Difference between revisions of "Thunder Force II"

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(Added production credits)
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===Release===
 
===Release===
 
The Swedish version shown below has an interesting story behind it. The distributor in the Nordic countries was Playmix/[[BRIO]], famous for its classic wooden toys and unharmful playthings. This is the first and probably last time they used censorship on a game. The missiles on this early game's front were considered too violent and the picture was replaced by the ship from the Japanese version instead. After they mixed it together, they simple photographed it and printed it on Fujicolor paper (can be seen on the back of the inlay). This version is therefore fairly common in Sweden.
 
The Swedish version shown below has an interesting story behind it. The distributor in the Nordic countries was Playmix/[[BRIO]], famous for its classic wooden toys and unharmful playthings. This is the first and probably last time they used censorship on a game. The missiles on this early game's front were considered too violent and the picture was replaced by the ship from the Japanese version instead. After they mixed it together, they simple photographed it and printed it on Fujicolor paper (can be seen on the back of the inlay). This version is therefore fairly common in Sweden.
 +
 +
==Production credits==
 +
{{creditstable|
 +
*'''Program:''' Izumi Fukuda, Takashi Iwanaga, Haruhiko Otsuka
 +
*'''Graphics & Design:''' Osamu Tsujikawa
 +
*'''Stage Design:''' Takashi Iwanaga
 +
*'''Music Compose:''' Tomomi Ohtani
 +
*'''Sound Effects:''' Naosuke Arai
 +
*'''Wording:''' Kazue Matsuoka, Kikuo Tamichi, Fumio Sugano
 +
*'''Special Thanks To:''' Soichiro Hikichi, Kazuhiro Imamura
 +
| source=In-game credits
 +
| console=MD
 +
}}
  
 
==Magazine articles==
 
==Magazine articles==

Revision as of 12:02, 11 May 2020

n/a

ThunderForceII MDTitleScreen.png

Thunder Force II
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Technosoft
Developer:
Original system(s): X68000
Sound driver: T.S vx.xx (Technosoft)
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥6,8006,800 T-18013
Sega Mega Drive
US
Sega Mega Drive
EU
Sega Mega Drive
AU
Sega Mega Drive
CA
Sega Mega Drive
BR
Sega Mega Drive
KR 		GM4010JG
Arcade (Mega-Tech System)
UK		 £? ?

























Non-Sega versions

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Thunder Force II is a 1988 shoot-'em-up developed by Technosoft for the X68000, and the second installment in their Thunder Force series. The following year, it was ported to the Sega Mega Drive as Thunder Force II MD (サンダーフォースII ＭＤ), and this version was released worldwide as simply Thunder Force II. It was the first Sega Mega Drive game in Japan published by a third party.

Story

After the events of the first Thunder Force, the defeated ORN Empire decide to attack the Galaxy Federation again. Using Plealos, their new battleship, ORN is able to destroy the planet Reda and take the planet Nepura as their own. Fortunately, the Galaxy Federation discovers Nepura is used to hold Plealos when it is not being used, and they set out to destroy Plealos with a new version of the powerful "Fire LEO" fighter craft, the Fire LEO-02 Exceliza.

Gameplay

A and C switch weapons. B fires as long as you hold it. There are nine stages — four top-view stages and four side-scrolling stages, then a final top-view stage.

  • "Top-view" stages: You have free 8-way movement, and the screen constantly scrolls in the direction the ship is facing. The ship's weapon shoots in the direction the ship is facing, though other weapons and powerups fire in different directions. The objective is to find and destroy the four bases.
  • Side-scrolling stages: You can only progress forward, and the screen constantly scrolls from right to left; the entire stage doesn't fit on the screen, so moving up and down reveals a bit more of it. Reach the end of the stage and defeat the boss there to complete the level.

As you defeat certain enemies, they'll drop various weapon; losing a life takes all acquired weapons away. The two types of stages have unique weapons between them.

History

Release

The Swedish version shown below has an interesting story behind it. The distributor in the Nordic countries was Playmix/BRIO, famous for its classic wooden toys and unharmful playthings. This is the first and probably last time they used censorship on a game. The missiles on this early game's front were considered too violent and the picture was replaced by the ship from the Japanese version instead. After they mixed it together, they simple photographed it and printed it on Fujicolor paper (can be seen on the back of the inlay). This version is therefore fairly common in Sweden.

Production credits

  • Program: Izumi Fukuda, Takashi Iwanaga, Haruhiko Otsuka
  • Graphics & Design: Osamu Tsujikawa
  • Stage Design: Takashi Iwanaga
  • Music Compose: Tomomi Ohtani
  • Sound Effects: Naosuke Arai
  • Wording: Kazue Matsuoka, Kikuo Tamichi, Fumio Sugano
  • Special Thanks To: Soichiro Hikichi, Kazuhiro Imamura
Source:
In-game credits


Magazine articles

Main article: Thunder Force II/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1990-02: "February 1990" (1990-01-08)
Logo-pdf.svg
CG GR 3 Mega Drive advert.jpg
Print advert in Computer Games (GR) #3: "Ioúnios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
CG GR 3 Mega Drive advert.jpg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1990-09: "September 1990" (1990-08-XX)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in ACE (UK) #37: "October 1990" (1990-09-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1990-11: "November 1990" (1990-10-XX)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #111: "February 1991" (1991-01-16)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Force (SE) #1993-03: "3/93" (1993-05-13)
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,
ThunderForceII MT cover.jpg
Cover

