Classic Game Room - LIGHTENING FORCE review for Sega Genesis

Lightening Force review (Lightning Force review) www.ClassicGame...
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Classic Game Room reviews LIGHTENING FORCE ( aka LIGHTNING FORCE aka THUNDER FORCE IV 4 ) for the Sega Genesis 16 Bit Mega Drive video game console system. This SHMUP horizontal scrolling shooter on the Megadrive is a very fun and challenging airplane shooter. Made by the masters of space ship shooting games on the Genesis, Technosoft, this is basically Thunder Force IV. We're not sure why they dropped the Thunder and went with Lightning or Lightening. But this is TF4 and it's incredible, one of the best shooters on the 16bit Megadrive. As with the other Thunder Force games like TF2 and TF3, you are that lone starfighter shooting aliens and countless bad guys in a variety of well designed and exotic locations in deep space. Many of the familiar weapons are here like Hunter. TF4 will remind you of games like Life Force and Gradius with it's familiar yet enjoyable side scrolling shmups style gameplay with power ups and end bosses and whatnot. The music is fantastic and everyone with a Sega should own this game and play it for days, it has incredible gameplay and the footage shows a variety of the levels and situations that you encounter. Thunder Force 4 is a worth successor to Thunder Force 3, but I wish they'd have just called it TF4 over here. Be sure to watch the original Classic Game Room episodes. Classic Game Room was the original classic video game review show on the Internet in 1999-2000, now on DVD. The HD series is reviewing PS3, PS2, Genesis, NES, Atari and Xbox 360. XBLA. videos review reviews show wii

[@radishattack]

Actually there are ninjas in EVERY game, they're just that good at hiding.

[@sonyacoombs1874]

I am a 25 year old mom of two beautiful children with an awesome job, I love the adult life....but after the tikes are in bed and hubby s knocked out cold, I smoke me a fat ass blunt and then play this game. It IS, WAS, and ALWAYS will be my FAVORITE Saga Genesis game!!! I wish they had a sequal, I'd pay my top dollar for it! True classic awesomeness!!! B-)......btw, did I mention that this game has f*ckin awesome ass rock music, no lie..like the electric guitars in it really make the game that much better...makes u wanna rock out while kickin some "enemy" ass..LMAO!! ^_^

[@Logicfray]

They made many sequels.

[@rjcarello]

Sonya Brown Thunder Force V for Playstation. Thunder Force VI for Playstation 2 (Japan only - requires japanese compatible console.)

[@MCJdiz]

Sonya Brown You are the right kind of person

[@SamusKerrigan]

that's a lie, we never marry

[@FunkMastaMegaFlex]

Lol.

[@RogerSullivanNOLA]

The music is "Soldier Without Faith" by Yngwie Malmsteen. They also used "On The Run Again," from the same Yngwie album in this game.

[@GeahkBurchill]

I bought this after me and my little brother had saved up for months for X-Men Apocalypse. When we arrived at the game store we had to get a rain check for X-men and so, on a whim, we decided instead to buy this. We were so glad we did! We played this so much we ultimately could beat the game on a single life. Later on we eventually played X-men which, as you may recall, was utter ass.

[@Dirk1Steele]

One of the finest games on the 16-Bit machine. Certainly a game to pull out if you want to show someone what the system could do. And Technosoft certainly knew how to make the console sing. What a soundtrack!

[@KitFireburn]

"That's lightening force, and know that when you're playing it, you're not lightening the load to help a friend out. You're lightening the enemy of their lives, by taking it from them, in a fiery explosion of death." Badass quote is badass. B)

[@ryzmaker11]

Best hori shooter of its era 8) It's so amazingly made it's rather a next gen' game! Tecno Soft... DAMN i miss you! You rocked so hard on Mega Drive / Genesis (& also on Saturn).

[@Sabz5150]

She's saying "Claw". That's the name of the two rotating "options" around your ship.

[@milkapeismilky5464]

Great memories! This is the first game I bought for my Genesis! The soundtrack, graphics and sound effects are SO iconic. I've gotta find this for my new / old Genesis!

[@SpiralPegasus]

You can either a) Get the Saturn version, "TF Gold Pack" b) Overclock your Genesis c) Emulate it Any of the three will give you massive joy - I guarantee :)

[@milkapeismilky5464]

Bought this game with my Genesis Model 2 at ToysR'Us. First big boy console. Loved "Lightening Force", despite the strange nomenclature. Gonna play it on Genesis Mini right now!

