#tecnosoft

[lacquerware]

Thunder Force IV Reflections

As a kid in the nineties, my experience with a lot of Genesis games (and NES games before them) was that I'd find the difficulty so insurmountable that the thought of ever getting very far seemed completely futile, and I'd inevitably stop playing after getting maybe two Game Overs in a single session. In fact, I'd say this was the norm for me, until the PS1 era. I think this was pretty common for kids at large, too. 

Although I always liked video games, I think the high hurdle prevented them from being as compelling during that era as they later became, because it's just not that enticing to play something you know you're only going to see the first fifteen minutes of over and over. Although there were some hard games that my brother and I liked enough to rent repeatedly despite never getting very far (Sunset Riders, Splatterhouse 2 and 3), the rare games that we could beat almost invariably became all-time favorites. Shinobi 3, Bionic Commando (NES), Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes. Granted, all of the above examples are exceptionally high-quality titles, but I do think the fairness and gentleness baked into their difficulty is a major part of their appeal. 

Things are a little different in my adult life: I have more patience, a greater capacity for critical thinking and strategizing, and simply more autonomy over when and how much time I can devote to slamming my head against a video game. In 2019 I forced myself through the agony of Ecco the Dolphin just because I wanted to see that gnarly xenomorph boss at the end. Last year I finally beat Comix Zone after 29 years. And so on. 

When it comes to shmups, I pretty much ignored the genre wholesale as a kid, since they were the epitome of the aforementioned high hurdle. But if you're still playing Genesis or Saturn in the 2020s, you're really doing yourself a disservice by not being into shmups, so I've forced myself to acquire a taste for them over the years. Which hasn't been all that hard, since they are often full of cool sights and sounds. 

Thunder Force IV's reputation as one of the best games on the Genesis and shmups of all time precedes it, but for my part, I found myself even in adulthood coming up against that same old chestnut, gaming over within the first fifteen minutes every single session. I could see that the visuals were incredible, the music incredible, the moment-to-moment gameplay satisfying and intense, but the game never got its hooks in me, because I just never seemed to get any better. I'd fire it up a couple times a year, wipe out before the end of stage 4, and say, "Guess I've seen all I'm gonna see." 

That all changed this past weekend when I discovered the hidden* options menu, which lets you toggle the difficulty to "Easy." 

(*The options menu might be mentioned in the manual I don't have, but it's locked behind a command input instead of just being selectable from the main menu like every other video game in history.)

Easy mode made all the difference. The balance felt close to perfect—not so easy as to trivialize the game, but easy enough to keep me continually invested, because I was improving significantly with each attempt. I still got about a dozen game overs before clearing the game, but they did nothing to demoralize me the way they had in every past session on Normal. 

The day after clearing the game on Easy for the first time, I played it again and managed a 2CC run. The degree to which I improved within a 48-hour span was astounding, especially after not showing any discernible improvement in Normal mode for several years! I now feel like I’m ready to take on Normal, and more importantly, I’m now a believer. Thunder Force IV is the masterpiece you’ve heard it to be. It also joins such titles as the aforementioned Shinobi 3 and Gunstar Heroes as a quintessential showpiece for the Sega Genesis. When someone asks what the Sega Genesis is all about, this is the answer. The Genesis set a bar for action gaming that remains in effect. It exudes an intensity and a cool factor through its graphics and sound you just don’t get elsewhere. 

