Thunder Force V, Glimpse of Shooter Heaven

To enjoy this review fully you'll need to put on a pair of nostalgia specs. If your monitor becomes a bit finicky and rough around the edges, don't fret, that's just the early 1998 resolution: a way-back realm of low polygons and rough CG compression.

Today we enter the house of PlayStation. Pop the flap open, place the black disk onto the reel—make sure to hold it by its sides—and press in the circular Power button. Let's begin our venture into another classic shooter: Thunder Force V.

Touted as the greatest shooter series amongst its numerous fans, Thunder Force V first came out on Sega Saturn in 1997, and got its well deserved PS1 port the following year. Thunder Force V deserves its spot in the limelight for three reasons: it has wickedly articulate mechanical designs—a la Gundam, lots of gnawing skirmishes, and a kick-ass hard-rocking soundtrack.

I was going to write how utterly and undeniably awesome Thunder Force V is, but as soon as I started playing it an unprecedented nostalgic feeling swept over me.

It's 1998, I'm 18 and chilling at my friend's house. He tells me to check out this new Japanese shooter he just got, and plumps the game disc into his PS1. He takes a few steps towards me to hand me a controller, but accidentally trips on the system's power cord, pulling the entire PS1 off of the TV shelf...

We spent the next 20 minutes trying to secure a near busted flap so the laser would read the disk. Two well placed Hobby Japan magazines later, and we're finally playing Thunder Force V. An hour into the game, we're staring at the screen mesmerized by the game's up-beat tempo, iconic design, while thumping our feet to some of the most irresistible rock/metal tunes to grace a video game.

I wasn't kidding when I told you to put on those nostalgia specs.

Playing shooters on the PS1 was almost ceremonial in my friend circles. Because everyone I knew had their system “chipped” to play imported and copied games; our combined game libraries were overflowing with obscure titles. We'd play games before and after school, sometimes popping into a friend's abode at lunch or during a spare class.

Sometimes the good ol' Playstation would get finicky and not load certain games, or unplugging a controller would delete the memory card, but that didn't matter to us. Replaying games would mean more time spent with our favourite hobby. Sometimes we would stop playing to scrounge for some leftover pasta in the kitchen—which we would usually overcook due to not paying attention. Most times though, it was all about gaming till dawn.

jeuxvideo.fr

Getting together for some gaming was a familiar scene for the entire PS1 life cycle. It was a time of socializing in smaller less intrusive groups. And a time when the gaming industry was at the pinnacle of innovation—not technologically by creatively. Although I do not resent today's focus on sharing of our digitized persona, I do believe that to appreciate something artistic to a greater length one must observe and share the experience of it with another person present. Passively playing video games with close friends seems to be a forgotten hobby these days. Luckily my PS1 is still spinning all its games.

I hope you enjoyed spending time dodging bullets in the Den of Shooters. If you're curious about this often overlooked genre of games check out my feature on the origin of shoot 'em ups: Inside The Bullet Hurricane.  

Developer: Technosoft

Publisher: Technosoft, Working Designs

Platform: Sega Saturn, PlayStation

Genre: Shooter

Released: 1997