Developer - Technosoft   Catalogue No. - T-18063

Type - Shooting Action

Possibly the best 16bit shooter of all time !!  Technosoft brings Mega Drive owners Thunder Force IV or Lighting Force in the states and keeps it a Sega exclusive (also available on the Saturn as part of Thunder Force Gold pack 2) unlike the others.  Thunder Force AC available for the arcade and Super Famicom is a mix of Thunder Force 2 and 3. and Thunder Force 2 was also released on the Sharp X68000.  Anyway, let's get back to Thunder Force IV.  Now this game has a lot to live up to after it's prequels and it does a really good job at it.  You're first presented with that classic unforgettable Technosoft style cyber rock music as your ship darts across the screen blowing away enemies behind a full screen scrolling Thunder Force logo.  Just from this opening you know there's something special in store for you.

The game playing areas a a whopping two screens in size with some being even higher !!  This leads to basically two different paths through the game depending on which area you stay in the most.  Professional players will be all over the place though trying to blast everything in site.  Stages are long enough to satisfy with out becoming repetitive like some other shooters.  The range of power ups are sort of your standard Thunder Force affair until you reach level 5.  Once level 5 is complete you'll be presented a whole new claw (the Thunder Sword) that boosts your ships weapon power with a mighty blast !

There are 8 fast action paced stages in total with the fist 4 being selectable to play in what ever order you wish.  Complete the game and head back to the options screen (B+START) to find a load of omake (Bonus) audio tracks.

If you're in to shooters and don't have Thunder Force IV then you don't know what a shooter is (^v^)  Get it now!