The video is really interesting, the detection cone weapon looks very cool. Looking forward to playing this.

They've put up some more awsum;

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20081007/tf.htm

Completely forgot about this, can't wait to play it now though!

________________________________

- "Your hair looks like shit."

He he. I dug out Thunderforce II on the MD the other day. Couldn't actually remember how to get passed the top down shooty sections, but it still looked bloody frantic . I probably should pick up the others in the series.

Can anyone refresh my memory, isn't Thuderforce II the first game in the series?

Looks like the side scroller might be having a bit of a come back. Thunderforce VI is looking wicked. If the price is right I may well be tempted.

This is also out now...

Never been a huge fan of the Raiden series, but you have to respect it for the belt and braces approach to shmupy goodness. I'm guessing IV is more of the same?

TF6 is out today in Japan according to PA and the like, and I'm intrigued by what I've seen so far in the footage available.

I've been waiting ages for something special to come out! Is this it?

They started shipping them out yesterday at Play Asia, mine's been sent so it should be here around Monday (fingers crossed).

________________________________

- "Your hair looks like shit."

OK - It's official, I smoke FAR too much puff...

I've had Thunderforce sitting here and I only just now remembered

*fires it up*

________________________________

- "Your hair looks like shit."

What a tease! I came in here thinking somebody had played it!

Anyway, I am the same way, a good game arriving at your door step can be surreal experience.

I'll have to play this a lot more before passing proper judgement...

I had a quick session with it last night and found it's a bit hit and miss, it feels like it could have been the stuff of legend had it not been shoved out the door so quickly.

It's VERY well presented, weapons, speed and Over Weapon status is very easy to read - the first trick you need to learn is memorising the weapon order so that you can quickly switch back and forth between them. The game's controls allow you to cycle forwards and backward through the 5 weapons the ship has, you're also able to cycle back and forth through 3 movement speed settings.

It's not clear at all what the weapons actually do though, there's a lot more to it that simple directional variations. For example the one with the huge target detection cone can block certain shots, which in certain situations is absolutely vital. Not sure exactly what shots it can block yet though, same with the little spinning options your ship has swirling around it; I've seen them block or even bend the path of certain shots but it's not clear yet exactly which.

Enemies shot down drop little green pickups which charge the Over meter at the bottom of the screen, hitting the O button when you have enough charge remaining activates a big beam weapon (which also makes you invincible for that period).

Shot patterns are old-school, properly old school - it's nothing like what we're used to now with the huge multi-layered multi-behaviour fireworks displays the enemies throw out. It's back-in-the-day single layer stuff made up of larger shots, your hitbox is pretty huge too just like the older shooting games.

I'm never one to even give a damn about stuff like this, but when it makes the action hard to track I have to mention it. The game runs at a low resolution, this not only ruins the look of the fantastic graphic design which mixes Arabic and Chinese characters together but actually makes the game itself very confusing at times. There's a hell of a lot going on both in the foreground and background and enemy shots have the same glow to them as the Over Weapon pickups AND the explosions. Couple all of this with constant speed and perspective shifting and I'm finding that I'm not being given a clear picture as to what the deal is - what can I hit? what can't I? Is that a pickup? *bang* oops no it's an enemy shot! >_<

Might be another example of it being rushed out the door too quickly, maybe the game wasn't running properly at the regular resolution so they dropped it.
________________________________

- "Your hair looks like shit."

Thanks for your impressions, shame it turned out so uneven. I'll keep my expectations low for whenever I get a chance to play it.

I wondered what happened at SEGA HQ? I suppose even the more capable devs have their moments.

There's a really good (understatement) playthrough here;

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=WCvi4obxnA0&fmt=18

________________________________

- "Your hair looks like shit."