Thunder Force III
From Sega Retro
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| Thunder Force III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega Drive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Technosoft | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer: Technosoft | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distributor: HOT-B (US) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sound driver: T.S v1.21 (Technosoft) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: Shooting[1][2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
Contents
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
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[9]. 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
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
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87 |
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| Based on 42 reviews | |
| Mega Drive, JP |
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 Cover
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   Cart  Manual  PCB |
| Mega Drive, US |
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 Cover
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 Cart  Manual  PCB |
| Mega Drive, FR (US version with FR manual) |
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Cover
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Cart  FR Manual US Manual |
| Mega Drive, DE (US version with DE manual) |
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Cover
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Cart  DE Manual US Manual |
| Mega Drive, ES (US version with ES manual) |
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Cover
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Cart  ES Manual US Manual |
| Mega Drive, BR |
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 Cover
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  Cart  Manual |
| Mega Drive, KR |
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 Cover
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 Cart |
Technical information
- Main article: Thunder Force III/Technical information.
References
- ↑ File:ThunderForce3 MD JP Box.jpg
- ↑ File:ThunderForceIII MD KR cover.jpg
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "May 1990" (JP; 1990-04-07), page 115
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video/c/9mQYsH6AwxA/m/eLtfzKSYjogJ
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video/c/liLsaXxr3Xw/m/7vp0Hl15HJIJ
- ↑ GamePro, "November 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 107
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Supergame, "Julho 1992" (BR; 1992-07-xx), page 37
- ↑ http://www.retrocollect.com/Guides/pal-thunder-force-iii-and-the-controversial-sega-megadrive-releases.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-04-14 08:23)
- ↑ File:Thunder Force III MD credits.pdf
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 243
- ↑ ACE, "August 1990" (UK; 1990-07-xx), page 60
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "June 1990" (JP; 1990-05-08), page 109
- ↑ (UK) (+0:00)
- ↑ Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume III" (UK; 1990-08-xx), page 85
- ↑ Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 37
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 50
- ↑ Consoles +, "Tilt Hors-Serie" (FR; 1991-07-xx), page 36
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "August 1990" (UK; 1990-07-16), page 84
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 19
- ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 108
- ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 1990-0x-xx), page 1
- ↑ (UK) (+0:00)
- ↑ Game Power, "Dicembre 1991" (IT; 1991-1x-xx), page 56
- ↑ GamePro, "November 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 106
- ↑ The Games Machine, "August 1990" (UK; 1990-07-19), page 55
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Noviembre 1991" (ES; 1991-1x-xx), page 24
- ↑ Joypad, "Mars 1992" (FR; 1992-02-1x), page 138
- ↑ Joystick, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 105
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "September 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 80
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "October 1990" (JP; 1990-09-08), page 79
- ↑ Mega Force, "Septembre/Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-13), page 97
- ↑ Mega Play, "February 1991" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 40
- ↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 81
- ↑ MegaTech, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-20), page 43
- ↑ Micromanía (segunda época), "Noviembre 1991" (ES; 1991-1x-xx), page 43
- ↑ Mean Machines, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-27), page 88
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142
- ↑ Player One, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 54
- ↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
- ↑ Sega Power, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-04), page 22
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-19), page 30
- ↑ Sega Pro, "July 1992" (UK; 1992-06-18), page 28
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 170
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
- ↑ Tilt, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 58
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 27
- ↑ Zero, "September 1990" (UK; 1990-08-09), page 72
| Thunder Force III | |
|---|---|
|
Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Promotional material | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs
| |
| Thunder Force games for Sega systems / developed by Sega | |
|---|---|
|
Thunder Force II (1989) | Thunder Force III (1990) | Thunder Force IV / Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar (1992) |
 |
Thunder Force AC (1990) |
 |
Thunder Force: Gold Pack 1 (1996) | Thunder Force: Gold Pack 2 (1996) | Thunder Force V (1997) |
 |
Thunder Force VI (2008) |
 |
Sega Ages Thunder Force IV (2018) | Sega Ages Thunder Force AC (2020) |
| Thunder Force related media | |
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(1997) | (2008) | (2019) | (2020) | (2021) | (2022) |