I disagree. TF2, is the Superior shooter... NOT the sequels. TF2 has much higher quality music and sound effects... And much greater details, in its Graphics. The later versions may have had more Parallax effects... but the graphics were far blockier. And unfortunately, Organics didnt look very good on the Genesis, due to its limited color palette... so TF3's attempt at making organic looking stages, looked quite bad. Additionally, I believe I beat TF3 in a single day... Where as it took me like a year of on and off playing, to finally beat TF2. When you play defeated a game that cost like +$60 , in a few hours, or a single day... it really ticked a lot of people off. No game should be that Easy to defeat. It shows very poor game / level balancing. The Top view stages were Fun, and Unique... But I do agree, that a mini map would have almost made them Perfect. The top view scrolling speed could have been reduced a little. And the range of your bombs, could have been Increased by an inch (Just adjust the number of hits per target, if needed). One of main the issues I had, when I first started to play TF2... was that I didnt read the manual... and didnt realize that the ship was actually dropping bombs. I was thinking... "Why arent my bullets seeming to effect these turrets?". When I finally read the manual, and realized the "Circles" were a representation of bombs... I finally started to make some good progress. Personally, I think it would be even better, if someone modded the bombs to be a little more like Xevious... where you have to precisely time your shots... and use a separate bomb button to drop them. Maybe adding a bomb falling noise, and at very least... a Special bomb explosion effect, would also help. This, the slight slowdown of the Upper walls, and a mini Map... would have made the Best Shooter that was ever Created, IMO. Because as it stands, TF2 is Still my alltime favorite shooter... despite the top view issues. Now... if you press A+B+C+START button at the title screen, you can choose your starting stage (limited to like level 5 or 6). This is ultimately the only way I was able to beat the game. I would start on level 5 or 6 (cant recall), and then work my way up to the Last Boss in the Caves, before the final stage... and get my Behind handed to me. Now, as much as I love a good challenge... that Boss was way too difficult. Especially after burning through most of my lives, to get to him. I had to sort of Cheat on that boss... by rapidly pressing the start button... to pause/un-pause the game... creating a sort of slow-motion effect. Even that was challenging... as trying to repeatedly tap the start button... at the same time as trying to control the ship, was no easy task within itself. BUT.. it was still a LOT easier than trying to dodge a billion lightning fast projectiles, and laser blasts. Admittedly, Im sure my Gamer Skills back then, were not as good as my current Adult Self.. but still. Interestingly enough... the X68000 version of TF2, has a much weaker version of the same cave boss. That said... the x68000 version also has a few more stages, too. One day, I vow to beat TF2, starting from stage 1. Finally, one more comment about Difficulty. In games like R-Type... if you lost your ship on a late stage of the game, and thus all of your powerups... its was almost impossible to recover from the resulting disaster. It would always put you back at a certain checkpoint... and you were typically far too under-powered to survive. This is due to that games very poor + unfair game balance. But with TF2... even when you lose all of your weapons... your main starter weapon is perfectly fine for dealing with pretty much anything that comes at you. In fact... you often have to switch back to it for certain areas... because its the only weapon that fires fast enough, to deal with certain things (such as clearing the rocks, and destroying the fast missile assault). Furthermore... TF2 doesnt have dreaded Checkpoints. You can crash... but the screen will keep scrolling... and will place your new ship down, without stopping the action at all. This allows you to tank through an entire Level... if you wanted too. Of course, since you wont have enough lives to tank more than a few stages... there is no way to Abuse this. You get to see whats ahead of your natural gaming skill level... but then are motivated to work hard... so that you can reach that later stage, without Tanking through everything. Eventually you build up enough skills to be very conservative with your lives... and thus, finally able to make it to the late stage boss.. with a few lives still left in reserve. I will say, that I was a little depressed at the games Ending. While it was "OK"... I sort of felt robbed, compared to the sheer effort it took to defeat that game. But not only that... The game was so damn innovative and impressive... that you sort of expected the ending to be equally as Impressive. Out of the 52 Genesis games that I had bought... I only really replayed about 7 of them. TF2 was my favorite game out of them all... AND, was also the game I replayed the most. Even after I defeated it... I still often fire the game back up, to play it again. I will also add... that Ive never heard a Video game Soundtrack, that is anywhere near as good as TF2. The closest game, was "Target Earth", which was an equally awesome game. A game that probably doesnt get the recognition that it Deserves... especially for its insane creativity, in how the later stages / gameplay functions... and the feel of "realism" of controlling a giant mech (including the ability to run into your own explosives, and destroy yourself as a result!). There are a lot of Surprises in that game! And the cinematic story animations in the beginning (if you dont hit start, it will eventually play), is phenomenal.
