probably be seen as a game breaker too, since it's massively overpowered. Regardless, I still think it's an awesome game--it's just a very solid package.

I still won't rate it greater than R-Type Delta though. Best shmup on the PSX in my opinion, but I really, really enjoy the R-Type series as a whole.

[Captain]

Sure delta was good, but better than Thunder force V?
BLASHPEMY!!!

[Austin]

Sure delta was good, but better than Thunder force V?
BLASHPEMY!!!

Haha... To each their own.

[Captain]

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Sure delta was good, but better than Thunder force V?
BLASHPEMY!!!

This is what idiots actually believe. Seriously, where do these Thunder Force fans keep getting the idea that their game is actual competition to R-Type?

[Kaiser]

Sure delta was good, but better than Thunder force V?
BLASHPEMY!!!

This is what idiots actually believe. Seriously, where do these Thunder Force fans keep getting the idea that their game is actual competition to R-Type?

Actually anyone thinks they can compare Thunder Force's gameplay to R-type, is a dumbass. And in opposite direction, they just play TOO DIFFERENT to be compared. Thunder Forces relies on reflex and decent weapon use while R-type is a hardcore in-and-out memorizer where you need to know where to place your pod.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Too bad TFV removed any need for sharp reflexes by adding warning signs for whenever an enemy attempts an ambush you. "Hey stupid change your weapon!~"

[Shatterhand]

The internets it's a funny place. We pick up a conversation abandoned 6 years ago and continue it like we were talking about it just 2 minutes ago

[Ghegs]

Too bad TFV removed any need for sharp reflexes by adding warning signs for whenever an enemy attempts an ambush you. "Hey stupid change your weapon!~"

I seem to recall those are removed when playing on the hardest difficulty.

[replayme]

i like this guy's reviews, and he reviews tfvi below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSVwNrMuXJ8

[Icarus]

Thunder Forces relies on reflex and decent weapon use…

Only TFIV (and to a lesser extent TFII and III) truly required reflexes and intelligent weapon selection, because it was the only TF to really nail proper weapon balance and stage design.
TFV was horribly unbalanced, and favored the Free Range, while TFVI is simply nondescript from start to finish.

[evil_ash_xero]

My opinion of V....they should have stopped at IV.

But really, I haven't played it in a long time. It's graphics have aged very poorly, so that's a minus. But even still, the game just wasn't as good as the two previous. It had it's heart in the right place, but it just didn't work. I recall the soundtrack being good.

Better than VI though. That was just unfortunate, all together.

Thinking about it, they should just remake III and IV with high-res sprites, and call it a day. Heck, they could even throw in the sidescrolling stages from II. How awesome would that be? It could be called "Thunder Force Super Perfect".

[zaphod]

Too bad TFV removed any need for sharp reflexes by adding warning signs for whenever an enemy attempts an ambush you. "Hey stupid change your weapon!~"

The intent there was to remove the need for memorization, not reflexes. Without these warning sings you could be blindsided at the edges of the screen and die cheaply.

They aren't telling to change your weapon, they are telling you to get the heck away from that spot.

[Captain]

agreed.

[J-Manic]

On the PSOne...Yeah. R-Type Delta > TFV. Much better gameplay and visually superior than TFV. I agree. It's polygons look more polished and move more smoothly. And the stage backgrounds are way ahead of TFV in terms of originality and concept.

I still think TFV's BGM is 100x better, tho.

[Obiwanshinobi]

R-Type Delta looks ugly even for early 3D. Irem didn't have a knack for polygons (just like Treasure don't have a knack for non-cartoony character designs).

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

The intent there was to remove the need for memorization, not reflexes. Without these warning sings you could be blindsided at the edges of the screen and die cheaply.

Either way my point still stands. Warning signs remove any need to actually learn the game proper. If you're hugging the edges of the screen, you deserve to be blindsided. (Some people, I swear...)

[Captain]

What you just said was nonsense.

No offence.

[Mortificator]

Every good single-player game has warning signs, from the glow on the tips of lasers before they fire their insta-kill beams to the howl of an enemy as it lunges it you. Implementing them as literal "DANGER" signs is kind of cheesy, but valid.

[Captain]

Yea, but the signs were for approaching enemies themselves, not an attack or action.
How exactly should you put a disguised warning sign for that?

[BIL]

If you're hugging the front of the screen, you had it coming. If you're hiding at the back like a little weenie, even moreso.