[@philrangersfootball]

just picked this up today,amazing looking game.

[@vodkamartini7545]

the music sounds like the first level of Doom!

[@Utubesuxmycock]

WRONG the intro is a straight up copy of Yngwies Soldier without faith fking noob

[@fuzzydragon]

you know that thing they installed on your ship was the "thunder sword" if you stop shooting for a few seconds it charges up into a doomsday beam cannon, was kinda laughing at you for not noticing this.

[@brpadington]

Thanks for the review.. I'm gonna go home and try it on my Arcade Cabinet.

[@mitchjohnson4714]

I love the humor of this review. My favorite part was when you wrote "Krull"

[@NESFreak]

Thunder spirits was the snes port of thunder force AC, which was the arcade port of thunder force III for the mega drive. (CGR has reviewed both btw)

[@creekandseminole]

The sound effects in this game are soooo crunchy, but awesome!!! It's like a more rough around the edges shmup that you'd find on the other side of the tracks that's outside the mainstream and a fan favorite only.

[@myutube67]

"electrocutes people, and blows up windmills" xD best quote ever.... well mayb not considering classic game room still exists :D

[@Doc_Valparaiso]

The intro sounds a lot like "Electric Eye" by Judas Priest.

[@HexenStar]

:-) Not even close. Sounds like a generic, run-off-the-mill 1/8ths-based metal riff. And even that, was most likely stolen from somewhere...

[@wildbird5150]

I always loved 16-bit speed metal.

[@wolfen337]

this game is really bad ass!

[@LorenHelgeson]

I've heard nothing but good praise about this game for some time now. I picked it up recently and played it for the first time last night. First question I had for myself after that first level was "how come I didn't play this sooner." It deserves every bit of kudos it has received.

[@c.s.hayden3022]

That game title has to be my favorite typo. The parallax is still beautiful today and outdoes most modern horizontal shooters. The soundtrack sounds like they were actually trying for a cohesive musical score. A quality challenge through and through.

[@8bitcpu]

Dude I love your reviews. I'm looking forward to more of them.

[@ismoketreezz]

Potatoe forcce IV

[@eyanla2]

Loved this game! Brings back memories, but I was surprised that you didn't let the new core charge up and fire it when you got it. That is what the other ships install when they dock you on their tractor beam. It's like a combination haduken Kamehameha wave Lazer sword that fires at various levels depending on how long you let it charge. The full charge blast lays waste like no body's business. Awesome post though, I was just surprised you didn't even mention it. Perhaps during button mashing you never seen it charge. It charges automatically when you are not hitting the fire button. ;)

[@Prizrak-hv6qk]

This game pushed the Genesis really hard with all that parallax scrolling, huge well-animated bosses and on-screen insanity... almost too hard. Gives that brisk 16-bit CPU a good workout for sure. The only complaints I have are the quality of digitized speech and occasional bad slowdowns.

[@iwanttocomplain]

Just realised. Play the PAL version of this game for reduced slow down. Because 50hz allows for a greater performance on the SEGA Mega Drive.

[@stpierreorama]

If you love this game then also check out Eliminate Down and Gley Lancer, also on the Genesis! For a vertical shooter you gotta check out MUSHA!

[@arcadeportal32]

This game is hard as shit but so much fun!

[@ricardomauricioaraya7625]

arcadeportal32 I managed some how to make it to the boss on level 8 without loosing a single life. Never beat that boss though!!! Wish I knew the 100 lives cheat back then!!!

[@krissymarklewis1793]

I really should like this but I don't, I'm terrible at it. My main grope is the weapons carry no weight whatsoever. My fave shmup on the genesis is Fireshark.

[@moonlightaffairs]

the thing the friendly forces fix on you will make your fire a forward trusting powerful laser lancer which will be a great help becos there will be a lot of mini bosses afterward. but i forgot how to activate it, its years back and i got this game too.

[@Toarcade]

It's no Truxton but it's great nonetheless!

[@Eth3realwarrior]

Revisiting the good ol days of CLASSIC GAME ROOM!

[@zanegandini5350]

I'm just going to assume (though I'm not certain) that the "e" in Lightening Force is from a translation error and not intentional, since translators make errors like that pretty commonly.