Man, this has got to be the longest and most in-depth comment I have gotten since I started this channel lol. I am pinning this so everyone can see this. I can't argue with you over you liking this game over the sequels. It really comes down to preference. They're really different games, in my opinion. I always loved this game. It doesn't get enough love and it's annoying that it's forgotten due to people loving the sequels. That's impressive that you beat TF3 in one day. It took me some time. Yea, I love the fact that you can start from a different stage by pressing ABC+Start, it gives you a chance to really practice and it avoids the monotony of playing the same stages in a row. Such a highly underrated feature in the game. It's awesome to hear that this was your favorite game out of your collection growing up. I respect that cause it shows that you really paid attention to the details of this game. While I love this soundtrack, I will say my favorite soundtracks are The Adventures of Batman & Robin, Gunstar Heroes, X-Men 2 the Clone Wars (thinking off the top of my head). But I agree, this soundtrack is awesome. Awesome comment and thanks for adding your input on this game!
@@VicariouslyRetro Thanks. Have you played "Target Earth" in depth? It took me about 1 hour or more, to get past the first stage. Arcade level of Difficulty. There are a few tricks you need to realize, to get you going places... such as not stopping to try to fight everything (or you get swarmed, and destroyed). As much as I loved challenging games... I really struggles with TE... so it was the first time that I had decided to call Sega's help line. The Operator was friendly, and gave me a few tips over the phone. Then she said she would send me a help sheet, or something like that. Not too long afterwards, I got an envelope in the mail, with something like 8 pages worth of tips. That said, I eventually discovered the Cheat mode... by (I believe) pressing the start menu button on player 2's controller. That allowed me to defeat the game. But interestingly enough... even with infinite health... there were still a few ways to get a Game Over! Quite the set of surprises. I believe I had gotten through 3/4 ths of the game.. before I learned about the cheat. As such, I did get pretty good at the game. But just like TF2... I vow to one day beat the game without the cheat. I really love the music, as well as the Realisms. For example... if you shoot an explosive.... and run into the explosion, your own explosives WILL cause damages to yourself. There is also a slight delay from when you press Jump... until the Mech leaps into the air. At first, its a little annoying... but eventually you get used to the timing. It makes the feeling a lot more realistic... because a +100 ft tall mech, weighing countless thousands of pounds, isnt ever going to control like a Supercar. There certainly would be a delay, trying to make such a heavy thing jump into the air. I also loved a lot of the Creativity in the game... such as the level where your friends actually start firing on the enemies, and Help you. Most programmers would never go that far... as its quite the additional challenge. The music, especially the Jazzy Synth like guitar shredding.. in outstanding. The only issue I have... is wishing that there was more tracks. Also, there is a fantastic Cinematic of the Story.. if you dont press any buttons at the title screen. Amazing parallax art, of ships being shot, smoking, on fire, and blowing up... and much more. If I had the resources, Id make a special seat that you sit in, to specifically play this game. In which, the seat is counter-weighted (like a see-saw)... so when you use your feet to "Jump", the chair would go up like 10 feet into the air... with a nice "Floaty" cruise through the air.. and a nice soft landing. Adding in Bass-Shaker transducers or actual solenoids, for simulating guns firing, would also be a good thing to add, too. They made a modern version of the game... but I took one look at it, and It ticked me off. The explosions on the new version are so badly done, that I could never accept it. The original, is the way to go.
