SNES Longplay [107] Thunder Spirits

[@ericminervini7388]

This is a unique game. I got it for $12. I love the power ups and level/character designs. Musics good and gameplay. I love how u can hold like 5-6 different power ups at once and switch whenever u want. U have a different experience every time. U can also change the speed of ur aircraft while playing

[@TOUKOretrotaku]

This version needed only a good coder . Super aleste or rendering ranger R² have pushed way more on screen without any slowdown .

[@inceptional]

Exactly. If they'd simply used FastROM alone then it would have made a big difference. And optimizing things better also to really play the SNES strengths would have gone the extra mile as well. I see no reason this shouldn't have been running at basically a steady 60fps on SNES.

[@greensun1334]

Indeed. But this game is an early example from '91.

[@KrazyScruffy9001]

The music isn't anywhere near as good as the Genesis original but it's cool how they made different versions of the battleship and final level

[@merkreflektion]

Both snes & gen could do transparency, but snes implemented it more. Snes advantages were more colors, rotation & mode 7 scaling (this was only possible on genesis with some serious programming). Gen was faster and used higher resolution,resultng in sharper images. Snes in theory displays more sprites(small), but had less available sizes for sprites (genesis had more afaik). Sound, both are different and equally nice, but snes could do voice better. Having both consoles, I'd say I favor both : )

[@tartuffethesprywonderdog5883]

R GG Seriously, you fucking idiot, stop embarrassing yourself.

[@inceptional]

Genesis cannot do proper transparency anywhere near as well as SNES on either the backgrounds or sprites. This is why SNES implemented it more. The Genesis has higher horizontal resolution, but that does not result in shaper images. It just means more pixels horizontally that are less stretched in the same scene when viewed on a 4:3 CRT. But the Genesis can definitely show more larger sprites on-screen before flicker, despite the on-paper numbers for the SNES.

[@TheDemoniusX]

Not as good as Thundeforce III but still a nice outing for the SNES. I still like the game regardless of the bad rep it's gotten. You can classify me as a Fanboy of Thunderforce :D.

[@TheDemoniusX]

The TF community would scalp you if they heard you say that. If I had the EGM and Gamepro magazines along with sales figures I could prove you dead wrong but unfortunately I don't have those but I will try to locate them just to prove I'm right.

[@tartuffethesprywonderdog5883]

R GG Grow up kid, enough of the biased fanboying. The Genesis was much better at handling these types of games.

[@doggycharly]

I appreciate the efforts of Toshiba Emi to bring Thunder Force III to the super nes, but they didn't programmed the game very well, as a result, the game is plagued with slowdown I'd like to see someday a slowdown fix for this game someday

[@bd90492]

@@tartuffethesprywonderdog5883 Do you like the genesis more?

[@tartuffethesprywonderdog5883]

@@bd90492 For most action games, yes, including shmups like these. Love both consoles though.

[@maximukhin6325]

this game when you run out of lives you respawn right when you die unlike thunder force 3

[@joystickjedi]

This version needed some BLAST PROCESSING! :D

[@joystickjedi]

Play this game on both systems and tell me that.

[@joystickjedi]

Somehow I don't believe that. :P I'm not saying I don't like SNES either. I think the SNES is rad. Just that on this game, the Genesis had it's number. Master System is sick as hell too.

[@joystickjedi]

Well we'll have to agree to disagree.

[@joystickjedi]

Red Gem God I'm not sure that means what you think it means. Unless you think it means that the SNES version has tons of slowdown and worse graphics and music, then you know exactly what it means.

[@joystickjedi]

Red Gem God Well, you seem so sure, I guess I'll believe you.

[@doggycharly]

This could have been a great alternative to thunder force ac/3 but oh, the slowdown This port (handled by toshiba emi) was not programmed very well

[@mazda9624]

This is one of those rare examples where the Genesis version is just light-years ahead of the SNES version

[@pipesin_hd]

is renamed "thunder spirits" because SEGA kept copyright with the name of the title

[@BenJabituya]

I guess so, but now SEGA is the IP holder of the Thunder Force franchise.

