Thunder Force VI (サンダーフォース VI Sandaa Fōsu VI), also known as Thunder Force VI: The Legend of Wings is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up video game released for the PlayStation 2 on October 30, 2008. The director is Sega employee Tetsu Okano(岡野哲, a.k.a. Zolge Ichizo), who has previously worked on Segagaga, Astro Boy: Omega Factor and Gunstar Super Heroes. The game was licensed by Twenty-one Company's Technosoft division and it is only available in Japan. Thunder Force VI is 6th and currently, the last entry of the Thunder Force series.
Story[]
Year 2161 A.D.
Ten years have passed since the artificial intelligence "Guardian" went wild. Earth had finally recovered and was about to regain its prosperity, but a terrifying unknown force has suddenly appeared in the planet's orbit. This force calls itself "ORN Faust".
Before the overwhelming power of ORN Faust, Earth's Integrated Forces were destroyed quite easily. But suddenly, a strange report is brought to the now globally integrated government, which was now in danger of destruction. It was reported that the remains of the extraterrestrial civilization "Vasteel", which once created the Guardian and are now tightly sealed deep underground, are reacting unprecedentedly to ORN Faust's approaching.
According to the results of the investigation, it was some kind of "alarm", and its fragmented deciphering content was alarming. It revealed that "Vasteel" was a decisive weapon created by a "Galactic Federation", which had long been in a battle against ORN Faust. The only way to intercept ORN Faust, which continues to proliferate indefinitely and fill the universe with death and destruction, is to seek relief with the Federal Planet in the far outer space.
Amidst ORN Faust's onslaught, the new aircraft model "Phoenix", which had been unsealed and undergone new armament strengthening, was now ready to fly into a unfamiliar universe. It now aims to reach the Galactic Federation's mother planet, whose existence is still uncertain for humankind, relying only on the four cosmic coordinates left on Vasteel's memory banks...
Gameplay[]
Sega has created a 3D scrolling system for the next-gen Thunder Force VI, where the gameplay proceeds in 2D as before in previous games but scenery moves in three dimensions. There are often where the player ships executes rolls, turns or dives in the background, though gameplay is not hampered by this new addition. Each ship is equipped with five types of weapon arms and an Over Weapon, a special weapon gauge which collects energy gained by destroying Orn forces to unleash a powerful attack.
The player has a total of three ships: The RVR-00 Phoenix, Fire LEO-04C "Rynex-R" and Syrinx (the last two must be unlocked) to select before starting the main game. Each ship has its own unique attributes that makes the best use in combat situations, though the controls are quite similar.
Each player ship has five different types of weapons to be equipped on its arms, however only 4 of the weapons (Twin Shot, Back Shot, Hunter, Free-Range) are employed by all 3 ships to be used against enemy forces.
In addition, the ship's CRAW support units can deflect some enemy projectiles, though not all. The reliability of this feature depends on the weapons being currently used. If the CRAW support units are being utilized as part of a weapon, e.g. Back Shot, the deflection is inactive during this period.
Characters and ships[]
- C=[CTNs]=C: Pilot of the RVR-00 "Phoenix", is actually a clone of Cenes Crawford from Thunder Force V.
- Shin S. Mercury: Pilot of the Fire LEO-04C "Rynex-R", he is a relative of Roy S. Mercury.
Stages and Bosses[]
| Stage | Name | Boss | BGM | Boss BGM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Jungle Front | Gargoyle Perfect | Ruined Green | Gargoyle Perfect |
| B | Scorching Front | Flame Maiden | Bio Frame | Flame Maiden |
| C | Ocean Front | Cherub Purple | Ever Blue | Cherub Purple |
| 4 | Federation Planet | B3 | Orbital G | B3 |
| 5 | Huge Battleship | Vasteel Nocht | Cerberus 2 Full Speed |
KIN3-COOL KIN3-CERB ORN Styx ORN Rynex ORN Gauntlet |
| 6 | Final Fortress | ORN Emperor | ORN Mantra Full Throttle |
ORN Emperor ORN Emperor 2 |
Development[]
Beta gameplay of Thunder Force VI (Note that the HUD was different. Some of the beta screenshots can also be seen in the front view of the game´s box)
An update first appeared on the official Tecnosoft website on January 2008, stating the title of Thunder Force as a registered trademark, and to let visitors know that the site is being renovated. One of the original key staff behind the previous Thunder Force games, Kazue Matsuoka, held onto the IPs of the games after Tecnosoft was bought up by pachinko maker Twenty-one Company. With the announcement of Thunder Force VI in July, it has been revealed that Tecnosoft has licensed the new sequel to Sega to develop and publish the game. The company in turn has assigned Tetsu Okano, otherwise known as Zolge Ichizo in his pen name, whose earlier works include Segagaga and Astro Boy: Omega Factor, to direct Thunder Force VI. Development apparently began on April 2007, with Okano bringing in a fresh team with lots of shooter experience to handle the project. The team then brought in Tamayo Kawamoto (RayForce and RayStorm), Go Sato (Raiden series) and Motoaki Furukawa (Gradius II, Salamander, Gunstar Heroes) to compose the game’s soundtrack. As seen in the two trailers released thus far, the development team created a unique feel for the game, by using the Tangut script, an ancient and now obsolete Chinese logographic system, for themes relating to the Galaxy Federation, with Mongolian terms used as language for the ORN Empire.
In an interview, Okano has stated that he would like to hopefully release a sequel to an as yet unknown game, if Thunder Force VI sales go well. In Okano’s blog, he has confirmed that Thunder Force VI is the first game that he placed under the “STG Project”, with two other projects under wraps, which depends on the game’s success. On the official Thunder Force VI website, the words “PROJECT S.T.G-001” can be found on the bottom right of the front page, indicating that Sega planned a revival of other shooting game franchises, with Thunder Force VI leading the charge.
A Nintendo Wii port was under development, but never made it pass the prototype stage.
Incompatibility with PlayStation 5[]
Sony originally announced the upcoming PlayStation 5 will feature backwards compatibility from PlayStation to PlayStation 4 VR, making very possible that both Thunder Force V: Perfect System and Thunder Force VI could be included in the PlayStation 2 compatible titles either region-free or not. Unfortunately, it was revealed that the PS5's backwards compatibility, called "Legacy Mode" will range from PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro, excluding all the previous consoles, becoming a nail in the coffin for the last entries in the series.
External links[]
| Thunder Force VI | ||
| Characters | C=CTNs=C • Shin S. Mercury | |
| Ships | RVR-00 "Phoenix" • Fire LEO-04 "Rynex" • Syrinx | |
| Stages | Jungle Front • Scorching Front • Ocean Front • Federation Planet • Huge Battleship • Final Fortress | |
| Bosses | Gargoyle Perfect • Flame Maiden • Cherub Purple • B3 • Vasteel Nocht • ORN Emperor | |