{"id":113271,"date":"2020-05-22T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_thunder_force_ac"},"modified":"2020-05-22T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T15:00:00","slug":"review-sega-ages-thunder-force-ac-another-sega-rarity-comes-to-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2020\/05\/22\/review-sega-ages-thunder-force-ac-another-sega-rarity-comes-to-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC &#8211; Another Sega Rarity Comes To Switch"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d5f11c99e39f9\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d5f11c99e39f9\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\" readability=\"2\"><a title=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105181\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105181\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-docked\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>In the early \u201890s, it was believed by many Mega Drive \/ Genesis fans that <strong>Thunder Force II<\/strong>, <strong>III<\/strong> and <strong>IV<\/strong> were the best examples of the shoot \u2018em up genre on their system. It was hard to argue with them: the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2016\/09\/feature_the_history_of_technosofts_thunder_force_series\"><strong>Thunder Force<\/strong><\/a> games delivered an awesome combination of constant action, impressive graphical trickery, ridiculous screen-filling weaponry, a thumping soundtrack and a level of difficulty that always provided a real challenge, but rarely felt cheap.<\/p>\n<p>Although Sega published the Mega Drive\u2019s three Thunder Force games, the rights always stayed with their developer Technosoft, but when Technosoft went bust in 2001 and was acquired by a Japanese pachinko company, the entire Thunder Force series \u2013 along with the rest of its game library \u2013 was held in IP purgatory until Sega <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2016\/09\/sega_has_acquired_the_ip_of_one_of_japans_most_underrated_studios\">finally bought it in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the big S has been re-releasing the Thunder Force titles in various retro compilations, including the <strong>Sega 3D Classics<\/strong> series on the 3DS and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/09\/hardware_review_the_genesis_mega_drive_mini_finally_does_segas_history_justice\">Mega Drive Mini<\/a>. When the Sega Ages series launched on the Switch, the first two games were <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_sonic_the_hedgehog\">Sonic<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_thunder_force_iv\">Thunder Force IV<\/a><\/strong>. Here we are about a year and a half later, and with Sega Ages now 18 games strong, it\u2019s time for a Thunder Force rarity to make an appearance.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\" readability=\"2\"><a title=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105180\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105180\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-docked\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_thunder_force_ac\">Thunder Force AC<\/a><\/strong> is a reworked port of Thunder Force III designed for arcades. Although it\u2019s similar in many ways, there are a number of changes that set it apart from the game many already have on their Mega Drive Mini. For starters, two of the Thunder Force III stages \u2013 Haides and Ellis \u2013 have been taken out of Thunder Force AC and replaced with new levels (including a temple stage taken from Thunder Force II). The ability to choose which level to start on is also removed, making it a more linear affair.<\/p>\n<p>Another notable difference is that when you lose all your lives in Thunder Force III and choose to continue, you\u2019re taken back to the mission select screen and have to start the level from scratch. When you continue in Thunder Force AC, your ship respawns where you left off; this makes it much easier to brute force your way through more difficult sections if you only have a life or two left. All of this results in a game that isn\u2019t necessarily better <em>or<\/em> worse than Thunder Force III \u2013 it\u2019s just <em>different<\/em>, and an interesting alternative take.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, this being a Sega Ages release, the team at M2 has introduced a number of tweaks and enhancements to ensure you\u2019re getting more than just the ROM file slapped into an emulator. These include three unlockable ships, each with their own unique properties. The RYNEX ship from Thunder Force IV, for example, has completely different weapons, whereas the STYX Mass Production Model \u2013 which made a cameo as a support ship in the fourth game \u2013 has an interesting quirk where a flame comes out the back when you change speeds. If you change speed at the same time as using a reverse shot to hit an enemy behind you, you\u2019ll get bonus points \u2013 ideal for improving your high score.