[@davidhill8565]

Thunder Spirits is based on Thunder Force AC. As of 2016, Sega owns the rights to the Thunder Force franchise and all other Technosoft intellectual properties.

[@kibegamimultimedia]

The Sega Genesis version was missing that Asteroid Field. I would've loved to hear a YM2161 version of it but they were nice to put it as a hidden song in Thunder Force 4/Lightning Force for us .__. But I loved that horn/brass segment in the middle of the song in the SNES version, sound so heroic.

[@伊藤幸一-v2l]

TF3>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TS

[@eddyfinnemore271]

theres an options screen that allows you to turn on rapid fire (i think hold down L and R and press start on the title screen!

[@MothOnWall]

Been so long since I watched this I forgot I left a comment here. Won't let me edit it either but I wanted to put down why I chose those weapons for the stages I listed. Ill list again what I used on each stage: 1st stage: Laser and collect weapons - I wasn't aware before Laser did double damage from regular twin shot, but I utilized it to gather weapons and Claw from first stage that I could. 2nd stage: Laser > Wave when acquired - The second stage allowed me to acquire the Wave and Homing weapons, but when I got the Wave I swapped to use it over the Laser because it's wide area damage coupled with Claw allowed me to dispatch a great deal of enemies better than the laser could. 3rd stage: Wave - Not only did Wave have a large sweep to clear enemies, it was able to penetrate the rocky obstacles. But most importantly, it lagged the stage to where the bullet-storm from the boss was slow enough to dodge and weave easier. 4th stage: Lance - this stage is pure madness, because enemies come in from ALL directions, but the scary enemies you had to be aware of came from behind you, so you had to have a good weapon that fired behind you, hence lance weapon. And I knew where to exactly hit the boss so no need for any other weapon. 5th stage: Fire missile - You're flying through tight corriders with turrets on ground, ceiling and along walls. Of course you could use Laser but it doesn't clear destroyable obstacles, only the regular shot did and if you flew perfectly straight, you could squeeze right through your path easily with the shot you fire with Fire missile, also the claw clears adds wonderfully in close quarters. 6th stages: Homing (I don't know why I said Wave) - You'd need a weapon that seeks out enemies from in front and behind you and the Homing did this job very nicely up to the door, then I had to switch to Lance to get through. 7th stage: Homing - Homing cleared a great deal of enemies wherever they hid and where the other weapons couldn't get to. It was purely for points I chose Homing on this stage. But I had to take INTENSE care I did not lose Homing or I was SCREWED on 8th stage. On the boss though I needed a straight weapon to damage boss as Homing wouldn't, so I used Fire missile to damage barrier and boss. The Laser wasn't accurate enough to hit the boss. 8th stage: Homing - Homing was a requirement for me back then simply for this stage. Like Wave, it penetrated obstacles, and there were a lot of enemies behind obstacles that I could not get at all nor would help me kill the worm miniboss as easily as Homing did. I was happy it was so short. Final boss: Laser - I didn't write this in, but I have switched to Laser the only time in my game plays for final boss because the turrets respawned to quick to destroy effectively, so I focused entirely on killing boss with it, plus I didn't care losing Laser if I lost a life. I wish I could get this game again because it was so much fun! Edit edit: Nevermind, it straight up deleted my post entirely.

[@meer1120]

Lightening Force (complete with erroneous spelling) is the North American release of Thunder Force IV.

[@O.G.Ashtre]

This Game Takes Me Back Awesome Ass Music

[@ryanc519]

Good job valis! you did it again. by the way, I like how you divided your video into segments. really made it viewing easier.

[@Akus75038]

First Boss' theme sounds too much like Castlevania Bloody Tears theme, don't you all think?

[@Thewolfguys.cartoons2000]

The last stage of Batman on nes has a very sound alike music of Bloody tears from castlevania 2

[@SamaSaku1]

I respond to the "SNES was usually better than the Genesis" quote ; )

[@Video-Games-Are-Fun]

ALL sports games played better on genesis. you can say that for shooters as well.

[@Anibalfire1981]

Not really , Axelay is the best shooter of 16 bits, is nothing like that on genesis, sports, what about Super Tennis is the best Tenis game ever... ​@@Video-Games-Are-Fun

[@zachcarmon9712]

This game would be great on SNES online for switch

[@ultra4thgenpablo]

Awesome OST!

