Thunder Force IV (AKA Lightening Force)(GEN) - Walkthrough
Version 0.6
Copyright Jan/16/2008 by Apathy000
savage_clown@hotmail.com
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Game Story
III. Options
IV. Basic Controls / What's on Screen
V. Powerups
VI. Strategies / Tips
VII. Bosses
VIII. Stage 1
IX. Stage 2
X. Stage 3
XI. Stage 4
XII. Stage 5
XIII. Stage 6
XIV. Stage 7
XV. Stage 8
XVI. Stage 9
XVII. Cheats and Codes
XVIII.Videos(later, maybe)
XIX. Final Thoughts
XX. Copyright
I. Introduction
Simply put, Thunder Force IV is possibly the best shooter ever made.
From the moment I started the game I was enthralled. The graphics, sound,
play control, enemy placement, level design are all top notch. There are not
many games that make me happy like this game has. The only other shooter that
even comes close to Thunder Force IV is Lords of Thunder for the Turbo CD(the
Sega CD version is a much worse version). Thunder Force IV is definitely a
game worth putting in the time and effort to beat it. Although I have heard
complaints about TFIV's difficulty, it does not make it any worse of a game.
And if you really cannot beat it on Normal, then you can access the option
screen(look at Cheats section) and set the difficulty to Easy. And once you
are done with that, then go straight to Maniac difficulty!
This faqs will focus on the placement of powerups, especially the
HIDDEN powerups. It will also focus on strategies to defeat the levels and
bosses. But the locations of the hidden powerups is what separates this faqs
from the others on the site.
II. Game Story
III. Options
IV. Basic Controls / What's on Screen
1. Controls
Press A - change speed
Hold A - will slowly increase speed by 1% until 100%, then it goes back
to 25%, which is the lowest speed possible.
Press B - fires
Press C - change weapons
Select - Pause
2. What's on Screen
a. Lives - In the upper right are ships. These represent how many
lives you currently have.
b. Powerups - On the top middle you have your magic. A little picture
shows in the box if you have it. Does not show whether you have a CLAW or a
SHIELD.
d. Points - The points are located in the upper left section of the
screen. You can get extra lives from this game by getting points. The first
extra life is at 10,000, then 100,000, then 200,000 and every additional
100,000 points thereafter. And after every continue you score resets to 0, so
you have to go through it again. 10,000, then 100,000, then 200,000 etc.
**If you beat the game, and then play through again you will get lives at
different intervals. Not really sure how the game is doing that, however so I
will not say more on this.
V. Powerups
TWIN SHOT - Starting weapon that fires forward.
BACK SHOT - Starting weapon that fires backward.
BLADE - Replaces Twin Shot with this more powerful and widespread shot. The
boss on Strite and the core of the boss on Ruin are hard to hit with this
weapon.
RAILGUN - Replaces Back Shot with this very powerful weapon. The closer you
get to a target the more it fires, and if you get the CLAW powerup you get
twice the firepower.
SNAKE - A weapon that makes life a lot easier in cramped spaces. It fires a
bomb upward and downward and when it hits a target it does damage, but if it
hits the ground it explodes along the wall for awhile.
FREE WAY - This is the most flexible weapon in you can get. It fires a
spread of missiles in the opposite direction of your last joypad input, and
fires a single line of bullets in the direction you pressed. For example if
you press forward your missiles will fire backward, and a single stream of
bullets will fire forward. It seems to be able to point in 16 possible
directions.
HUNTER - Homing weapon that is great on most parts in the game.
Unfortunately it is also a rare powerup that occurs only on Ruin (stage 2),
the Bio-lab (stage 8), and the Final Stage(stage 10).
CLAW - The Claw will block some shots from enemies, and for most weapons
will add extra shots of the type you selected. Occaisionally the Claw will
start moving quickly with afterimages, I do not know what causes this, but it
blocks even more shots this way. On Stage 5 your Claw gets upgraded to a
newer version which allows you to use the Thunder Blade. The Snake will al?o
fire at a steeper angle if you hold the back button. **One claw turns one way
and the other the opposite way. Another cool little thing in the game.**
SHIELD - Blocks THREE shots, with something like a 2 seconds of
invincibility in?between. Best powerup in the game. Make sure to memorize
the locations of each throughout the game. It makes life a lot easier.
THUNDER SWORD - After Stage 5, your Claw will be a sphere, and this new
version gives you this weapon. You must not fire to charge it for a second or
two, then fire to wreck bloody havoc upon the luckless enemies in front of
you. This IS the ultimate weapon in the game...