With that all out of the way, I do have a couple points of critique, just for the sake of argument. Chiefly, I think the game has an issue with feedback that can be a tad severe at times. Action games live and die by their feedback—that is, the way the game tells you what effect your actions caused—not only because the feedback informs your actions, but because it’s what makes video games fun and satisfying. The general rule of thumb in TFIV is that if your shots burn orange when they impact a target, they’re doing damage; blue, and they’re not. There is no difference in sound, as far as I can tell. The problem is, some of your more bombastic weapons produce their own separate visual effects that seem to override this critical feedback. For example, the Blade, which is the upgraded version of your standard forward-shooting shot, seems to always burn orange, no matter what it hits. The Snake, which lobs twin streams of grenades above and below your ship, generates a persistent storm of orange explosions, so it can be impossible to discern if you’re hitting a target or not. Many bosses in this game require precise aiming at vulnerable spots surrounded by invulnerable casing or appendages, so this feedback issue can significantly impede progress, especially for newer players. I still don’t have a clear sense of how to hit the Stage 1 boss’s weak point with the Blade. For some reason, my DPS is always much higher when I just use the regular default shot. (You can see this in my playthrough video.) I also just found the damage feedback on bosses to be generally weak. Most bosses don’t actually offer any damage feedback apart from the color of your bullet impacts—no flashing sprites or juicy sound effect to indicate that you’re doing the right thing. This is particularly lame when you land a direct hit on the weak point with your Thunder Sword, a massive, chargeable energy sword, and there’s just no sign at all that it had any effect. Disappointing in a game this bombastic, especially when held up against the likes of Gunstar Heroes or Contra Hard Corps. Of course, it’s not too hard to forgive this issue when you consider how hard the game pushed the Genesis to run in the first place. 

My other critique is that the game is sometimes a tad overindulgent, to where you’re just watching a thing happen for a really long time without much to do. The airship sequences in Stage 1 are the prime example. They’re cool setpieces the first couple times, but after dozens of playthroughs, they’re among the most boring parts of the game. Especially since they betray the longstanding shmup precedent of giant airship bosses that you get to dismantle piece by piece. You never get to destroy this one!

But now we’re splitting hairs. This is still one of the finest action games I’ve ever played, and a great ambassador for the Genesis. If you’ve tried to get into it and it hasn’t clicked for you yet, I definitely recommend playing on Easy (hold A+Start from the main menu to access the options) and cranking up the life count. 

[ericorsio555]

Yet ANOTHER Nekketsu Oyako post. I'm sorry, I can't shut up about it sometimes, it's one of my favorite PSX launch titles. :P

Anyway, speaking of which, the PlayStation had turned 30 years old a week ago including this game and a bunch of other titles released right at launch.

Here's the console as a score pickup that grants you 2000 points. It can be found by breaking certain objects or sometimes just on the ground.

Yes, I know the game is somewhat meant to promote the console, but taking this literally ('cause I like to do that), since the story takes place in 2064, the PSX would be 70 years old by then. And, while looking at the second screenshot, later on in the first level, you get to see the Big Black store having things for sale, including the console itself.

This suggests that in-universe the retro gaming culture would still be going strong, even in the 2060s! :D

(also applies to the Sega Saturn and its more superior (so far I've seen) version, but whatever :P)

[aaronkraten]

Hyperduel - technosoft - 1993

[elliotwashington]

Kumo No Ok Kun/雲のオッ君 for Fujitsu Micro-7 made in 1985 by Tecno Soft and Otsuka

[sixteen-bit]

[fireleoiv]

My attempt at replicating the title screens of Thunder Force III/IV

[enunpasto]

Este jueves 22 de agosto en Antares de 56 🖤 ROMÁNTIK 🖤 encantada y tecno con diosmiojuanpedro 🎹🎸✨ No se lo pierdan 🛸🌊 . . . . . . #music #tecnosoft #darkpop #sintetizadores #guitarlover #cerveza #antareslaplata (en Antares La Plata) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1W9B2SHQbx/?igshid=6gzus44bwm4v

[betagarci]