[@Maxx_XIII]

One of the few multi-platform 16-bit games where I feel the Genesis version (in this case Thunder Force III) was superior in most respects over the SNES port. But this one wasn't bad.

[@Anibalfire1981]

On of the few right but agre also this Snes port is still very good

[@markus1a1]

Love Thunder Force 3 but this not. What happened to the music? And the whole thing feels off. Well maybe if I had played this first.

[@davidvenegas1361]

it would be awesome to get the soundtracks to some of these games

[@tyreesetjjoyner1995]

one of the video challenges on nick arcade

[@WilliamShinal]

While I love Thunder Force and its gnarly soundtracks, I also have a soft spot for the SFX chip Spirits uses. It makes the soundtrack feel more epic compared to the hardcore antics that Force is known for.

[@UTube2K6]

damned love the genesis OST, here this is another story...

[@markalli22]

I thought thunder force III was named lightning force? I've never heard of thunder force ac.

[@Lightblue2222]

Different titles different regions

[@solarflare9078]

Lightening Force was the name of TFIV in the west.

[@nievesthegamer5333]

At least, this is not a TAS.

[@Shendue]

In fact, the only thing in which SNES is completely superior is the use of Mode 7. Yet, some Genesis/Mega Drive games, like Cotton to name one of the best, can stand the comparison pretty well.

[@Lightblue2222]

Agree. People can argue on the music but as far as raw gameplay the Genesis was always better. Not counting mode 7.

[@inceptional]

Eh, no, the SNES is also vastly superior in colours (both total to choose from and max onscreen), amount of backgrounds, transparency, windowing/masking, proper sound channels, standard controller inputs, etc.

[@Anibalfire1981]

​@@inceptionalexactly so many things, sprites sizes, also dates of games release atc I had Megadrive in 1991-92 I was Sega gay, then Snes arrived in early 1993 after few months I just wanted to play Snes and expend all my money in buy and rent snes games until late 1997 arrived Playstation. Snes won that battle in my home, it was closer to arcades then this is a fact , I still love Sonic, Golden Axe, etcetc

[@meer1120]

First of all, Stage 5 is Ellis and second, Thunder Spirits is a port of the arcade conversion of Thunder Force III, known as Thunder Force AC.

[@markalli22]

I think five is where I'm still stuck as well. Very fun game anyway!

[@oscarzxn4067]

At least Nintendo finally got a good port of Thunder Force AC with the Switch

[@abc2390986]

The OG Thunder Force 3 is still a miles better game. Don’t know why M2 decided to port TFAC though. Like Tecnosoft is just bad at hardwares other than Sega Genesis. Sega C-2 board and SNES are both far superior hardwares than Genesis and they failed hard on utilising the potentials.

[@inceptional]

Given that this game obviously wasn't taking full advantage of the SNES and definitely not optimized to run the best it can on the SNES--it doesn't even use FastROM for example--I wonder why they never released Thunder Force IV on SNES and really tweaked it to run as optimized as possible so they could redeem themselves. I have little doubt the SNES could have run that game, certainly every single thing seen in the backgrounds at the very least, and maybe with some tweaking to get the main sprites and gameplay to run as smoothly as it could without blatant slowdown. A game like Rendering Ranger (the shmup parts) shows the SNES is far more capable than many people think, and that's even still running in SlowROM at a paltry 2.68 MHz or 75% of the full CPU speed.

[@helmaliaputri9210]

Same Spaceship Written Rhoma Irama His TwinBee AfterBurner Gradius

[@oscart4983]

great memories!

[@leighbennett1961]

SNES hardware didn't really lend itself well to fast arcade shooters. That was Genesis domain.

