The first time I played Thunder Force was on an arcade emulator years ago – it was the “Thunder Force AC” port from the Genesis to the arcades,one of the only instances ever of a port from console to arcade.  The game didn’t excite me very much, and I can’t have gotten very far, since the only thing I could remember about it was that iconic “game over” tune.

At the time, I did not know that the original game had been on the Genesis.  Once I learned this (on Vizzed!), I gave it a little more time and found it to be quite entertaining.

Gameplay:
It’s pretty difficult, since it is more rapidly paced and unpredictable than other similar
shooters like R-Type and Hellfire. However, it's less strategic than R-Type which makes it more fun for a casual but not hardcore shooter fan. It's pretty easy to learn the ropes here but the difficulty curve remains steep even once I played it a lOT.

The game play is quite complex for such an early shooter, featuring multiple weapons and shooting patterns (Hellfire), variable speed (no precedent that I know of) and satellites that can be picked up as a power-up (R-Type).  Taking hints from Gradius and R-Type both, the game features both level enemies and bosses with specific weak points, which makes the play sometimes frustrating but always exciting and unpredictable. You are also allowed to pick the first stage you want, and then the game will force you through the rest (Mega Man?) Though at first glance Thunder Force III looks like any other side-scrolling shooter, it is remarkably complex, especially for an early release on a home system.

Sound:
The sound effects are Genesis awesomeness, sounding almost like embellished Atari 2600 sounds. But the music is where the game absolutely takes the cake. The music is the best Genesis soundtrack I've ever heard, and it beats the SNES version of the game (Thunder Spirits) by a mile. The tracks are catchy, fast, and have so many levels of sound at once you will hear new pieces to the music depending on the volume level, for example. The music here is as good an example of what the Genesis could do when programmed right as is Donkey Kong Country 2 of the SNES soundchip. 

The fast-paced techno-sounding mix has aged well as it takes on, like so many classic games, a sense of nostalgia when played today (those were the good old days, the 16-bit wars).  

Graphics:

The graphics are perhaps the least specifically noteworthy aspect of the game, not because they are inferior but because everything is so amazing. Thunder Force III is very colorful and features some amazing backgrounds and loads of parallax scrolling. Check out the moving firewall in the background of level "Gorgon" (which is also the best soundtrack, in my opinion).

All in all, this game comes down as one of the premier shooters not just for the Genesis but of the entire era. It's games like this that make me wish we were still arguing about Sega and Nintendo at the local video game store.

If this a really side scroller, then I might try out the game later, and I will probably enjoy the game too. I usually enjoy side scroller games like this to. Great review on the game.