@@VicariouslyRetro One final thing... A good idea for a future video, is reviewing the Rare Sega Modem game called "16t" (16 Tons). I only recently discovered this Amazingly addictive GEM of a Game. The first play, and I probably clocked a good 4 hours on it... as I couldnt stop playing it. It really should have gotten its on Cartridge release. 16 tons, is a game that is somewhat similar to Teddy Boy Blues, where the screen wraps around. However, rather than shooting bullets.. you launch these massive 16 ton weights onto the enemies. These weights have an actual physics engine! So they can bounce on each other, Slide into things, and gradually break apart. The amount of crazy things that can take place per round.. is pretty amazing. Its challenging, addictively fun, and downright hilarious. Best regards
@@johndough8115 I do own Target Earth but I bought not too long ago and haven't had a chance to play it super in-depth. I mainly got it cause it was the first entry for the Assault Suits series which got great reviews. I'll def check it out soon though. I just read your in-depth commennt and I'll consider it when playing!
Also, I forgot to mention that many people don't realize that you can access the menu on the title screen by pressing A and THEN the Start button at the same time, which offers a stage select (only the first 5 levels), number of lives, difficulty selection (which is crazy cause normal is hard AF), etc. If you just hit the start button, the game starts immediately. "This is Exceliza. Roger, good luck!"
good tip! Yeah, I can't get into the top down stages where I just keep crashing into the wall and can't figure out what needs to be done next. But an excellent reminder this was a launch title and compared to the others, wow, this game is pretty amazing. I'm sure if I had it back in the day I would have LOVED it but in present day I fell in like many others just jumping right into Thunder Force 3. I can't regret that choice as 3 still remains my favorite shooter of all time.
@@francescosmith7859 yea it takes times to get used to those stages… and patience 😂 Yea I never played this at launch, wish I did though. But like you said, man, 3 and of course 4 are just so much better
@@francescosmith7859 In each of the Top view stages, there are like 4 or 5 "Bases" that need to be Destroyed. They are located all over the massive Map... and are not always easy to find. In the first stage... its unique in that there are special "Doors" (force-fields, between the walled-off sections) that you can open... if you shoot these special targets on either side of them. I believe one of these sections has TWO doorways... and so you have to re-enter the area, and find the 2nd doorway to the final Base. Obviously, if you have enough lives.. you can often tank through a wall, to get to a certain base... but at the same time... you also might end up getting much more Lost.. in doing that. The other part that is difficult, is that your "Auto-Dropped-Bombs" (the blue and yellow circles that you see) ...have a very limited range. I believe they only shoot about 3 inches in front of your ship, at the most. As such... you need to get REALLY close to the Turrets, in order to be able to hit, and destroy them... which is quite challenging. TF3 is ok... but its way too easy, IMO. TF2 gives you a much better overall challenge.
So cool to see someone actually talking good about this game. Like you said, most people write it off because 3 & 4 are just goated. Yet if you played this back when it came out, it was almost a masterpiece for its time. Also, it was the same for me, I went from Atari 2600 to the Sega Genesis. Love the Genesis even to this day and still play on it. Been hooked on Gleylancer lately.
Exactly, man! I had to show some love that this game deserved. Yea I'm actually glad I didn't have an NES in hindsight cause getting a Genesis after the Atari 2600 made the Genesis that much better for me. Never played Gley Llancer... might pick it up on the Switch. Thanks!
Thunder force 2 Rocks! This was my jam back in the day. It got me into shooters. I love the overhead levels. I would try to get the best times when playing. One of my favorites of my childhood. I played this till I finally beat it. And it was GLORIOUS!!!
Nice! Beating this is game is very impressive! Yea I actually enjoy the overhead stages. They’re tough and can be frustrating at times like I mentioned in the video, but they’re still a lot of fun cause it’s a fun and fair challenge
D-Force has both vertical and horizontal levels. And that's all that needs to be said there. Darius Twin was my introduction to this lovely genre. Pew pew! 🚀
Did you ever own this game growing up? Was it a weekend rental? Was this your pickup at launch? Or did you skip it when Thunder Force 3 came out? Let me know your memories with this game in the comments!
