MD Thunderforce IV: Lightening Force

[shoelacedonkey]

Awesome game, played the crap out of it... shame my cartridge crashed, shopping for a new one now. Bio Hazzard Battle is fairly similar to this btw but + a 2 player mode, for anyone interested. (not trying to argue that it's better than Thunder Force 4 by any means though)

[Gameday2011]

dopest air plane game ever and best effects just hearing anything on this game brings back memories. Damn i miss being young and having my games. RAIL GUN

[bddblade]

God I would play the shit out of this game when I was younger!!! Brings back memories! :D Love it!

[HeyYoKillEmo]

One correction...best shooter.This is not specific to any system!  :)

[VTwinty]

What version do you have?

[sephirothsoul999]

Wonderful game ^_^ I used to play a ps1 game a lot like this too - if you're interested, check out "G Darius". Loads of fun with an epic soundtrack.

[Gameday2011]

2:56 - 3:06 always reminded me of power rangers , i still cant believe i beat this game back then the ending was epic specially the music. Classic forever.

[mistertitanic]

Actually, the U.S. title is spelled "LIGHTENING FORCE" With an E in lightning for some reason...Might want to fix the title of this video.

[ShiryuGL]

@mistertitanic Done, thanks. =)

[mistertitanic]

@ShiryuGL Sweet =D

[AZN559SHINE]

I've been search for the name of this game for the longest lol I love this game I remember staying up all nite playin this when I was younger with my kuzin!

[DomIstKrieg]

Jesus fucking christ, i have played this game since i was about 15. Memories just came flooding back. Been searching for name for ages. God, I love youtube.

[frylok69]

This is the greatest video game known to man.

[vio2112]

The Thunderforce games seriously need to be added to the Wii Virtual Console.

[Scioneer]

@vio2112

I think they have this one. Another good Genesis Shooter that found its way onto the Wii VC is Bio Hazard Battle.

[hacksquad]

2:57 , EPIC! music kicks in nicely and the boss slides in with a siren.. cooooL!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zukan]

that was the part that sold the game for me back in '95 :D

[roflcopter117]

Listen to the Genesis kick ass :D

[ultramegaunknown]

Best shooter series EVER!!!

[wondermega4ever]

The design is as goog as the sound is shitty......

[gamesDAMNED]

Nice song at the title screen...cough, ripoff..cough, Master of Puppets, cough...

I've always been a little torn on TF4. Some of the early stages felt uneven to me, especially the desert stage. But the second half of the game was just spectacular.

TF4 is definitely ambitious, that's for sure. But TF3 was perfectly streamlined, looked wonderful, was just the right length.

[NWDalkc]

It doesn't sound similar at all.

[Muffincakeswithsugar]

The graphics really pushed the system to the limit

[wh0sane]

this game was soooo immenese, the music and gameplay where amazing! specially when your ship gets upgrades half way thru the game!! amazing=)

[1987hemi]

only if this was a xbox 360 version

[VyTe86]

i have import the ost for many years from japan. so amazing ^^

[FOXYlol2008]

this game of my childhood and i found it!!! THX!

[METALatitsFINEST]

I love the MUSIC to this game!

It's f'n METAL!!!

[MustNotRead]

Hey ShiryuGL....is this video captured from a real Megadrive or emulator? I ask because the quality is very good and I'm having trouble geting good quality/framerate when capturing from real hardware....

[ShiryuGL]

Emulator. Kega Fusion, to be exact. I have the cart and a PAL megadrive, wich means I can only record at 24fps PAL with borders and using the RF/cable. I choose emulator for quality and easier captyure setup. It does look awfull with the real hardware, but at least thats more genuine. =)

[ShiryuGL]

An please note that PAL machines are also 17% slower in games which are not programed especially for PAL region. You should see just how slow Sonic 1 run on my pal megadrive when compared to a genesis or japanese megadrive...

[MpukGunsmith]

whils this is true TF4 was the first real port to work at full speed with PAL systems.

[tonmasboy]

@ShiryuGL can you explain what does fps look like hertz ? I have a genesis with sinal color changed to pal and any game like sonic run perfectly. Pal has 50hz ntsc 60hz not shit like fps! fps stand for Float Points right?

