Thunder Force III

n/a

NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J
Thunder Force III
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Technosoft
Developer: Technosoft
Distributor: HOT-B (US), Tec Toy (BR), Samsung (KR)
Sound driver: T.S v1.21 (Technosoft)
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-06-08 ¥6,800 (7,004)6,800e T-18033 US 1990-11-07 $56.9556.95 18036 DE 199x ES 199x FR 1992-c.04 BR 1992-07 KR 199x GM4061JT

Thunder Force III (サンダーフォースIII) is a 1990 shoot-'em-up developed by Technosoft for the Sega Mega Drive. It is the third game in the Thunder Force series and the first to debut on a Sega console. It was brought to the arcades as Thunder Force AC.

Story

The story takes place immediately after the events of Thunder Force II. Despite their successes, the Galaxy Federation has not been faring well in their battle against the ORN Empire. ORN has installed cloaking devices on five major planets in their space territory that conceal their main base, making it difficult for the Galaxy Federation to locate and attack their headquarters. Also, ORN has built a remote defense system to protect itself named Cerberus, which is especially efficient at neutralizing large ships and fleets. Knowing this, the Galaxy Federation creates the FIRE LEO-03 Styx (also transliterated as Stukks): a craft small enough to avoid detection by Cerberus, yet equipped with the firepower of a large starfighter. The Galaxy Federation deploys the Styx on a mission to destroy the five cloaking devices, infiltrate the Empire's headquarters, and destroy the ORN Emperor, the bio-computer "CHA OS."

Gameplay

Stage select

Thunder Force III is a side-scrolling shooter. The the free-directional, overhead stage format from the first two games in the series is removed and replaced entirely by the horizontally scrolling stage format for this game and all subsequent entries. The player chooses which of the initial five planets (Hydra, Gorgon, Seiren, Haides, and Ellis) to start on. After the first five stages are completed, the game continues for three more stages into ORN headquarters.

The Styx is moved in any direction using the D-Pad. The player can cycle through four speeds with . The Styx shoots with , which can be held for continuous fire. It is equipped with multiple weapons, which can be switched with . The speed and weapon can be switched while the game is paused. The player starts with two weapons and can acquire more by collecting items. The player can also equip two Claw add-ons, which are small drones that revolve around the ship. The Claws block weak incoming bullets and provide extra firepower by firing single, normal shots. Unlike the previous game, both Claws are equipped at the same time rather than separately.

The Styx is destroyed in one hit from an enemy or an obstacle. On Normal difficulty, losing a life only loses the equipped weapon (unless it is a default weapon). On higher difficulties, losing a life loses all acquired weapons. On all difficulties, losing a life loses Claws. The player gains an extra life at 20,000 and 50,000 points and then every 50,000 points after that.

The options menu is accessed by holding , , or when pressing  START  on the title screen. There are three selectable difficulty levels (Normal, Hard, and Mania), but region also dictates difficulty, with the game becoming harder if run on an NTSC-J system. On an NTSC-U system, enemies require fewer hits to kill and some obstacles are missing. The same ROM was used across all regions.

Weapons

	Twin Shot
	Shoots two parallel streams of bullets forwards.
	Back Fire
	Shoots one stream of bullets forwards and one steam backwards.
	Sever
	Replaces the Twin Shot with penetrating laser beams.
	Lancer
	Replaces the Back Fire with a large stream of plasma shots to the front and two parallel streams to the back.
	Wave
	Shoots tall waves forwards.
	Fire
	Launches missiles that crawl along the floor and ceiling.
	Hunter
	Fires plasma balls that seek enemies.

Items

	Item Carrier
	Shoot to release an item.
	Claw
	Equips two Claws, fighter drones that orbit the Styx and provide support fire and protect it from damage.
	Shield
	Surrounds the Styx in a shield that renders it invulnerable to damage, but it dissipates after sustaining too many hits.
	1-Up
	Awards the player with an extra life.
	Sever
	Acquires the Sever weapon.
	Lancer
	Acquires the Lancer weapon.
	Wave
	Acquires the Wave weapon.
	Fire
	Acquires the Fire weapon.
	Hunter
	Acquires the Hunter weapon.

Levels

The player chooses the first stage to play and then plays the rest in sequence.

	Planet Hydra
	A forest planet. Some enemies come from behind, some shoot homing missiles, and some shoot lasers when the Styx passes across. The boss is Gargoyle which shoots fireballs. Its stomach is its weak spot.
	Planet Gorgon
	A lava planet with rapidly rising columns of lava. The boss is Twin Vulcan, two machines that circle the screen and shoot bullets at intervals. Their weaknesses are their search radars.
	Planet Seiren
	An underwater level full of ORN enemies. The boss is King Fish, whose weakness is its eye.
	Planet Haides
	A mountainous level with terrain that rises, falls, and moves around in other ways. The boss is G Lobster, whose weakness is its eye.
	Planet Ellis
	An ice mountain planet full of ORN enemies. The boss is Mobile Fort, whose weakness is its control unit.
	Cerberus
	Destroy the destroyer one piece at a time. Penetrate through to the inside and defeat the core to destroy the ship.
	ORN Base
	Enemies stand guard left and right while a number of traps block the way. Doors close and bar the way.
	ORN Core
	The base of operations of ORN. This is a short level with a miniboss before facing the final boss. The boss is CHA OS, which attacks rapidly with several different types of bullets. Its wave projectiles can be neutralized by the player's fire.

History

Thunder Force III was released in the US, Japan, South Korea and Brazil, but it is not thought to have been released in the pan-Euro area. However, the US release is known to have been distributed in limited numbers across France, Germany and Spain, with the instruction manual exchanged for localised versions. Official releases in other PAL regions have not been confirmed.

Production credits

• Program: Izumi Fukuda, Takashi Iwanaga, Haruhiko Ohtsuka
• Graphics & Design: Osamu Tsujikawa, Yoichi Muto
• Stage Design: Takashi Iwanaga
• Music Compose: Toshiharu Yamanishi, Tomomi Ohtani
• Sound Effects: Naosuke Arai
• Voice: kaoru
• Manual: Fumio Sugano
• Wording: Kazue Matsuoka
• Produce: Techno Soft

Source:

In-game credits

Digital manuals

• 

  Mega Drive Mini US manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini JP manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Thunder Force III/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Thunder Force III/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 60 ACE (UK) 91 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 85 Buzz! Computers (UK) 95 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 91 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 89 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) 89 Consoles + (FR) 90 Console XS (UK) PAL 90 Computer & Video Games (UK) 95 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 83 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 91 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 78 FX (UK) 84 Game Power (IT) 91 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 92 The Games Machine (UK) 85 Hobby Consolas (ES) 95 Joypad (FR) 94 Joystick (FR) 93 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 84 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 85 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 87 Mega Force (FR) NTSC 100 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 88 MegaTech (UK) 89 MegaTech (UK) PAL 89 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 73 Mean Machines (UK) 86 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 89 Player One (FR) 97 Sega Power (UK) NTSC 75 Sega Power (UK) PAL 82 Sega Pro (UK) 89 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 88 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 89 Sega Mega Drive Review (RU) 84 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 83 Supergame (BR) 88 Tilt (FR) 85 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 85 Zero (UK) 94

	87
Based on 42 reviews

Thunder Force III

Mega Drive, JP
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Mega Drive, US
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Mega Drive, FR (US version with FR manual)
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Mega Drive, DE (US version with DE manual)
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Mega Drive, ES (US version with ES manual)
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Mega Drive, BR
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Mega Drive, KR
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Technical information

Main article: Thunder Force III/Technical information.