[@SpiralPegasus]

The best Genesis game ever? Sonic 1, 2, 3? Shinobi? Sparkster? Streets of Rage 2? No! Not at ALL! THIS ONE IS IT!!

[@robertsantiago3102]

Never said anything about the "lightning sword" that is charged by not shooting... Best weapon of the game.

[@joemel2]

I had this and have very fond memories of this game.they simply don't make them like this anymore. and the music,omfg the music was so good!

[@VeronRVR]

The voice when you get the circle things that surround your ship says "CRAW", which stands for Constitutional Ray Art Weapon.

[@nintendoentertainmentsyste5705]

You can now play this on your Nintendo Switch which is awesome news.

[@HyperShot05]

08:10 - those upgraded 'CRAW's charges up powerful laser sword when fire button is released for few seconds, it's hard to control but pure awesome ownage once mastered. You don't know the true force of 'lightening'* until you've seen it in full action. on wiki - *to lighten: (can also mean)To make brighter or clearer; to illuminate.

[@sural89]

the best shooter of the 16 bits era is on genesis period i always wonder how they could make it possible on a genesis....the first time i played it back in 92,i was like....WTF!??? yes it's my genesis who does that....:D

[@FractalBolt]

This was a great game back in the day and still is. The soundtrack was amazing and the backgrounds were fucking insane!

[@CommodoreKulor]

Go into the options menu, set the number of lives to 0. Problem solved! :D

[@daminmancejin]

This game is fucking tough I had a hard time getting pass any stage

[@WARPUDDY666]

bad ass game wish I could find it was one of my favorits

[@MrThunderwing]

Man, I loved this game so much back in the day. I remember being totally blown away by the intro the first time I turned it on. Such amazing graphics and music for a humble 16 bit game.

[@kmichael9787]

anyone else get a 'Bark at the moon' feeling at the start of that song there

[@RigbyIsTheMan]

is it me or is this a sped up version of thunder force 4?

[@zachreddy]

"Just waiting for a new Genesis with HDMI that outputs 720p"... it only took 9 years for Sega to catch up with your vision of the future!

[@RigbyIsTheMan]

Not yet haha

[@slitheryjuggler94]

Best Genesis game ever...I really don't understand why they changed the name though.

[@Prizrak-hv6qk]

For the same reasons they changed Axel's shirt to yellow and Blaze's dress to gray in Streets of Rage 3. Sega of Amurika... that's why.

[@johnlovesbridge]

OK, they spelled lightning wrong, WE GET IT

[@ShakarProduction]

One of the best games I have ever played in my life, and will continue to do so. Just simply so well made *w*

[@ikeaaron]

@SNESosT Do you know about the extra music that gets unlocked in the sound select after you beat the game? I'm sure you probably know about it already, but if you didn't, look up 'Thunder Force IV Omake' in youtube or, better still, beat the game and try it for yourself! ;)

[@hootyhaha]

I thought you said M.U.S.H.A. was the best video games on the Sega Genesis! :) Some of us watch , listen, and remember. Also, this game looks like a M.U.S.H.A. copy cat. Same company? Or a company that picked up on M.U.S.H.A.? OORRR was this game out before M.U.S.H.A. and the company that made M.U.S.H.A. copied Lightening Force? You're now asking yourself "How many times can you type M.U.S.H.A. in one comment space?" :)

[@deebznutz100]

I have lived in the states all my life and only knew this game as thunder force 4 and the upgrade you get after stage 5 is acually the thunder sword. Most people dont know about it because they never take their thumb off of the shoot button long enough to see it charge you also need the claw to make it work

[@968one]

Potatoe Force! Hell yeah!!!

[@Skriak]

Oh, it certainly doesn't rival Doom, which has undoubtably one of the best soundtracks ever, but the style is very similar. Doom as a game has aged horribly, like most FPSs, but the soundtrack is timeless.

[@Ecko50100]

recently got this from a friend, fantastic game and music- then realized that this was something Mark would like and whaddaya know it happens to be thunder force 4.

[@guardiangait]

@metalfro Very True, I heard that the lightening attack is called "Thunder Sword" In all honesty. I liked the way your ship looks before they install the upgrade. It also sucks that you cannot use thunder sword unless you have the Claw with you, but then again that is the challenge of staying alive.

[@Skriak]

Well, that was a clever response. I compliment the game, compare its soundtrack to another epid one I know, and get insulted as a result. Hardly seems justified, does it?

[@Totonatiq]

Oh man! I played this game so much back in the day! Loved it!