[ShiryuGL]

@tonmasboy No, FPS in this case stands for "Frames Per Second". NTSC games output at 60 frames per second which made preety much every game on a american hardware better. Some games like Donkey Kong Country for the SNEs were programmed specificly on their PAL version taht woudl play just like the NTSC version.

[Ganxiba]

game-oldies website has this and it's free

[Fizz826]

I need the code for the 99 lives! I'm playing this right now on my megadrive and I came on here just to find the code. I threw out the paper i wrote the code on. it is awesome the retro games are so popular now. i saw this game on ebay going for $75 dollars...

[junk3ma1l]

Before the title screen pops up, press A+start. You'll see the cheat menu. Under "stock ships", set the value to 0. (still remember after all these years!)

[ed4015]

The best freaking game....................... In America was Lightning Force and in Japan was TF 4. My favorite of all times. A must have game. This is was the real essence of the 16 bit era.

[jango52577]

This game is a must-own for Sega Genesis/Megadrive!!! This game, Toejam and Earl, and Virtual Pinball are the greatest games on the Genny!

[MaidenHell1977]

Stunning game...trying to find it for my collection.

[JFurybrawl]

best aircraft game i ever played back in the day on sega. i beat this game but it took a while the ending was epic and the music was off the chain. Ima havta do a review on it. im just starting out on my channel with reviews check em out as i uploaded em soon.

[bestnewbever]

Oh man I loved this game. Played it a lot when I was younger but never beat it.

[ZycaLaser]

Yo dawg i heard in 1992 yo liked SNES graphics so we put a SNES in your SNES and we got you megadrive's Thunderforce IV

[devilcry4541]

fukkin lold

[Deathscythehell85]

great game

[Kicks42]

PARALLAX! So f*in baddass!

[mikexlong]

opening sounds like master of puppets

[HeavensMeat]

No, it sounds like that one Lightning Force song.

[peterdelane]

The music is amazing but not quite a brilliant as Elemental Master

[sanitymetal]

Whao, the music is waaaayyy before it's time i must say!

[gdement]

I loved Thunder Force 3 but totally missed out on this one.

I'm not sure if it's because of the name change, or maybe it didn't come out until after I had switched to computer games and wasn't paying attention.

But it looks awesome.

[bhopmex]

I always put in the cheat code for 99 lives.

[charon128]

i loved playing this shit on my genesis when i was a kid

[bhopmex]

Hell yeah, man! I used to call it the shooting game because i could not read that much in those days. I was in grade school. The sounds of the explosion is amp!

[IRAPEemos666]

Thunder Force 4 >> Axelay

[VLCSPN]

Best BGM ever , best shoot´em up ever

[paulspydar]

makes me laugh how people buy a Wii then play retro games from the megadrive etc ,, why not just go out and buy the real deal? you cant beat the real thing ..

[eugenespeed]

I agree, emulators are all well and good, but you can never beat playing on the actual console.

[drewminati]

This game has some of the best music ever to grace a shooter

[mistertitanic]

@drewminati Check out MUSHA for the Genesis. EVEN BETTTER!!!

[kinmanyuen]

too bad MD has bad sounds... they always had that adlib kind of music.

[ultramegaunknown]

You kidding me?!

The Genesis has some great music and sound effects

They were more raw, metallish, and unpolished than on the SNES

Look up Thunder Spirits for SNES

It cannot replicate the emotion and intensity found on the Genesis version (Thunder Force 3)

[mikexlong]

i agree with that comment 100 per cent.

[EvilxobX64]

a pretty nice sega shooter. Sadly, all genesis songs sound the same. Because genesis/megadrive didn't have an audio chip or whatever, it was only compatible with one audio system. Luckily, it sounds cool at least.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Um, are you on drugs or something? The Genesis does so have an audio chip. The Genesis uses FM sound, while SNES is ADPCM if I remember correctly. That is the only difference.

[EvilxobX64]

Ok, yes it does have an audio chip. Shortly after posting this i was talking about the genesis with my brother and he told me there is an audio chip that produced the sound that the genesis makes. Geez don't you have anyhting better to do go around the four corners of youtube and back correcting people? Oh no, four thumbs down...im scared. But I DO love this game and all the epic music in it, so please don't go around saying people are on drugs because they are wrong on a youtube comment.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

The idea that the System doesn't have an audio chip is pretty dumb though, no audio chip means no audio. Go back and look at older consoles, they all have audio chips.

