Тандер Форс IV: В поисках Тёмной Звезды

1992 shoot 'em up video game

Thunder Force IV''''', (サンダーフォースIV, Sandā Fōsu IV) known in North America as Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar, is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Technosoft for the Mega Drive in 1992. It is the fourth installment in Technosoft's Thunder Force series, and the third and final one created for the Mega Drive. It was developed by the team at Technosoft that ported Devil's Crush to the Mega Drive rather than the team that developed the previous Thunder Force games. Like its predecessors, it is a horizontally scrolling shooter, but it also features extensive vertical scrolling with large playing fields. The game was considered by journalists as one of the best shooters on the Mega Drive when it was launched. Critics especially praised the game's graphics, including the vertical and parallax scrolling for illustrating the immense environments. Some believed that underneath the graphical sheen, the gameplay was relatively average however. Thunder Force IV was rereleased on the Sega Saturn in 1996 and the Nintendo Switch in 2018.

Thunder Force IV is a horizontal shoot 'em up. At the end of each stage is a boss, and sometimes there are bosses mid stage. The composer for Thunder Force IV previously worked on Thunder Force III and also composed some original music for Devil's Crush. The sound team staff, led by Naosuke Arai, were fans of heavy metal, so they worked on finding a method to create an electric guitar sound using the Mega Drive's FM synthesizer. They ran into difficulties and eventually settled on using the system's distortion sound effects to positive results.

Technosoft held a promotional event for the game at a convention in Tokyo on June 7, 1992. The event included a tournament, giving fans an early opportunity to play the game. The game was released in Japan on July 24, and in Europe and North America in January 1993. Sega of America renamed the North American version to
The game was ported to the Sega Saturn as a part of Thunder Force: Gold Pack 2, a compilation disc released on November 29, 1996, in Japan. This version improved on the original by eliminating sluggish frame rate issues, adding an easier mode which gives the player bonus defensive abilities, as well as adding the fighter from Thunder Force III as a secret playable ship. Two years later, the game was released on September 20, 2018, along with Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) on Nintendo Switch and other Sega games under the Sega Ages brand. Players can choose between the Japanese and international versions and take advantage of the improvements and other features from the Saturn port.

Thunder Force IV was quickly identified as one of the best Mega Drive shooters when it was released. Critics agreed that the graphics were one of the game's best qualities. Mean Machines called them "state of the art" and highlighted the vertical scrolling for "evoking a sense of vastness". IGN rated it as the fourth best classic shoot 'em up, calling it Technosoft's best shooter and "the pinnacle of Genesis shooters". Both USGamer and Hardcore Gaming 101 discussed the game's presentation in high regard. At Kotaku, Peter Tieryas described it as "the ultimate adrenaline rush and hands down one of the best shooters on the Sega Genesis". Paul Brownlee, writing for Hardcore Gaming 101, called it one of the best looking Mega Drive games and said of the soundtrack: "It's one of the best on the system from both an artistic and technical standpoint, standing among greats such as Streets of Rage 2 and MUSHA".