Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar

"Amazing graphics but no better than most other shooters."

Thunderforce 4 is the third installment in a successful series of space shooters on the Genesis. The two previous game in fact are regarded as two of the best shooters on the genesis. The fourth game boasts graphics like you have never seen before on the Genesis, but does that make it any better than it's predecessors.

The game gives you the choice in which order you wish to tackle the first four levels, once cleared the rest of the game is played in a set order. The levels themselves scroll left to right but instead of being one screen with you can move virtually a screen width up and down too. This gives you the chance to dodge enemies which is a little questionable but it does not make the game any easier, the action remains almost constant anyway.

The weaponry system that the Thunderforce games use is one of the best I have seen. There is a little menu at the top that has the weapons you have accumulated, pressing a predefined button will change the weapon you are currently using. Using this system you can alter your weaponry to work best in the scenario you are playing through. When you die however, the weapon that you are currently using will be taken away. This makes the game more interesting as you have to think a little about the shooting instead of just holding fire and moving around.

Another variable is the ship speed, pressing your chosen button will change the ship speed between 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, hold the button and it will slowly increase. This means you can slow right down to maneuver through any tricky situations and speed up if you need to get out the way of a wave of enemy fighters. This is another improvement over most other shooters that just let you speed up by collecting bonuses which give you no option to slow back down.

The bosses look good and are varied needing a different approach to destroy them. This is where your collected weapons come in handy as the boss will sometime be above, below or behind you. One problem though is that with some bosses you have no way of telling if you are doing any damage, this means that you could be plugging away for hours without knowing if you are killing it.

The graphics are absolutely amazing and some of the best to be found on the Genesis. Each level has it's own themes and the designers have really gone to work to make them a stunning and individual experience. On Strite you fly through a bright blue sky above a mountain line that turns red and the changes to night time, the effect is really good. Dasar takes place above a desert during a sandstorm, the enemies are faded in the sand until they break through and attack. The air raid level takes place in a greenish-black sky full of red bombers that you have to fly between while they drop their bombs around you. You can see scores of bombers in the distance all lining up their attack. The graphics don't slack off after the first four levels either, they stay fresh and sharp looking throughout. The only thing that can be said against the graphics is that sometimes they interfere with the action making you die in places that you would not usually lose lives. This is only a small problem in what is other wise a perfect example of what shooters can achieve.

The sound is very average in both music and fx departments. All the tunes are the usual
jap affair that are neither excellent nor mediocre. it would of been nice to have the tunes beefed up on the boss sections and made a more chilled out during the levels. The sound of the gunfire is good but the speech when collecting weapons sounds grainy.

Graphically this is the best shooter on the Genesis, the graphics truly are amazing. The gameplay falls short of a couple of other games available, but it still gives them a run for their money in every other department making this a very worth while game indeed.

Graphics - 10 - Stunning scenery varied throughout the game.
Sounds - 5 - Average Japanese tunes and grainy fx.
Gameplay - 8 - Top shooting action.
Game size - 10 - Extremely tough on all modes.
Addiction - 7 - Difficulty may put some off.

Overall - 8 - Among the best shooters on Genesis.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/05/01, Updated 10/05/01