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
93 [6]
70 [7]
70 [8]
90 [9]
81 [10]
80 [11]
70 №79, [1]
85 [12]
74 [13]
82 №5, p95
81 [14]
82 [15]
58 [4]
80 [16]
86 [17]
81 №18, p68
93 [18]
Sega Mega Drive
 80
Based on
17 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
60
[19]
ACE (UK) PAL
93
[6]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
70
[20]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
90
[21]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
81
[10]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK)
81
[22]
Consoles + (FR)
90
[23]
Console XS (UK) PAL
87
[24]
Cool Gamer (RU)
30
[25]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
80
[11]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
78
[26]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
76
[27]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
70
[28]
Game Mania (UK)
85
[12]
Joystick (FR)
74
[29]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
82
[30]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
81
[31]
MegaTech (UK)
81
[14]
Mean Machines (UK)
82
[32]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
81
[33]
Megazone (AU)
85
[34]
Player One (FR)
58
[4]
Power Play (DE)
71
[35]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
75
[16]
Sega Pro (UK)
86
[17]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
81
[36]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
70
[37]
Tilt (FR)
60
[38]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
80
[39]
Zero (UK)
93
[40]
Sega Mega Drive
 77
Based on
30 reviews

Thunder Force II

Mega Drive, US
ThunderForce2 MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Thunder Force II MD US cart.jpg
Cart
Thunder Force II MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
ThunderForce2 MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
ThunderForceII MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, SE
Thunderforce SWE.jpeg
Cover
Mega Drive, JP
ThunderForce2 MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
ThunderForce2MD MD JP CartTop.jpg
ThunderForce2 MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, BR
ThunderForceII MD BR cover.jpg
Cover
ThunderForceII MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, KR
ThunderForceII MD KR Box.jpg
Cover
ThunderForceII MD KR cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, CA

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 9b1561b3
MD5 2cd56a01eef20b74ab7ea532f9b25a94
SHA-1 b81e7ebc4ceb6c1ae2975d27e0a78ba1e8546b5f
512kB 1989-04 Cartridge (US/EU)
Sega Mega Drive
 ?
CRC32 e75ec3e0
MD5 5b134b597779c5d6c2783fe3ee401766
SHA-1 44b173b74225e5b562cdf3982926a051f05ed98e
512kB 1989-04 Cartridge (JP)

References

  1. ↑ Mean Machines, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-09-xx), page 88
  2. ↑ Raze, "September 1991" (UK; 1991-07-25), page 76
  3. ↑ ACE, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-09-xx), page 51
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Player One, "Octobre 1990" (FR; 1990-xx-xx), page 57
  5. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-09-16), page 122
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 ACE, "November 1989" (UK; 1989-10-xx), page 144
  7. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 70 (72)
  8. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 84 (86)
  9. ↑ Complete Guide to Consoles, "" (UK; 1989-10-16), page 84
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 37
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Computer & Video Games, "September 1989" (UK; 1989-08-16), page 102
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 80
  13. ↑ Joystick, "Juin 1990" (FR; 1990-05-xx), page 86 (82)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 81
  15. ↑ Mean Machines, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-09-xx), page 86-88 (86)
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Sega Pro, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-19), page 30
  18. ↑ Zero, "February 1990" (UK; 19xx-xx-xx), page 82/83 (82)
  19. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 242
  20. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 72
  21. ↑ Complete Guide to Consoles, "" (UK; 1989-10-16), page 77
  22. ↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 50
  23. ↑ Consoles +, "Tilt Hors-Serie" (FR; 1991-07-xx), page 36
  24. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135
  25. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 224
  26. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1989" (US; 1989-xx-xx), page 13
  27. ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 107
  28. ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 1989-xx-xx), page 1
  29. ↑ Joystick, "Juin 1990" (FR; 1990-05-xx), page 82
  30. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95
  31. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "November 1989" (JP; 1989-10-07), page 49
  32. ↑ Mean Machines, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-09-xx), page 86
  33. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142
  34. ↑ Megazone, "October/November 1991" (AU; 1991-xx-xx), page 30
  35. ↑ Power Play, "1/90" (DE; 1989-12-15), page 86
  36. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
  37. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 86
  38. ↑ Tilt, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 100
  39. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 27
  40. ↑ Zero, "February 1990" (UK; 19xx-xx-xx), page 82



Thunder Force games for Sega systems / developed by Sega
Sega Mega Drive
 Thunder Force II (1989) | Thunder Force III (1990) | Thunder Force IV / Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar (1992)
Arcade
 Thunder Force AC (1990)
Sega Saturn
 Thunder Force: Gold Pack 1 (1996) | Thunder Force: Gold Pack 2 (1996) | Thunder Force V (1997)
Sony PlayStation 2
 Thunder Force VI (2008)
Nintendo Switch
 Sega Ages Thunder Force IV (2018) | Sega Ages Thunder Force AC (2020)
Thunder Force related media
Music
 Best of Thunder Force (1997) | Thunder Force VI Soundtrack Demo (2008) | Thunder Force IV (2019) | Technosoft Music Collection: Thunder Force III & AC (2020) | Technosoft Music Collection: Thunder Force IV (2021) | Technosoft Music Collection: Thunder Force I & II (2022)
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