You 1cc’d it?! Very nice! Impressive… most impressive (Darth Vader voice)! But yea, TF2 is def a solid entry. I would say TF2 is def a harder game, so if you’re looking for a solid challenge, def give it a try
@@VicariouslyRetro Thanks. I played it after dinner and kids to bed every night for a week. Super addictive and plan to do Mania mode. I've heard TF 4 is tougher and plan to pick it up as well. I'm a late bloomer to shumps, but am finally discovering their greatness!
@@zajicapp haha nice. Yea that’s the only time to play. I gotta wait for my kids to go to bed and sneak down lol. But I’ve been playing shmups for some time now, but more so on the Saturn. You should check out the Saturn shmups, some of the best ever
@@VicariouslyRetro The 2d Saturn stuff is tempting but I like playing OG hardware on a CRT as everything plays and just pops better. Saturn seems really hard to collect for expense wise
@@zajicapp yea I hear ya, man. I play on OG hardware too but I use a framemeister to upscale. Unfortunately, every game cost way over $100 today, even some being over $200/$300. So stupid anymore.
The problem here is the compromised overhead stages in this port. If you're going to recommend it, the X68000 version can be easily emulated these days and is the version to recommend IMO
Yea that is a good point. I always try to recommend original hardware though, unless the prices are insane. In this case, the genesis version is relatively cheap
100% And in regard to Japan, the mega drive was launched in Japan in October of 1988 where as TF3 came out in Japan in June 1990. I’ll have to see what the exact launch titles were, I’m not even sure to be honest
I disagree. TF2, is the Superior shooter... NOT the sequels. TF2 has much higher quality music and sound effects... And much greater details, in its Graphics. The later versions may have had more Parallax effects... but the graphics were far blockier. And unfortunately, Organics didnt look very good on the Genesis, due to its limited color palette... so TF3's attempt at making organic looking stages, looked quite bad.
Additionally, I believe I beat TF3 in a single day... Where as it took me like a year of on and off playing, to finally beat TF2. When you play defeated a game that cost like +$60 , in a few hours, or a single day... it really ticked a lot of people off. No game should be that Easy to defeat. It shows very poor game / level balancing.
The Top view stages were Fun, and Unique... But I do agree, that a mini map would have almost made them Perfect. The top view scrolling speed could have been reduced a little. And the range of your bombs, could have been Increased by an inch (Just adjust the number of hits per target, if needed).
One of main the issues I had, when I first started to play TF2... was that I didnt read the manual... and didnt realize that the ship was actually dropping bombs. I was thinking... "Why arent my bullets seeming to effect these turrets?". When I finally read the manual, and realized the "Circles" were a representation of bombs... I finally started to make some good progress.
Personally, I think it would be even better, if someone modded the bombs to be a little more like Xevious... where you have to precisely time your shots... and use a separate bomb button to drop them. Maybe adding a bomb falling noise, and at very least... a Special bomb explosion effect, would also help. This, the slight slowdown of the Upper walls, and a mini Map... would have made the Best Shooter that was ever Created, IMO. Because as it stands, TF2 is Still my alltime favorite shooter... despite the top view issues.
Now... if you press A+B+C+START button at the title screen, you can choose your starting stage (limited to like level 5 or 6). This is ultimately the only way I was able to beat the game. I would start on level 5 or 6 (cant recall), and then work my way up to the Last Boss in the Caves, before the final stage... and get my Behind handed to me. Now, as much as I love a good challenge... that Boss was way too difficult. Especially after burning through most of my lives, to get to him. I had to sort of Cheat on that boss... by rapidly pressing the start button... to pause/un-pause the game... creating a sort of slow-motion effect. Even that was challenging... as trying to repeatedly tap the start button... at the same time as trying to control the ship, was no easy task within itself. BUT.. it was still a LOT easier than trying to dodge a billion lightning fast projectiles, and laser blasts. Admittedly, Im sure my Gamer Skills back then, were not as good as my current Adult Self.. but still.
Interestingly enough... the X68000 version of TF2, has a much weaker version of the same cave boss. That said... the x68000 version also has a few more stages, too.
One day, I vow to beat TF2, starting from stage 1.