1UP - Very nice addition to your number of lives, but be careful not to kill
yourself getting them!
VI. Strategies / Tips
- To uncover HIDDEN powerups you have to hit them several times.
- The game will not send two pods carrying the same powerup at you at the
same time.
- You can run into pods and take NO DAMAGE. Very nice little feature. But
you must hit them to open them.
- You can get extra lives from this game by getting points. The first extra
life is at 10,000, then 100,000, then 200,000 and every additional 100,000
points thereafter. And after every continue you score resets to 0, so you
have to go through it again. 10,000, then 100,000, then 200,000 etc.
- The makers of the game ordered the stages according to their difficulty on
Maniac. On the other difficulties some levels are much easier, even though
they come later than tougher levels. A great example is Stage 9. On Easy to
Hard this level is pretty easy, but once you hit Maniac the level is much more
powerful.
VII. Bosses
VIII. Strite (Stage 1, the water level)
**On the mini boss you can amass as many lives as you like. Stay at the top
right and just continually shoot backward. Leave the game on for hours and
you will get a massive amount of points and LIVES. Do this if you are
desperate for more lives.
- You can avoid fighting the miniboss completely by staying on the top, not
dying, and just about killing everything you see. I do not know exactly what
makes you skip the miniboss but using the above method I do not have to fight
that guy.
1. Powerups
-BLADE x1
-CLAW x2
-RAILGUN x1
-1UP x1
2. Level
- CLAW is the first thing you will get since a pod comes in shortly after
the round starts on either top OR bottom.
- staying on the top or bottom more will net you a BLADE.
- after the BLADE appears a pod carrying a RAILGUN will come on the bottom
OR top.
- after you kill the mini boss you will start going into the water. Stay
in the center of the screen and you will get a naked EXTRA LIFE (1UP) in the
middle.
- There is a CLAW on the back of the enemy battleship in the water when it
starts accelerating off?screen.
- when the giant ship is hovering over you and the claw is swinging around,
stay on the back bottom of the screen with the CLAW. You will not get hit as
long as you keep firing backward with BACK SHOT.
3. BOSS
- shoot the glowing orb in its belly.
- when the orb comes out you have to dodge it for a period of time, hitting
it does nothing.
- BLADE does not hit properly, since most of the blades are too big to hit
that orb. So use BACK SHOT or RAILGUN instead.
IX. Ruin (Stage 2)
1. Powerups
-SNAKE x1
-SHIELD x1 (hidden)
-BLADE x1 (There may be BLADE in this level, but I cannot find it.)
-CLAW x1
-HUNTER x1
2. Level
**If you do this level first on Maniac then you will get two mini?bosses on
this level. The midway miniboss that you will usually encounter will be at
the start of the round and at the mid-way point.
- Snake and Hunter are easily gotten here.
- At the start of the level, SNAKE is in pods on the bottom OR top part of
the level
- After the snake pods on top, there are two more a short time later on top.
You can get a BLADE(?where again?) and then use the SNAKE on the top to
uncover a hidden SHIELD pickup. The SHIELD is a little tricky to hit even
with the SNAKE, so let me explain its location. There are odd block-like
enemies which multiply in a chain towards you that appear before the Shield.
After these enemies are off?screen you will be nearing the Shield. The Shield
is slightly behind a slight ridge on the top.
- Right before the mid-way miniboss a pod falls from the top, and it carries
a CLAW pickup.
- After miniboss there is a HUNTER pickup on the bottom and top.
3. Boss
BOSS - stay in middle and shoot to destroy the arms and then the core with
Blade to kill it quickly.
X. Air Raid (Stage 3)
1. Powerups
-FREEWAY x1
-RAILGUN x1
-SHIELD x1
-CLAW x1
-BLADE x2 (1 is hidden)
-1UP x1
2. Level
- at the start of the level you can get a freeway and then a RAILGUN
-when shit starts moving fast, there is an extra life in a pod in between
two ships that you must go between.
- to easily get past the homing gun turret part, put your speed on 100% and
move in a square/rectangle. If you got Hunter than you will definitely not
die from the enemies.
- A pod carries a SHIELD on the homing gun turret part
- There a BLADE after the homing gun turret part on the bottom. Stay near
the bottom and keep shooting forward to uncover it.
- after homing gun turret part use the HUNTER to clear out the guns shooting
from the big orange ships.
- right before ships start zooming by quickly a pod carries a CLAW near the
bottom.