Hoy toca ración doble de juegos de naves con dos títulos. La vertiginosidad y dificultad de #thunderforceIII contrasta con la pausa que pone #Biometal en su gameplay. Pedazo de BSO tiene el título de Tecno Soft. Como me gusta la mecánica del escudo defensa/ataque del Bio. Como siempre digo, como disfruto para lo manazas que soy. #shmup session with two great titles!!!. The vertiginousness and difficulty of Thunderforce III contrasts with the slow timing of Biometal’s gameplay. Great BSO for Tecno Soft's title. I enjoy the Bio's shield defense/attack mechanic #tecnosoft #activision #supernintendo #megadrive #nintendo #sega #retrocollective #retrocollectivespain #instagamer #retrogamer #retrogamerspain #16bits #2unlimited https://www.instagram.com/p/CTh3-QNIuZq/?utm_medium=tumblr

[randomisedgaming]

A selection of screenshots from the 1997 Sega Saturn title developed by Tecnosoft / Technosoft. All these screenshot feature the red ship piloted by Forn.

Blast Wind / ブラストウインド

Follow Randomised Gaming on Tumblr, for video game, art, reviews, features, videos and more. You can also follow us on twitter and subscribe to us on YouTube for even more Randomised Gaming content.

If you haven’t already checkout our Blast Wind playthrough videos.

[wasserenthaertungsanlageschweiz]

Welcher Wasserenthärter hat den besten ROI? Lesen Sie unseren Testbericht und erfahren Sie, welches unser Testsieger ist!

[wpelegant]

Computer Repair, Technology WordPress theme | Tecnosoft

New Post has been published on http://wpelegant.com/computer-repair-technology-wordpress-theme-tecnosoft/

Computer Repair, Technology WordPress theme | Tecnosoft

Computer Repair, Technology WordPress theme | Tecnosoft http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress/technology

Tecnosoft – Computer Layers Theme

Tecnosoft is a child wordpress theme for LayersWP, ideal for Computer shops or repair , Apps Technology , etc… Also, it’s flexible and compatible with WooCommerce. Create responsive websites with without knowing to code. Its easy, just drag & drop the widgets you want to use and place your content inside. Also we include all our demo pages/preset layouts.

Is an ideal pre-built website template for business specialise in Data Recovery,iMac, Macbook, iPad and Laptop Repair, Game Console. Template includes helpful features that will help you a build new and redesign your business website.

Layers WordPress

Computer Theme

Drag and Drop Builder

Working with Contact Form 7

Compatible with Newsletter Plugin

Fully Responsive

Page Builder

Animated Parallax Backgrounds

Clean and Modern Design

Unlimited Colors Customization

Fullscreen Menu

Fullscreen Sections

Crossbrowser Compatible

Mobile Browsers Compatible

Font Awesome Icons set

Retina Ready

W3C Valid HTML Code

No bloated theme options

Compatible and working with WooCommerce

Well Documented.

Credits

Images are from Unsplash & PhotoDune

jQuery

WooCommerce Plugin

Newsletter Plugin

Contact Form 7

Support

If you have any questions that are beyond the scope of the documentation help file, please don’t hesitate to contact me, feel free to email via user page.

Note: Some images used in the demo are not included in the main download due to copyright restrictions

40

Check WordPress Theme

[ericorsio555]

In 5 years time, Randou (Nekketsu Oyako) will be born! :D

Screenshots taken on DuckStation, English profile from the fan translation released by PentarouZero.

[aaronkraten]

Technosoft jamma session - Hyperduel and Thunderforce AC arcade boards - Took me a while to find HyperDuel , both are great fun

[mzaghi]

Alumbrando la Educación con Energia solar Movil de #tecnosoft Alumbrando la Educación con Energia solar Movil de #tecnosoft

[solidstateduality]

Gaming Thirden:

Sonic Mania = Battle Mania

Sonic Forces = Thunder Force

Vic Tokai and Tecnosoft confirmed to be calling for help.

Make Thunder Force VII a reality, Sega.

[fireleoiv]

If you ask any shmup enthusiasts what their favorite ship is, most will go for the usual suspects of Vic Viper or R-9 but for me, nothing comes close to the FireLEO-04 'Rynex'. I'm super happy to have this in my possession.