The Mega Drive port of Technosoft's Thunder Force II, a shooter mixing vertical and horizontal. Technically dated, founder of the cult series.
Your verdict
Category
Shooter1 player7+
Description
Thunder Force ships battle ORN enemy armies in this first Sega Thunder Force for Mega Drive. Published by Sega, released in Japan in June 1989. Founding horizontal and vertical shoot'em up with ships with varied armaments and spectacular bosses.
Thunder Force II MD review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
The game alternates two viewpoints: overhead phases, where the ship crosses gridded bases in search of generators, and more classic side-scrolling phases. This double graphic vocabulary requires two treatments of the scenery, textured ground seen flat on one side, layered planes on the other.
The themes already show the series' signature: highly singing melodies carried by active bass, with frequent chord changes that stop the loop from settling. The FM chip is used to imitate guitars and keyboards rather than to produce abstract sonorities, a choice that gives these pieces the bearing of instrumental rock.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Engaging"
Difficulty
"Difficult"
Lifespan
"Short"
Technical info
💾0,36 MB📅15/06/1989
Published by Sega
Thunder Force II MD (Mega Drive) price, value & rarity
Thunder Force II MD is the original Japanese edition of the Technosoft shooter, distributed by Technosoft in Japan with the MD suffix specific to the local market. Its collector value comes from this unique Japanese naming and from the fact that the JP version remains the original before the Western localization adjustments.
Is Thunder Force II MD still worth playing in 2026?
A spiritual sequel to the Technosoft shoot, Thunder Force II offers a hybrid system between vertical shoot and multidirectional shoot with two alternating gameplay types. The polished sci-fi art direction and energetic rock soundtrack make it a Technosoft catalogue reference. Without reaching the perfection of Thunder Force III or IV, the title is an important step in the saga. For anyone collecting Thunder Force games or seeking a historical Technosoft shoot on Mega Drive, a valid recommendation today still on the Sega machine here truly indeed.