- when shit starts moving fast there is a pod on the top part of a ship that
carries a BLADE, and the bottom part carries a SNAKE.
3. Boss
BOSS - Medium Ship
- HUNTER and/or the RAILGUN eats this boss alive. The RAILGUN
seems to knock of the top part of the missile side(right side), and you can
hit the vulnerable part after the top blows off with the RAILGUN as well. If
you have FREEWAY its also pretty easy.
XI. Daser (Stage 4, the desert level)
1. Powerups
-RAILGUN x1
-CLAW x1
-BLADE x2
-1UP x1
2. Level
** STAY ON THE BOTTOM edge of the level with the back shot on. Shoot the
platforms that move spastically up and down when you are either above or below
them. The enemies do not pincer you when you are on the extreme edge of the
top or bottom. **
- at start there is a Blade on the bottom
- after the blade that is on the bottom and the top there is a RAILGUN on
the bottom.
- A extra life (1UP) in a pod comes along after you kill the odd mini-boss
with the tail. The pod moves fast so be ready for it. It comes along near
the bottom of the level.
- There is a CLAW in the middle after the sandstorm stops.
- there is a Blade near the bottom screen right before the boss. Very
convienent.
3. Boss
BOSS - Duck in a Metal Skirt
- I suggest staying across from the beak of the boss, but a little further
down. If you do this, then the boss is a hell of a lot easier since it stops
moving all over the place. Once it sends out a couple of balls after you, you
need to destroy those, so you can return to that position across and below its
beak without being harassed by bullets.
boss attacks -
XII. Stage 5 (Battleship level)
1. Powerups
-SNAKE x1
-CLAW x2
-FREEWAY x1 (?CHECK?)
-1UP x1
2. Level
- at start there are two pods in front of you that carry a snake and a CLAW.
-After getting the two powerups jam yourself in the upper right corner and
continually shoot with the snake. It needs to be some weapon that can shoot
diagonally, otherwise the corner will be your death. You will avoid or kill
all oncoming enemies until the next part.
- BLADE is super effective against the miniboss. Kills it damn fast.
- the exhaust from engines on the ship can kill you if you get too close.
- after you kill the engines the miniboss will appear. During his fight,
there is a shield.
- SNAKE is super effective when you are passing over the top of the ship. Use
snake to kill all the turrets.
- right before you pass over the head of the ship you can get yourself a CLAW.
- You can uncover an extra life in front of the ship's head. EXTREMELY hard
to miss.
3. Boss
This is not much a boss, its more like a cut scene, the only thing that you
have to be careful of is not running into it. Just stay back, shoot a bit,
and then it dies. NONE of its shots can harm you, but its slow moving body
can.
XIII. Stage 6 (Ice level)
1. Powerups
-FREEWAY x2 (1 is hidden)
-RAILGUN x1 (hidden)
-SNAKE x1
-1UP x1 (maybe hidden, but easy to find)
-CLAW x1
-SHIELD x1 (hidden)
-This level is hard on Maniac if you do not have Hunter.
- near the start of the level there is a freeway on top and on the bottom.
- There is a hidden RAILGUN shortly after the freeway. After the level
forces you to leave the water, immediately go straight down. This is a little
canyon and if you fire near the bottom you can uncover the RAILGUN.
- there is another FREEWAY on the very top after the first freeway. Keep
shooting while going through the thin cracks of ice and you should find it.
- after the hidden RAILGUN a pod will carry a snake on the bottom and on top.
- there is a hidden Extra Life (1UP) on top through a very thin slice.
- when the miniboss appears, a pod carries a CLAW on the bottom and the top.
It is important to get a CLAW and keep it. IF YOU LOSE THE CLAW THE PODS WILL
NOT APPEAR WITH THE SHIELD. On top there is a SHIELD behind one of the ice
isles after the miniboss appears. There is also a shield on the bottom too.
BOSS - CLAW
- stay on the top left corner and keep directing the shots towards the two
outermost claws of the boss. You cannot harm the boss from behind until you
have almost destroyed it.
You will need to move above and a little behind the boss when it starts
shooting out indestructible fireballs.
It also has a ram attack will also not be able to touch you here. When it
starts moving back to its original position after the ram it will shoot out
bullets behind it, so make sure you are not there.
After you destroy both of the outermost claws the boss will start to become
dangerous. When there the single claw rams you need to dodge forward, because
when you are above/below it will fire out a spew of fire that will kill you.
Fire at it some more and the claw will deform into a smaller melted looking
version. This sends out spiraling fireballs that can kill you if you are not
wary. Stay as far behind it as you can go, because the spiraling fireballs
have a distance limit.