Finally, one more comment about Difficulty. In games like R-Type... if you lost your ship on a late stage of the game, and thus all of your powerups... its was almost impossible to recover from the resulting disaster. It would always put you back at a certain checkpoint... and you were typically far too under-powered to survive. This is due to that games very poor + unfair game balance. But with TF2... even when you lose all of your weapons... your main starter weapon is perfectly fine for dealing with pretty much anything that comes at you. In fact... you often have to switch back to it for certain areas... because its the only weapon that fires fast enough, to deal with certain things (such as clearing the rocks, and destroying the fast missile assault). Furthermore... TF2 doesnt have dreaded Checkpoints. You can crash... but the screen will keep scrolling... and will place your new ship down, without stopping the action at all. This allows you to tank through an entire Level... if you wanted too. Of course, since you wont have enough lives to tank more than a few stages... there is no way to Abuse this. You get to see whats ahead of your natural gaming skill level... but then are motivated to work hard... so that you can reach that later stage, without Tanking through everything. Eventually you build up enough skills to be very conservative with your lives... and thus, finally able to make it to the late stage boss.. with a few lives still left in reserve.
I will say, that I was a little depressed at the games Ending. While it was "OK"... I sort of felt robbed, compared to the sheer effort it took to defeat that game. But not only that... The game was so damn innovative and impressive... that you sort of expected the ending to be equally as Impressive.
Out of the 52 Genesis games that I had bought... I only really replayed about 7 of them. TF2 was my favorite game out of them all... AND, was also the game I replayed the most. Even after I defeated it... I still often fire the game back up, to play it again.
I will also add... that Ive never heard a Video game Soundtrack, that is anywhere near as good as TF2. The closest game, was "Target Earth", which was an equally awesome game. A game that probably doesnt get the recognition that it Deserves... especially for its insane creativity, in how the later stages / gameplay functions... and the feel of "realism" of controlling a giant mech (including the ability to run into your own explosives, and destroy yourself as a result!). There are a lot of Surprises in that game! And the cinematic story animations in the beginning (if you dont hit start, it will eventually play), is phenomenal.
Man, this has got to be the longest and most in-depth comment I have gotten since I started this channel lol. I am pinning this so everyone can see this.
I can't argue with you over you liking this game over the sequels. It really comes down to preference. They're really different games, in my opinion. I always loved this game. It doesn't get enough love and it's annoying that it's forgotten due to people loving the sequels.
That's impressive that you beat TF3 in one day. It took me some time.
Yea, I love the fact that you can start from a different stage by pressing ABC+Start, it gives you a chance to really practice and it avoids the monotony of playing the same stages in a row. Such a highly underrated feature in the game.
It's awesome to hear that this was your favorite game out of your collection growing up. I respect that cause it shows that you really paid attention to the details of this game.
While I love this soundtrack, I will say my favorite soundtracks are The Adventures of Batman & Robin, Gunstar Heroes, X-Men 2 the Clone Wars (thinking off the top of my head). But I agree, this soundtrack is awesome.
Awesome comment and thanks for adding your input on this game!
@@VicariouslyRetro Thanks. Have you played "Target Earth" in depth?
It took me about 1 hour or more, to get past the first stage. Arcade level of Difficulty. There are a few tricks you need to realize, to get you going places... such as not stopping to try to fight everything (or you get swarmed, and destroyed).
As much as I loved challenging games... I really struggles with TE... so it was the first time that I had decided to call Sega's help line.
The Operator was friendly, and gave me a few tips over the phone. Then she said she would send me a help sheet, or something like that. Not too long afterwards, I got an envelope in the mail, with something like 8 pages worth of tips.
That said, I eventually discovered the Cheat mode... by (I believe) pressing the start menu button on player 2's controller.
That allowed me to defeat the game. But interestingly enough... even with infinite health... there were still a few ways to get a Game Over! Quite the set of surprises.
I believe I had gotten through 3/4 ths of the game.. before I learned about the cheat. As such, I did get pretty good at the game. But just like TF2... I vow to one day beat the game without the cheat.
