I say this for 2 reasons:

1) I was a big fan of Thunderforce 2 and 3 on my Megadrive when they were released.

2) The first incarnation of one of the shooting world's best loved series' on SEGA's lovely 32bit machine in glorious 3D must have had fans twitching at the very mention of it (me included if I hadn't had a momentary lapse in wasting hours of my life playing shoot 'em ups which lasted all through the late '90s and up to 2002).

Those twitching fanboys, thankfully, only needed to twitch with excitement as this game did not let the side down in terms of improving on it's predecessors.

As indicated earlier, the Thunderforce series is based on a very simple premise and the 5th incarnation strays only inches from that well trodden path. 5 different weapons - each can be powered up 3 levels and once collected are available to be swapped between at will; dying, however, loses you the weapon you were using at the point of death- 3 speed settings and a whole lot of killing. The weapons are pretty much the same as those used in TFIII and TFIV (can't be arsed to keep typing Thunderforce out) only spruced up to make use of the new hardware and add that extra 'wow' factor.

TFV, like those before it, doesn't furnish you with smart bombs, instead (and this is a departure from it's predecessors) it offers the player 'Overweapons' (look to the left for piccies of these). This is, to some extent an evolution of R-Type's original beam weapon i.e. a weapon of formiddable strength (and graphical flare) which does not run out but requires charging before it can be used. Killing certain helpful little carrier ships releases a little blue pulsating pod called a 'Craw'; when you collect this it circles around your ship, powering your current weapon up by adding an additional source of firepower, this can be done 3 times for each weapon. Once you have collected your first Craw, the Overweapon becomes available by holding down the B button, however adding a second and then a third Craw to your arsenal not only increases the power of your original weapon but also the Overweapon. The Overweapon's charge lasts until each of your Craw's turns yellow at which point it is exhausted. You then have to wait for the Craw to replenish itself and turn, through green, back to it's blue colour at which point you can use it again from full power.

Here comes the twist...........

Each Craw also acts as a shield for your ship, absorbing bullets, however unlike R-Types indestructable pod your craw will be destroyed if it absorbs too much artilery. As it weakens it will change colour in the same way as if you are using your Overweapon, so when it goes yellow start avoiding bullets as it will shortly turn red and then disappear altogether, reducing the power of your weapons. Craws are fairly, rather than liberally, spread throughout each level so you will need to make sure you don't take the piss if you want to keep your beefy weapons.

As far as the rest of the game goes, it's pretty much as you'd expect a great horizontal shooter to be. Very varied levels (you can choose the order you play the first 3 in, then levels 4-7 play in a set order) and enemies and really original and interesting bosses make for a thoroughly engaging killing experience. Ship control is nice and the variable speed should suit all tastes. The entire button layout can be changed from the settings menu so there should be no problems here.

The only criticism I would level at the game (and please be aware that this is a miniscule criticism which hardly affects the game at all) is that the new 3D engine can make collision detection somewhat iffy in places and the sometimes choppy framerate can detract from the experience in a few places. However I don't wish to diminsh the game's incredible technical achievements, more of which below.

Take it from me that this game is exceptionally well thought out and developed and supremely playable. There are a plethora of tweaking options to be found in the settings menu meaning it should last you for ages and, like Border Down, you will keep coming back to it after you have finished it just for the sheer enjoyment of playing it. Plus the normal difficulty level is set just right to give those who don't possess zen-like gaming skills (people like me then) a nice challenge instead of punishing you for merely having the cheek to pickup the joypad. Yay.

The Visuals.....

The game's visuals have to be put into context, I personally think they still look brilliant to this day, however many of my (non-shmupping, PAL PS2-owning) friends think i'm mad/short sighted. It's true that against today's beautiful 3D models and textures TFV is looking more than a little jaded, however back in 1997 this game must have had shmuppers the world over dropping their jaws to the floor and pointing at the telly like a crazed neanderthal.

Technosoft (true to tradition) managed to push a huge amount of stuff out of the Saturn and alongside the Treasure's and Smilebit's of this world I salute them. As I said, I still think the game looks fantastic against both it's contemporaries and successors and certainly has a very distinctive look which raises it above the sea of other Saturn shooters.

Even before you get into the game proper, the intro movie, select screens and menu's all look very nice and stylish just making you want to play the game even more. Lovely.

Music.........

Well, what can I say? The music to this game is absolutely fantastic. I would recommend buying this game even if you can't stand shooters (although what the hell are you doing here if you don't like shooters???). The background music offers a varied and heady mix of proggy synth music and cock rock all wrapped up in a big bag of cheese. It's the perfect accompanyment to all of the killing and is beautifully complemented by the great sampled speech and excessively loud explosions.

Put simply it's an aural treat. Add to this, the fact that you can bung the CD into your CD player and listen to all the music and shooting life couldn't get much better. I can vouch for the fact that the the CD also makes great driving music as it hasn't left my car stereo for the last 6 months!

In Conclusion.....

If you like shooters, buy this game, it is one of the best and certainly up there with Border down. It can be a bit pricey but it is worth every penny, forget all those other Saturn shooters you've been saving up for and get this first, and if you scour ebay enough you could be lucky enough to find a mint copy for £18 like I did ;)

I love this game, in case you hadn't noticed.

download the video 

(Level 1, 28Mb .asf format)

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