Thunder Force AC, one of my favorite side-scrolling Shmup (Shoot ’em up) titles, is heading to the Nintendo Switch as part of SEGA AGES. Thunder Force AC, a remake of Thunder Force 3, will be available on May 28th, 2020, and priced at $7.99.
It’s a bit more than a remake if I’m being honest. Sure, it’s still Thunder Force 3, with stages and enemies from Thunder Force 2 added in. There were a few gameplay changes as well if I recall correctly. It’s been a while.
Previously this game was only available in Arcades but was eventually ported over to the Super Nintendo as Thunder Spirits, and Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 for the Sega Saturn, but it never saw a release in North America.
Needless to say, I’m excited about this. I played the hell out of all of the Thunder Force games and now I’ll get to do it all over again. The 3rd game is also one of the better ones of the series. As for this remake, there’s a few extra’s being tossed in.
- Arcade Mode, a faithful adaptation of the original arcade release featuring three other unlockable ships lifted from later Thunder Force titles (FIRE LEO-04 RYNEX, FIRE LEO-04 RYNEX with the Thunder Claw weapon, and FIRE LEO-3 STYX MP Mass Production Model)
- Stereo Sound for both the soundtrack and effects
- HD Rumble
- CRT filters such as Vintage display, and Cabinet mode to recreate that old-school arcade feel
- A Kids Mode to help you on your mission by providing increased attack power, additional credits (9 instead of 6), and the ability to retain your weapons even after your ship has been destroyed, among other adjustments
- Two different sets of Leaderboards – “Expert” for those that play the game with its default settings enabled, and “Freestyle” for when the settings have been changed
- The option to save and view Replays, including those from the leaderboards!
- Game save states
I’m already throwing my money at the screen Sega! Just let me have this already!