I really love the music, as well as the Realisms. For example... if you shoot an explosive.... and run into the explosion, your own explosives WILL cause damages to yourself.
There is also a slight delay from when you press Jump... until the Mech leaps into the air. At first, its a little annoying... but eventually you get used to the timing. It makes the feeling a lot more realistic... because a +100 ft tall mech, weighing countless thousands of pounds, isnt ever going to control like a Supercar. There certainly would be a delay, trying to make such a heavy thing jump into the air.
I also loved a lot of the Creativity in the game... such as the level where your friends actually start firing on the enemies, and Help you. Most programmers would never go that far... as its quite the additional challenge.
The music, especially the Jazzy Synth like guitar shredding.. in outstanding. The only issue I have... is wishing that there was more tracks.
Also, there is a fantastic Cinematic of the Story.. if you dont press any buttons at the title screen. Amazing parallax art, of ships being shot, smoking, on fire, and blowing up... and much more.
If I had the resources, Id make a special seat that you sit in, to specifically play this game. In which, the seat is counter-weighted (like a see-saw)... so when you use your feet to "Jump", the chair would go up like 10 feet into the air... with a nice "Floaty" cruise through the air.. and a nice soft landing. Adding in Bass-Shaker transducers or actual solenoids, for simulating guns firing, would also be a good thing to add, too.
They made a modern version of the game... but I took one look at it, and It ticked me off. The explosions on the new version are so badly done, that I could never accept it. The original, is the way to go.
@@VicariouslyRetro One final thing... A good idea for a future video, is reviewing the Rare Sega Modem game called "16t"
(16 Tons).
I only recently discovered this Amazingly addictive GEM of a Game. The first play, and I probably clocked a good 4 hours on it... as I couldnt stop playing it. It really should have gotten its on Cartridge release.
16 tons, is a game that is somewhat similar to Teddy Boy Blues, where the screen wraps around. However, rather than shooting bullets.. you launch these massive 16 ton weights onto the enemies. These weights have an actual physics engine! So they can bounce on each other, Slide into things, and gradually break apart.
The amount of crazy things that can take place per round.. is pretty amazing. Its challenging, addictively fun, and downright hilarious.
Best regards
@@johndough8115 I do own Target Earth but I bought not too long ago and haven't had a chance to play it super in-depth. I mainly got it cause it was the first entry for the Assault Suits series which got great reviews. I'll def check it out soon though. I just read your in-depth commennt and I'll consider it when playing!
@@johndough8115 Ah I never heard of 16t. Crazy how after 30+ years you're still hearing about new games. Thanks for the suggestion!
Also, I forgot to mention that many people don't realize that you can access the menu on the title screen by pressing A and THEN the Start button at the same time, which offers a stage select (only the first 5 levels), number of lives, difficulty selection (which is crazy cause normal is hard AF), etc. If you just hit the start button, the game starts immediately. "This is Exceliza. Roger, good luck!"
good tip! Yeah, I can't get into the top down stages where I just keep crashing into the wall and can't figure out what needs to be done next. But an excellent reminder this was a launch title and compared to the others, wow, this game is pretty amazing. I'm sure if I had it back in the day I would have LOVED it but in present day I fell in like many others just jumping right into Thunder Force 3. I can't regret that choice as 3 still remains my favorite shooter of all time.
@@francescosmith7859 yea it takes times to get used to those stages… and patience 😂
Yea I never played this at launch, wish I did though. But like you said, man, 3 and of course 4 are just so much better
@@francescosmith7859 In each of the Top view stages, there are like 4 or 5 "Bases" that need to be Destroyed. They are located all over the massive Map... and are not always easy to find. In the first stage... its unique in that there are special "Doors" (force-fields, between the walled-off sections) that you can open... if you shoot these special targets on either side of them. I believe one of these sections has TWO doorways... and so you have to re-enter the area, and find the 2nd doorway to the final Base. Obviously, if you have enough lives.. you can often tank through a wall, to get to a certain base... but at the same time... you also might end up getting much more Lost.. in doing that.
