January 2019 Shmup Club - Lightening Force aka Thunder Force IV

[MetalFRO]

[img width=550 height=768]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-040/bf/U-040-S-03290-A.jpg[/img]

Get ready for January, because we're kicking Shmup Club into high gear, with one of the most highly regarded shoot-em-ups of the 16-bit era! Techno Soft had already established themselves as a player on Sega's 16-bit console at launch, with Thunder Force II, and followed that up just a year later with the much improved Thunder Force III. Fans would have to wait two more years, however, for the sequel, but it was worth the wait! When Thunder Force IV dropped in Japan, it was well received, and set a new standard for technical excellence on the Mega Drive. When it hit North American shores, it was renamed Lightening Force: Quest For the Darkstar, possibly due to licensing reasons. Regardless of the name, it's among the elite shmups on the system, alongside M.U.S.H.A., and a handful of other top-tier games.

Join the RF Generation Shmup Club, as we dig into this classic! Thunder Force IV is available for the Sega Mega Drive in both NTSC-J and PAL flavors, and the North American release of Lightening Force is an option as well. The game made an appearance on the Japan-only Thunder Force Gold Pack 2, in a slightly modified form, that both eliminated some slowdown from the game, and also added in the option to play through the entire game using Thunder Force III's ship, the Fire LEO-03 "Styx" vessel. This adds additional playability to the game, and changes up the mechanics somewhat. Fast forward to 2018, and now the Sega Ages line is beginning to appear on the Nintendo Switch, and both the Japanese and international versions of Thunder Force IV are included, along with the added Saturn functionality. There are plenty of ways to enjoy this amazing game, and all that it has to offer, so sign up on the forum thread today!

For scoring, since there are differences between the Japanese and international versions of the original game, please specify which you're playing when you post scores. Also, the Nintendo Switch port by M2 includes both the Japanese and international releases, please specify on that as well. Also, if you're playing either the Saturn or Switch versions, and playing as the FIRE-LEO Styx ship from Thunder Force III, also please specify that, so we can keep scores separate, and recognize everyone putting in the effort.

PARTICIPANTS:
MetalFRO
Addicted
Crabmaster2000
lordb0rb4
EZ Racer
retroshmuper
Golem
Douglie007

HIGH SCORES
Sega Genesis:
Japanese Mega Drive:
Sega Saturn:
Nintendo Switch:

[Crabmaster2000]

Oh baby!! I'm probably in for this one

[lordb0rb4]

Lightning Force?

[MetalFRO]

Lightning Force?

Right you are!

[Crabmaster2000]

Yup. I'm in

[MetalFRO]

Yup. I'm in

Welcome aboard, good sir!

[lordb0rb4]

I'm in as well, another one i've never experienced.

[MetalFRO]

I'm in as well, another one i've never experienced.

Glad to have you back for another month!

[EZ Racer]

I'm in on Genesis

[MetalFRO]

I'm in on Genesis

Welcome to the fight, dude!

[Retroshmuper]

Count me in on this. I never submitted a Steel Empire score but enjoyed playing it, although I only got a few games in. Think I’ll start MD/Genesis for this. My favourite game of the series was 3 but more than happy to get reacquainted with this. Great choice 👍

[MetalFRO]

Count me in on this. I never submitted a Steel Empire score but enjoyed playing it, although I only got a few games in. Think I’ll start MD/Genesis for this. My favourite game of the series was 3 but more than happy to get reacquainted with this. Great choice 👍

Great to have you in for January!

[MetalFRO]

Get hyped!

[Golem]

Nice, will have to check out the video.

My friend gave me some pointers, resulting in: https://mobile.twitter.co...tatus/1079490677170262017

Does the shmup club have.a hash tag?

[MetalFRO]

Nice, will have to check out the video.

My friend gave me some pointers, resulting in: https://mobile.twitter.co...tatus/1079490677170262017

Does the shmup club have.a hash tag?

I haven't done a has tag yet, though I follow the @rfgeneration account on Twitter, and often tag that for a retweet. I am using #rfgeneration when posting my pics to Imgur to repost here. Got any suggestions for a good hashtag?

#rfgenshmupclub maybe?
Or #rfgshmupclub perhaps?

Also - great score! I was playing on Switch earlier, and I'm definitely out of practice! I need to get better, though I started playing the Japanese original, which is harder, and I grew up playing the Genesis version, which definitely takes it easier on the player. And, I went ahead and followed you on Twitter from both my @GameBoyGuru and @shootcorecast podcast accounts. I would definitely suggest following the @RFGeneration account, tag it in posts like that, and also use #shmups and/or #STG, and there are a couple shmup-related accounts that are likely to retweet your posts with those tags, which should help spread the word and get engagement out there. Good to have you on board again this month, dude!