[EvilxobX64]

Yes, no audio chip means no audio. Wow one comment and its hidden because of thumbs down. You people need to chill. I love this soundtrack, btw, regardless of what was said.

[ultramegaunknown]

Greatest space shooter on Genesis!!

And possibly of the 16 bit era period

[AmigaFalcon]

I always thought megadrive was at a disadvantage because you couldn't get R-Type on it. I got a SNES instead of an MD because I wanted RType. I might have got a megadrive in stead if I knew about this. it looks great!

[Grobda]

Only reason I can think of is that either SEGA and/or Irem knew they already had an R-Type port on the previous unit, the Master System, and saw no reason to have another.

[alex51508]

mines is alittle bit different, it says lightning force on the opening screen but the engine is still the same hmmmm i musta missed something, regardless a classic game

[OmegaCoolsterDX]

well in USA it was called Lightning Force, in Japan and Europe it was Thunder Force IV

[Longboardpunk77]

amazin, sounds like it was made by fuckin yngwie malmsteen

[ultramegaunknown]

Yngvie crossed with Blue Oyster Cult, throw in a little old Metallica for the boss themes, and you have the soundtrack

[Longboardpunk77]

lol, i love sega

[ultramegaunknown]

Me too

They need to make a comeback

[Longboardpunk77]

yeh, everythings owned by sony now though lol,

[ultramegaunknown]

Yeah

Well, at least now, when they release old Megadrive or SNES games on compilations, they're usually a dime a dozen

I'm gonna try to get my hands on the Japanese version of Sonic Gems, to get Bare Knuckle!!

[Longboardpunk77]

that is true its like £4 for a ps2 comp disk the only drawback is the lack of the origional controller and therfore (for me) the feel of the origional game is lost but hey cheap is cheap lol :)

[ultramegaunknown]

Yeah...

I'd get a Wii just to buy all the retro games out there available for it

[Longboardpunk77]

yeh but most of the other game for wii are shit lol

[ultramegaunknown]

Axelay's on the Wii, so is Contra 3 and Gradius 3.

Slowly but surely, they're comin out

[Longboardpunk77]

you can get gradius? wow

[MysticArksRevenge]

So now SEGA owns Technosoft? That's good. At least the Thunder Force series will continue at last.

[coolshit28]

Great music. I just played this a moment a go. Still stands up against current games nearly 15 years on!!!

[thatkrazynativekid]

i remember this game! i hated it, but my bro played it all the time :-P

[TronmanZ]

That game has such a kickass soundtrack. I hope this game and Thunderforce III get released on the VC

[a1pie]

i loved stage 1 just for the music!

[darkfakt]

I owned this game, very good. I prefer Gaiares but Thunder Force saga is of course legendary Masterpiece! :)

[IgnotusPerIgnotium]

As a Snes owner and fan Genesis had the best shootem ups! What can we say about this flawless masterpiece ?!

[siriszod]

Well, besides saying that it's a flawless masterpiece, nothing.

[TheMusicFreak81]

By the way; One of the best game-soundtracks ever.

[TheMusicFreak81]

This one one of many Sega Megadrive games wich i

admired as an die-hard Nintendo-fan back then. Looking back it was absurbt to choose sides, the games from that era are a zillion times better and fun than that crap we got after the Dreamcast died.

[Edd731]

I second that, the 16-bit era was something special and I feel lucky to grown up through that. I was hardcore Sega Megadrive but then bought a SNES aswell so I batted for both teams hehe. TF4 is a true classic. I sold my Dreamcast as there were only a handful of decent games on it (IMO). I now have a MD, SNES, PC and an Xbox 360 to soothe my gaming addiction mwahahaha.

[Sheepy007]

Please Technosoft, do a remake of the Thunderforce series for Psp (Or even better: Sega Dreamcast)

[Ahle2]

This is the most impressive game on the Megadrive/Genesis i have ever seen. If more game on the Genesis was of this caliber, the SNES would have had a hard time to sell any units at all.

[YiddoBobbins]

5 levels of parralax scrolling! Revolutionary! Damn I love this game, I might actually go and play it now...

[bleachinjected]

This was relased as simply "Lightning Force" in the U.S., and I played in constantly.

Up, Right, A, Down, Right, A, C, Left, Up, B, Up, Right (if I remember correctly) ;P

[Bra1th]

dont 4get thunder force v for the psx and sega saturn, I emulate it on my psp, luv it

[xsteelox]

With all the next gen consoles nowadays I still manage to throw this on from time to time to zone out...