The other part that is difficult, is that your "Auto-Dropped-Bombs" (the blue and yellow circles that you see) ...have a very limited range. I believe they only shoot about 3 inches in front of your ship, at the most. As such... you need to get REALLY close to the Turrets, in order to be able to hit, and destroy them... which is quite challenging.
TF3 is ok... but its way too easy, IMO. TF2 gives you a much better overall challenge.
So cool to see someone actually talking good about this game. Like you said, most people write it off because 3 & 4 are just goated. Yet if you played this back when it came out, it was almost a masterpiece for its time.
Also, it was the same for me, I went from Atari 2600 to the Sega Genesis. Love the Genesis even to this day and still play on it. Been hooked on Gleylancer lately.
Exactly, man! I had to show some love that this game deserved.
Yea I'm actually glad I didn't have an NES in hindsight cause getting a Genesis after the Atari 2600 made the Genesis that much better for me. Never played Gley Llancer... might pick it up on the Switch. Thanks!
@VicariouslyRetro it's a great shmup. I would say Gleylancer is pretty close to thunder force 3.
@@buckroger6456 sweet! sounds awesome
Thunder force 2 Rocks! This was my jam back in the day. It got me into shooters. I love the overhead levels. I would try to get the best times when playing. One of my favorites of my childhood. I played this till I finally beat it. And it was GLORIOUS!!!
Nice! Beating this is game is very impressive! Yea I actually enjoy the overhead stages. They’re tough and can be frustrating at times like I mentioned in the video, but they’re still a lot of fun cause it’s a fun and fair challenge
D-Force has both vertical and horizontal levels. And that's all that needs to be said there.
Darius Twin was my introduction to this lovely genre. Pew pew! 🚀
@@Marzimus never played D-Force. Is it worth picking up?
@@VicariouslyRetro I would not recommend. You can always rent a rom for 24 hours. 😉
@@Marzimus haha true
Never knew about this game. Looks fun.
It definitely is!
Did you ever own this game growing up? Was it a weekend rental? Was this your pickup at launch? Or did you skip it when Thunder Force 3 came out? Let me know your memories with this game in the comments!
Played 3 and 4 first. 2 is really good and very impressive for 1989
@@richterbelmont5506 yea same with me too. I played 3 and 4 before I played 2. That seems to be the general consensus
Just bought TF 3 complete in box as I'd never played any of the series. Great game and 1cc'd it last night. TF 2 still looks to be a worthy purchase.
You 1cc’d it?! Very nice! Impressive… most impressive (Darth Vader voice)! But yea, TF2 is def a solid entry. I would say TF2 is def a harder game, so if you’re looking for a solid challenge, def give it a try
@@VicariouslyRetro Thanks. I played it after dinner and kids to bed every night for a week. Super addictive and plan to do Mania mode. I've heard TF 4 is tougher and plan to pick it up as well. I'm a late bloomer to shumps, but am finally discovering their greatness!
@@zajicapp haha nice. Yea that’s the only time to play. I gotta wait for my kids to go to bed and sneak down lol. But I’ve been playing shmups for some time now, but more so on the Saturn. You should check out the Saturn shmups, some of the best ever
@@VicariouslyRetro The 2d Saturn stuff is tempting but I like playing OG hardware on a CRT as everything plays and just pops better. Saturn seems really hard to collect for expense wise
@@zajicapp yea I hear ya, man. I play on OG hardware too but I use a framemeister to upscale. Unfortunately, every game cost way over $100 today, even some being over $200/$300. So stupid anymore.
The problem here is the compromised overhead stages in this port. If you're going to recommend it, the X68000 version can be easily emulated these days and is the version to recommend IMO
Yea that is a good point. I always try to recommend original hardware though, unless the prices are insane. In this case, the genesis version is relatively cheap
Nice vid once again
Thanks, bro!
Love thunder force 2 and TF3 plus TF4 is the best shooter for the mega drive great video 👍
Agreed! Thanks!
Definitely the best original launch title.
Actually I think it was at the original 1988 Japanese launch.
100%
And in regard to Japan, the mega drive was launched in Japan in October of 1988 where as TF3 came out in Japan in June 1990. I’ll have to see what the exact launch titles were, I’m not even sure to be honest