[@Hayatenogotokuluey]

Two thinks I would like to say 1. The Option is Called a Craw and 2. The Modification that you got after stage 5 is A Lightning sword (Or thunder sword) It makes huge Dammage... Just hold your fire for a brief moment and shoot.... Hope that helps

[@nyem24]

Dat paralax scrolling!!!!!!!!!

[@mitchjohnson4714]

Awesome review.

[@FIXTREME]

Hunter... Now THERE'S a show no one remembers! But then again, you did...

[@decapattack]

Looks like you died at the 7th boss... LOL;;;;

[@dreamtheaterz28]

I really wish you would have done a 2 part review on this game. I think its the best out of this series by a long shot. The Music and the backround are incredible! This is my all time favoriet Sega game. PERIOD. And i never did beat it, always got stuck somwhere towards the end. BTW the voice says COLT! colt is the thing that spins around you that is all bad ass n stuff : D thank you for doing these. Genisis is my fav system as well! keep up thegreat work!

[@Sabz5150]

For fans of the soundtrack, if you complete the game (on at least Normal mode) the sound test in the config panel will include the end music, credit music and some "omake" tracks... music that isn't in the game, but has that same theme. Ya gotta love little bonuses like that. You also get to see the part of the storyline setting up for Thunder Force V, when the wreckage of the ship you just piloted is found by humans...

[@Zukan]

It's too bad there is no HD remake, or at least port, of this on XBLA or PSN but you can still play the original on your PS3 if you install linux. It's awesome with a wireless DualShock controller ;D The best thing though (next to the real consoles) is to get an old modded xbox with emulators, you can play almost every Thunder Force game in the franchise. Not too sure about the first but I have 2,3,4 and 5 on it, fully playable! Add a component cable for HD output and you're all set!

[@Chasmodon]

In two words, Mark: FUCK YEAH! Waaaay back in 1991?2?, my brother coaxed my Mom into spending $75 - on a nonbirthday, nonholiday Friday night in summer! - on Thunder Force III, and my world got changed forever. The menacing difficulty! Awesome graphics! the shit-your-pants bosses! The tunes rocked me like no game on any console before or since. I knew there was a thunder Force 4, but thought it never came Stateside. I remember a Lightening Force and thought it was a cheap knockoff!

[@Donpachido]

She's saying CLAW but it does sound like KRULL mostly because in a Japanese dialect L and R are interchangeable and pronounced the same. This game was close to Arcade quality graphics in 1992, gameplay wise it outpaced most shooters as well. I only have a model1 to component cable but I might splice s-video onto it one day I feel adventurous. Thanks for all the reviews. No other reviewer I follow can match your humor or ability to show how much fun a game that might be labeled hardcore can be.

[@johnraymondt.domingo4105]

miss your videos on KZbin but I gueast editing video is getting expensive and time consuming. one of this day I'm gonna subscribe in you patreon.

[@SpiralPegasus]

This is the best one, but you should check 3, 5 and 6 too! (1 is near impossible to get, and 2 is kind of meh).

[@TheUndert0ker]

Great review, just picked it up on teh ebay. You should review Whip Rush, great classic genesis space shooter.

[@bytex666]

The only big issue with this game is that the backgrounds are so vibrant and colorful that they obscure the view of your ship and options..it's also hard to see enemy shots when they're almost the same colour as the background..but man, the music kicks ass. A japanese metal guitarist called SSH has done lots of metal cover versions of Thunder force songs.

[@bbutters2]

This game ROCKS! It is 100x better than that b.s. Super The Earth Defense Force for SNES, which is a terrible clone of this game. SEDF has 10 weapons to choose from at the beginning of each stage and only 2 will help you, seriously, the others are practically useless and the only 2 good weapons are homing based lasers/shots! Viva la Lightening Force!

[@ikeaaron]

@deadlygroove1 You're completely right. I make electronic music as well and my bias is based on it's low bit rate sample playback, but you're absolutely right about FM synthesis. Yuzo Koshiro showed what the Genesis was truly capable of with the Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle series, especially with part 3. Kudos, bro.

[@FunkyFranky80]

The game,which is called Thunderforce IV here in Euroland,arrives yesterday,complete in its clamshell box + instruction manual,overall in good condition...and i must say...what a blast!! great gameplay,great graphics and a soundtrack from another planet.Absolutely one of the best shootem ups ever created,perhaps the best...absolutely recommended!