[zeroz777]

i like metal cause this game!!!

[RAKSTAR1991]

this, was a classic.

i used to play this all the time xD i remember the first level music off by heart, and when the person says "Rail Gun" lol

[aryinc]

when i saw heard this i tought it could be anything but md,i seriously could believe it,complete jawdropping

[rich1980]

yeah its a fantastic game considering its the MD

[drewminati]

What are they doing now techno soft? did somebody purchase them?

[Andragorans]

i wolud buy the whole stuff of Technosoft i'z got money :p

[Newgeez]

What I'd like to know was, Why was Thunder Force 4 changed into "Lightening Force" when it was released here in the U.S for the Mega Drive?

[MysticArksRevenge]

Sadly, we wont be seeing anymore Thunder Force games. The reason why is because Technosoft went out of business in 2001, and they can't find any company in Japan that is willing to buy all of Technosoft's franchises, which are Thunder Force and Herzog.

[alvieao2]

Apparently SEGA had picked up the Thunder Force franchise. They have announced on Weekly Famitsu that Thunder Force VI will be coming out for the PS2 in Japan...

[Phirot]

yeah i rember this game i love it me and my brother spend alot of time on this game!

[ultramegaunknown]

Killer graphics for back in the day..... Damn. I only have 2 and 3

[EvoLIEtion]

wow, memories... this was one of my favs.... proud to say i've beatin without cheats, which is quite a feat for this game

[armydominican69]

o yes, thats a real challenge right there, toke me about 2 months to master this game, toke me even longer on part 5 lol

[ABCMeEFG]

einhander fans, anyone?

[atlantis24]

I used to play this game all the time back in the day. I discovered a code to get 99 lives and it took nearly all of them to beat the game.

[ZapatasBlade]

i still have this game!!! i got it when i was a kid and wow i loved this game :-D!

[thefriendsociety]

you can't forget to mention GAIARES FOR SEGA!

[Sujad]

The intro music still gives me that tingly feeling all over. Thank Hades I have the best tracks saved to mp3 format.

[DVM117]

Give me those tracks!

[Sujad]

How?

[USSEmpire]

Why do you think this game is also called Lightening Force?

[DE7ChainedDoor]

Its very good but the best shooter cause very low differences its........

THUNDER FORCE III!!!!! I love the Thunder Force games T.T and i want play V and the first!!!

[YiddoBobbins]

Brilliant mate thanks so much for this!

[Luerrer]

Best shoot'em up ever! :O

[wjfox2006]

Oh my God, the nostalgia... who could forget this. Without a doubt the best horizontal shooter of all time. The graphics were incredible for the time, and the soundtrack is still amazing. Thanks so much for posting this - I really hope you post more clips!

[mikesoamez]

Hey, i don't know if you like Gradius V or Ikaruga, they are two of the best 'post Dreamcast' shooters you can get, many, including myself believe Ikaruga to be the Greatest shoot em 'up. you should check the vids on here of Ikaruga if you already hav'nt, it is very good indeed. Also, there are rumours on the net of a Gradius for the PS3, i can't imagine how good thats gonna be.

[NiGHTSintodreams]

Agreed. Ikaruga is awesome! As is Radiant Silvergun.

[mikesoamez]

Yeah, Without a doubt the best Shmup on the Genesis, Saw my uncle beat it back in 93 and i loved it ever since, if only the later releases had the solid gameplay mechanics they would be much better, like i say, theres only so long you can look at flashy visuals, there has to something more, and this game has it, pure arcade action. Cool vid, and thanks for posting.

[haisaid]

Played to death on the megadrive, circa 1994. One of the defining games of pure arcade side-scrolling action. Nothing these days comes even CLOSE.

ShiryuGL - thanks for the upload!

[yourtubeyourass21]

Music i actually done very well on the genesis. genesis sound quality doesnt come close to snes however there are great tunes on genesis nontheless. TFIV RULEZ.

[aryinc]

such a great game makes the snes fuck himself.

[Golem29]

brilliant, one of my favourite childhood games, i remember getting obscenely good at this

[Alianger]

Heh, you die a lot. Great game.. I think some of the early levels are a bit slow, but I guess it's the best in the series overall.