**Glitch - once I blasted off the top "finger" of the claw and it froze in
place, and would fire no bullets. It just stayed in place while I blasted it
to smithereens with the Thunder Sword. Needless to say that was the easiest
boss I have ever fought in this game :).
XIV. Stage 7 (Cave level, with garbage-throwing boss)
1. Powerups
-SNAKE x2
-FREEWAY x1
-SHIELD x2 (one is hidden)
-CLAW x2
-1UP x1
-BLADE x1
2. Level
- there is a SNAKE at the start of the level.
- shortly after the snake on top there is a freeway.
- after the freeway appear on top, on the middle/bottom there is a shield.
-when you start seeing long walls in front of filled with bubbles, a pod will
start falling toward the bottom of the level. It carries a CLAW.
- Go through the upper path and ended up getting a extra life from a pod.
- If you get to the miniboss of this level on the top path, and STILL HOLDING
your shield, the miniboss will go berserk with its shoots. It is the only way
to describe it. He will fire in streams of bullets that go forward. If you
can get to him and SURVIVE for a short while with your SHIELD, then two pods
will come in succession. The first will carry a SHIELD, and the second will
carry a BLADE. If you can net these items you can pretty much own the
upcoming boss in the face.
-Taking the middle path is the hardest, and you get no powerup.
- what about the bottom path?
- there is a CLAW on the bottom after the miniboss, and pretty much right
above it is a SNAKE .
3. BOSS - Garbage Man
Phase 1 - Crawling
BLADE will turn this guy into unmoving garbage fast enough. Stay near the
ground and keep shooting. If the screen is shaking then you know you are
damaging it. However if you do not have BLADE then SNAKE will do nicely.
Phase 2 - Standing while Shaking
BLADE here will destroy him, there is no better weapon. FREE WAY is also
pretty good, stay back and let your missiles shoot forward. OR you could
just nuke him with 3 or 4 THUNDER SWORDS.
XV. Stage 8 (Bio-lab)
1. Powerups
-CLAW x4 (1 is hidden) (possibly a hidden one ?CHECK? the one after
third miniboss (maybe need shield still intact) (check the one of bottom of
after the 4th miniboss)(4th is hidden right before boss)
-BLADE x2 (2 are hidden)
-1UP x2 (2nd 1UP is perhaps hidden as well)
-HUNTER x2 (1 is hidden)(?CHECK? if there is one after the second
miniboss)
-SHIELD x2 (2nd one is hidden)
-RAILGUN x1 (hidden)
-FREEWAY x1
-SNAKE x1 (hidden)
2. Level (Recommended path is middle,bottom,top,top)
- on bottom at start of level, if you use the back shot you can uncover a
CLAW . And in front of THAT you can uncover a BLADE by shooting forward.
- on the top you will find a naked extra life(1UP), and a little further on a
Hunter.
Here hasten thy ass unto the CLAW (you have to shoot to uncover in on the
bottom, then HAUL thy ass unto the Hunter at the start. It IS possible to get
the CLAW on the bottom then get the extra life and then the Hunter, but it is
very difficult to get down perfectly. The CLAW is SUPER powerful, and the
Hunter will kill the deadly spiders which flock everywhere. The Hunter is
also good for the second miniboss. Then hasten thy ass unto the bottom. Here
the path forks. 2 minibosses.
- After the first miniboss the path forks. On top you have to kill 4 of the
enemy dispensers. On the bottom you only have to kill three, and it also
gives you a wider area to dodge. Travel the lower path.
- The THUNDER BLADE can kill the first mini-boss in one hit. Super effective.
- after the second mini-boss, go up to get a pod that gives a SHIELD.
- After the second mini-boss you can kill two pods that give you a HUNTER. (?
CHECK?)
- the freeway is good for the third miniboss. Nowhere near the one-hit
effectiveness of the Thunder Sword, but it will destroy all the homing shots
it shoots your way.
- After third miniboss on bottom. Shortly after that you can get a RAILGUN by
shooting near a wall. If you have the HUNTER it will automatically find it
for you. If you keep firing the snake it will also uncover it for since the
weapon hugs the walls. The RAILGUN is good for the fourth miniboss.
- ***after third boss on top you can get a CLAW (probably only if you still
have your shield, which I did).
- After fourth miniboss on bottom you can get a Freeway, and then a short
while later on the bottom another CLAW (?CHECK?).