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\" readability=\"2\"><a title=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105175\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105175\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>There are other, less grandiose additions than entirely new ships, but ones that are arguably even more welcome. The arcade port removed the autofire that came as standard in the Mega Drive game \u2013 the Sega Ages version brings autofire back and enables it by default (though you can turn it off if you\u2019re a massive fan of jabbing your thumb into the B button thousands of times in a row). Given the constant stream of action in the game, this seemingly minor inclusion potentially makes all the difference between whether we recommend buying it or not; a lack of autofire without big arcade buttons to slap could have made this a real chore. Meanwhile, most of the music and sound effects have now been reworked into stereo, when they were mono before.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also a new easier difficulty option, which is rather harshly called Kids Mode. This actually combines a bunch of little tweaks which come together to make the game a lot more welcoming to shoot \u2018em up novices. The number of continues you get increases from 6 to 9 \u2013 which is nice \u2013 plus your shots do a lot more damage than usual, which means bosses can be taken out more quickly. On top of that, if you die you don\u2019t lose any weaponry, which means that once you earn the deadly homing gun you can just unleash death until the credits roll.<\/p>\n<p>No doubt the hardcore shmup fans \u2013 the kind of people who say \u2018shmup\u2019, incidentally \u2013 will turn their noses so far up at this addition that they might actually be able to smell their own brains. Obviously, though, this is only an option; nothing\u2019s being forced upon anyone who wants to play the game the way it was originally intended, and to ensure nobody\u2019s treading on anyone\u2019s turf there are also two separate sets of online leaderboards \u2013 Expert (for the normal, untouched game) and Freestyle (for the game with any options tweaked, including Kids Mode).<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\" readability=\"2\"><a title=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105176\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105176\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The other usual Sega Ages features are in here too, including a handful of filtering and resizing options, and the ability to play in \u2018cabinet mode\u2019, which shows you the game running on an arcade cabinet with general arcade ambience going on behind it. This is hit and miss depending on what game you\u2019re playing, and we\u2019re leaning more towards \u2018miss\u2019 with this one; the screen is just too small to be enjoyable, especially in a shoot \u2018em up where there are lots of bullets flying around.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most surprising improvement here, though, is the addition of HD rumble. Often this feels tacked on when it\u2019s retrospectively added to an older game but it genuinely improves the feel of the Thunder Force AC. It triggers when an enemy is destroyed, almost giving the sense that your ship is feeling the shockwaves from its explosion. Small enemies only make your controller murmur a little, whereas larger ones trigger more defined jolts. It adds to the immersion to a surprising degree and it\u2019s actually one of the better uses of rumble we\u2019ve played in a retro game, which we weren\u2019t expecting.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\" readability=\"2\"><a title=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105179\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105179\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-docked\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Our only other real quibble is that we&#8217;d have liked to have seen the Mega Drive version of Thunder Force III on here, too (and perhaps even the SNES port <strong>Thunder Spirits,<\/strong> purely for completion&#8217;s sake, as it&#8217;s not actually very good). In the same way that previous Sega Ages games like Sonic the Hedgehog, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_columns_ii_a_voyage_through_time\">Columns II<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_ichidant-r\">Ichidant-R<\/a><\/strong> included both Mega Drive <em>and<\/em> arcade variants, it&#8217;s a shame that the same wasn&#8217;t done here; after all, Thunder Force III is so similar to AC that we&#8217;d imagine Sega would never be bold enough to give it its own separate Sega Ages release. It wouldn&#8217;t&#8230; <em>would it?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Given the presence of Thunder Force IV in the Sega Ages series, it\u2019s fair to say that Thunder Force AC isn\u2019t as big a novelty as other Sega Ages arcade games, like <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_virtua_racing\">Virtua Racing<\/a><\/strong> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/sega_ages_g-loc_air_battle\"><strong>G-LOC<\/strong><\/a>. This doesn\u2019t necessarily matter, though; it\u2019s still one of the better shoot \u2018em ups of its time, and the addition of a new mode aimed at less experienced players gives a much-appreciated entry point for gamers who\u2019ve always been interested in the genre but felt intimidated by its generally high level of difficulty. Whether you\u2019re a shmup fiend or a complete amateur, there\u2019s fun to be had here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked) In the early \u201890s, it was believed by many Mega Drive \/ Genesis fans that Thunder Force II, III and IV were the best examples of the shoot \u2018em up genre on their system. It was hard to argue with them: the Thunder Force games delivered an awesome combination of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}