Thunder Force V question (4 Saturn owners only!)

[The Bullet Dodger]

Okay. This question is for those who own a complete copy of Thunder Force V for the Japanese Saturn. I own the original version, so I'm not talking about the Saturn Collection version or the Special Pack here.

Now, take out your copy of TF V. Open the manual and turn to the very last page. Do you see the four screenshots at the bottom? The 1st one on the far left is from TF Gold Pack 1, and the one right next to it is from TF Gold Pack 2. BUT WHERE ARE THE OTHER TWO SCREENSHOTS FROM?? One of them looks like a cool horizontal shmup. But I'm more interested in the screenshot on the far right, which looks like an awesome vertical shmup.

Does anyone know the names of these shmups?


Thanx.

[Zach Keene]

Hyper Duel and Blast Wind.

[The Bullet Dodger]

Thank you very much.

Are they as good as they look?

[Zach Keene]

Never played either of them so I couldn't say. Hopefully someone else can chime in...

[zinger]

Hyper Duel is great if you like Tecnosoft games. Has the usual TF gameplay but with a twist (you can turn your ship into a mecha at any time, which allows aiming), and a nice metal soundtrack which also is in TF fashion.

[Icarus]

Blast Wind
One of Technosoft's weaker efforts, but still pretty good fun. Vertical scrolling, features a forward wave shot that can go around screnery, and a homing shot, as well as a powerful blast bomb. Scoring is based on survival, coins dropped by some enemies, and hidden medals in the scenery. Typical Technosoft claustrophobic spaces and fast gameplay, marred by a low difficulty. Play it on Hard

Hyper Duel
One of the three Technosoft arcade games ported to Saturn - the others being Thunderforce AC (on Gold Pack 2) and Blast Wind - and the best out of the three, as well as one of Technosoft's best games. Very stylish Technosoft trademark gameplay - fast, tight spaces, quick bullets - mixed with very intuitive fighter/mecha armor switching. Yes, fighter and mecha: your ship has the ability to switch between them on the fly, the fighter being faster, thinner and equipped with a light vulcan, while mecha is slower, bigger but has an aimable cannon.
Also features one of the toughest Technosoft end bosses ever.

NOTES
Both games in their Saturn incarnations feature an arranged soundtrack, which can also be played in a regular CD player.

Blast Wind is ported with a cropped screen and in vertizontal mode, no TATE here (if you look on the back of the Gold Pack 2 manual, you'll see the only known screenshot of a true TATE oriented Blast Wind. Hmmm).

Hyper Duel features the original arcade mode and an updated Saturn mode with new graphics and the arranged BGM, as well as slightly changed gameplay (some attacks are more powerful, the mecha's cannon can be locked in place with a press of a button).

<plug>
Replays on www.featheredwings.net. Bittorrent client required.
</plug>

[Nei First]

<plug>
Replays on www.featheredwings.net. Bittorrent client required.
</plug>

Funny thing is when I use my bittorrent client, The videos never get a connection, any ideas?

[BulletMagnet]

Also be aware that both games are relatively rare and can be expensive to get ahold of, especially Hyper Duel, which often goes for 100$ and over.

[alpha5099]

Hyper Duel
One of the three Technosoft arcade games ported to Saturn - the others being Thunderforce AC (on Gold Pack 2) and Blast Wind

Are you sure about Blast Wind being originally an arcade game? I was under that impression too, mainly because of the screen orientation, but I've never been able to find even the smallest scrap of information on an arcade version.

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

Yep, they're both good to have, and fun to play.

[Neon]

Blast Wind doesn't seem to have gotten an arcade release, despite the 'dip switch' settings under options...

[ST Dragon]

I haven't played Blast Wind but you can play Hyper Duel on MAME.
Good horizontal shmup where you control 3 Jets that can turn into mecha instantly.

The weapons for each fighter are different which adds a lot to the gameplay.
The graphics are good but look more like 16bit.