- after the fourth miniboss on the top you can get a CLAW that is hidden,
right before the tunnel that leads to the boss.
- After the fourth miniboss on top there is a blocked off area with a whole
bunch of HIDDEN free stuff. You can get an Extra life, a Blade, a Snake, and
a Shield. And right near that area a pod comes that carries a CLAW. Super
nice area, and if you get that far with a shield then you do not need to lose
a life to get the stuff.
3. Boss
BOSS
On the third form of the Bio boss, you need to harm the INSECT on top.
Shooting the monster thing the flying insect is carrying will only waste your
bullets. On maniac the snot of the alien will explode in a large explosion.
The snot will not kill you if you run into it.
XVI. Stage 9
1. Powerups
-CLAW x3 (1 is hidden)
-FREEWAY x2
-
-1UP x2
- the scrolling fire shooters can only be killed when they open.
- the starfish can be quickly removed by changing speeds quickly.
- after the weird monster pulls a large part of the stage down in an attempt
to crush you, there is a one-up.
- before the stage starts scrolling up, there is a hidden CLAW on the bottom
right.
- when the pieces of flesh fly towards you DO NOT SHOOT. If you shoot they
all start homing in on your location. Concentrate on dodging and you should
get through without much trouble. At most you should die once.
-after the wave of pieces of flesh(?) that was going towards you, stay on
either the bottom or the top for a part that is separated by a wall. On the
bottom you can get a CLAW, but on the top is an EXTRA LIFE. Your choice.
BOSS
if you die on the second part of the boss(after the back lasers) you can fit
yourself behind the claws of the boss and shoot the core for a second or two
while you are invincible.
XVII. Stage 10 ( Final Stage)
1. Powerups
There is a portion of this level when you fight the first boss, where
powerups will come out and carry random powerups. So, I am only stating what
ALWAYS appears in this level. And use "+ X" to mean the random powerups that
you may get from the first boss.
-BLADE x1 + X
-FREEWAY x1 + X
-HUNTER x1 + X
-RAILGUN x1 + X
-SNAKE x1 + X
-1UP x1 + X
-SHIELD (maybe the random powerups carry one but I never got one)
- at the start of the stage, many pods will come bearing all the power-ups
except a SHEILD, and a 1UP.
2. First Boss
First thing that you need to know is that you CANNOT damage this boss. The
only way to destroy it is to destroy the giant cannon that it protects in
Phase 2 of the fight with it. To kill the giant cannon you have to shoot its
edges on the top and bottom of the screen.
Phase 1
Phase 2
-
3. Rynex, The Final Boss
-when it first appears you need to destroy the two boosters on its sides. If
it starts moving to a side then move up immediately since it will ram the wall
you are near.
-after destroying both boosters two arms will come out and grab the wall. You
will not die by touching these arms. Objects will rotate around the boss and
fire out slow moving destructible shots at you. I suggest using Freeway to
kill those.
- Then it starts shooting out the fast moving bouncing blue balls you need to
shoot one specific ball. Out of all those balls only one is the real one that
will damage the boss when shot. Hunter is the best by far for this part, but
you can get by with any other type.
**GLITCH** - If you die at the same time as the last boss (Rynex), the boss
falls slowly down screen. Then it will appear falling from the top of the
screen. This is the only glitch I have seen in this great game.
XVIII.Cheats and Codes
1. Option Screen - Press to get in here (A or B or C) + Start **verified
In here you can change your lives per continue from 0 to 4. You can also
set the difficulty here. There are four difficulties. Easy, Normal, Hard,
and Maniac. You can also listen to various sounds.
2. 99 Lives **not verified
At the Title Screen, wait for the words ''Press Start'' to appear. When they
do, press A and Start simultaneously. Go to the configuration screen and set
''Stock Ship'' to zero. Start the game and you'll now have 99 lives.
Contributed By: KRaffa
3. All Weapons **not verified
Enter the following code at the Pause Screen....
Up - Right - A - Down - Right - A - Down - Right - A - C - Left - Up - B - Up
When you un-pause the game you should have all of the weapons
Contributed By: Mike Truitt
4. Omake BGM **not verified
Complete the game once on any difficulty. Then go to the options screen (A
+Start during the opening or title screen) and go to the Music option. You
will notice that in addition to the added staff roll and ending songs, you
also get to listen to 10 really cool songs that can't be found anywhere else
in the game.
Contributed By: Ryu Hayabusa
XIX. Final Thoughts
XX. Copyright Jan/16/2008 by Apathy000 aka Michael Zacka
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