[@ikeaaron]

The improvement is obvious as soon as you power the game on. The layers of parallax scrolling, the colors, the brilliant quality of the sounds and composition of music on that shitty Genesis sound chip, the music easter eggs, tight controls and tough but fair gameplay make this the best on the console and in the series.

[@metalfro]

FYI, the "Lightening" part also refers to the lightning weapon that you have when your "Claw" weapon (not "Krull", though thanks for giving kudos to that awesome movie!) is upgraded to the "orb" version at the end of level five. If you let up on the fire button for 3-5 seconds the orbs will charge and you can then unleash a powerful lightning attack.

[@metalfro]

Lightening Force was named as such due to a licensing snafu Sega ran into while bringing the title to the US from Japan via Technosoft. Not sure why the name still ended up as Engrish, but it's the quintessential shoot-em-up for the Genesis, bar-none. Some prefer one of another 2 or 3 games (some prefer TF3), but to me, TF4/LF is THE shooter to have for the Sega Genesis.

[@KDCW3534A]

The voice says claw. Also, why not play these games on a PC in an emulator? It upscales the picture you can add texture filtering, you can send the picture to a TV using a HDMI lead, edit the controls to suit, you can use any controller with it too. I own a Sega Megadrive (I'm in the UK) and I find the emulator my preferred way to enjoy these classic games.

[@aryinc]

the music stays jawdropping good,the bassline is insane good the guitar is awesome for any 16 bit console,some of th best music heard in any 16 bit 32 bit game.awesome serie,insane what they could ram out of a genesis,the system had a goldmine hidden in its micro instlment,gunstar and this game an batmana and robin are awesome.

[@Captofthisship]

Case/ game will run you about $90, Complete is $160 now. 05/22/22

[@Cmoneycash484]

Not sure what the name of those spinning orbs are called but I do know it a new weapon they give you and it's pretty damn throwed you have to stop shooting for about 3 seconds and it charges up and starts to ark with an electric current then when you shoot again you release a powerful energy blast!

[@Yarsh52]

Will we see more Sega CD reviews? Their is a good side scroller shoot em' up called Lords of Thunder for the Sega CD that you might find worth reviewing. There is also the game Snatcher as well, which is a mix between Blade Runner and the Phoenix Wright games.

[@predaking2wings]

I just played this game it started fine but it got very hard sometimes i needed the 99 lives trust me if your not a pro this game this will kick your but!

[@DuoDynamo]

Hell yeah, I'd love to play some GLaDOS Force on my Sega Genesis! ...oh God, why did I make this joke?

[@MatticusFinch1820]

bought this off ebay along with TF2 and 3 and while this one is awesome ( i think it has better music then TF3 but TF3 has better levels in my opinion) i still play TF3 more and i recently bought TF5 for psx so i hope that one is as good.

[@STRosenow]

The Computer says "Claw" not "Krull" and if you get the new weapon at the end of level 5 stop pushing the fire-button for a few seconds, and than you see the real FORCE. Dieses Spiel zeigt MUSHA in jeder hinsicht wo Barthel den Most holt.

[@Outshinedsg]

I love the soundtrack for this game. The groove-driven tracks like the one for the space level are amazing. The attachments for your ship are called "Craw" (Engrish for Claw?). At least, thats what they are in TF V, anyway...

[@KaskelotenZebbe]

The upgraded "Krull" lets you use a super weapon that charges when you release the fire button. After a few seconds, a "pling" is heard and you can release the tr00 "Lightening Thunder Force", which is devastating and very useful on more powerful enemies.

[@jbmaru]

@Cineviggo I think it's only on our European version...

[@TwistedBananaProductions]

borrowed this from my neighbor many times in my childhood. Now I can no death it.....on a good day.

[@charlene2400]

I dumped III & IV like a bad habit, kept II to torture guest players. I can't see fast enough for these

[@TheEliaz78]

SNES can't run this game.. so many things in the screen woow technically amazing!

[@meer1120]

Tis game is extremely intense to the extent that the hardware can barely cope, as evidenced by the many slowdowns during gameplay. Even in Easy mode, it will push both gamer and hardware to the limit.

[@edotsuki1979]

@gtaplayer86 your a rare breed, the youngsters now of days dont give a crap about 1990s work of art, most of these youngsters today are born in the 1990s but they just dont care??? arigato!!!