[@inceptional]

The SNES lends itself perfectly well to shooters. A game like Rendering Ranger R2 shows exactly what it's capable of with both run 'n' gun and shump sections, and that's running in SlowROM and a paltry 2.68 Mhz 75% of the full CPU speed throughout. Most developers just didn't bother to play to SNES' strengths in these genres, but a few did and got great results. Super Smash TV, Super Aleste, Rendering Ranger R2, Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie, Parodius Da!, etc. And three of those managed that in the same SlowROM mode too. Contra III is a great shooter for the console and also runs much better once FastROM is used, as well as a whole bunch of other games that were unfortunately originally stuck in SlowROM. It's certainly more capable than the PC Engine in most regards there, which is a powerhouse when it comes to shmups. And, although the Genesis is better-suited to these games in some ways, there's also some ways SNES beats it too. So, it's definitely not on the SNES if it didn't get as many awesome games in the arcade shooter genre as it should have.

[@SamaSaku1]

Only in your dreams fanboy

[@ryanc519]

by the way, was that tool assisted? You never did die once, which was pretty amazing if that was your first run.

[@madruga2001]

This game is very difficult.

[@reztoc]

Thunder Spirits is not Thunder Force III (TF3). Thunder Spirits is an arcade port that is similar to TF3. Thunder Spirits was inspired by TF3. Play TF3 on the Genesis and you will see the difference. Also, stage 5's music is from TF2's stage 8. Stage 5 is an homage to that level in TF2.

[@atenakehnaton3965]

never got beyond level 7 when I as a child

[@dr.joshdarealgamer1610]

Cool!

[@madcommodore]

Shame they didn't convert stage 5 (Hydra) as I like that stage and needed a few more subtle colours.

[@bl00derly]

wow, you die a lot isn't there any stage select screen in this game version ?

[@wgalletto]

I believe it wasnt necessary... everyone started at the same stage all the time, hehehe

[@merkreflektion]

still a nice port of the game, not so bad..

[@Shendue]

The fact SNES was better is a misconcept. Knowing very well both consoles, i can honestly tell you that both have their strenghts and their issues. SNES has more on-screen colors and music is clearly more rich and 'orchestral' due to samples and having a lot of channels, but MD has WAY better animations, less lag in sprite-intense games and the music has better low tones and generally seems more strong and powerful then most SNES tunes, whose drum samples and bass feel very flat and muffled.

[@tartuffethesprywonderdog5883]

Genesis also had better screen resolution.

[@Anibalfire1981]

What? I know veeeery well both consoles I had both THEN when counts, 1991-96, Megadrive was arcade in home compare with 8bits then Snes arrived and won in every aspect Megadrive games, I remember very well, no just technicaly, more videogames, early release dates, the 6 button pad controller, etc Snes was even closer to arcade games, is not just colours and mode 7, sound much better also. Still Sega has unique games are not on snes like Elemental Masters, Sonic, Dolphin,toe jam, Golden Axe etc better to had both back then but to choose one my money go to Snes no doubt.

[@TheDemoniusX]

Stage 5 was such a bitch. I still can't past it but I will one day with patience. I like this version a lot but the genny version is the version to get if you like thunder force.

[@eddyfinnemore271]

oh right my bad.

[@Nate-Dawg921]

I've finally beat this game with Game Genie.

[@ElmarUchôaBarbosa]

👍

[@majesticlizard]

SNES was usually better than the Genesis, BUT NOT IN THIS CASE. This game is poop compared to Thunder Force III. Hacked up terribly.

[@Video-Games-Are-Fun]

genesis did sports games much better because of no slowdown and faster gameplay. snes had more rpg's but genesis' lineup of the phantasy star games were amazing. just not enough devs like squaresoft.

[@MEGAxboxps1234]

snes Song📯🎺🎷

[@G.L.999]

I really preferred the SNES version over Sega's version. The slowdown at certain areas helped me see what was coming and helped me avoid death more often than not. Sega's version had alittle too much sharp dithering and went way to fast for me to what was happening; even in trial and error moments and not once did it even try to go easy and slow-down on the player compared to the SNES.

[@eddyfinnemore271]

Sorry mate but hes right.Check out the yt vids.

[@jabetitbasen]

This version of Thunder Force III sucks.

[@albertsmith99]

It's okay but just feels unpolished

[@pingolitipus]

Franchement plus je compare et plus je vois que le processeur de la megadrive était vraiment meilleur que celui de la super Nintendo !! Mais sans les effets spéciaux c est sur et un son bof !!