Thunder Force V

The fifth installment of the series of arcade shooters, prepared by Technosoft, a team specializing in this genre. The title is a port of a game originally published for Sega Saturn in 1997.

Story

The world of the future. Humanity takes possession of the ultra-modern space vehicle "Rynex", which participated in the events presented in Thunder Force IV. The supercomputer called Guardian is built in lunar colony Babel to help humanity understand and use the unknown technology. The machine succeeds in making a series of discoveries that change the earthly world. One day, it gains awareness and decides to take advantage of its enormous potential. It attacks the Blue Planet and easily defeats its ruling government. People's last hope is the talented pilot Cenes Crawford and a group of her friends from the squadron.

Mechanics

Thunder Force V is an arcade shooter in which the player vehicle moves to the right, trying to eliminate all enemies. The devs have prepared several different levels that will put our dexterity and coordination to the test. Traditionally, besides dozens of smaller enemies, a more powerful and much bigger bosses await on every map.

Compared to the previous installments of the series, the devs modified several elements. The most important changes in mechanics concern armament - this time the players do not collect items to improve their equipment. They can also use their energy reserves at any time to briefly combine their weapons into one more powerful tool of destruction.

As the game progresses, subsequent prizes, such as music or concept arts, are unlocked and can be viewed or listened to in a special module. The game's play time is also increased by several levels of difficulty to choose from.

Technical aspects

In Thunder Force V, Technosoft's team applied three-dimensional vehicle sprite for the first time in a series. The backgrounds are still two-dimensional. The PS1 port also includes a number of visual simplifications compared to the Sega Saturn edition. In return, the devs prepared several additional music pieces or cut-scenes presenting the plot. Thunder Force V also makes use of the capabilities of the DualShock controller, enabling the selection of the appropriate speed of movement of the vessel, regulated using the analog knob.

Last updated on April 23, 2020