is a series of shooter

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s developed by the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese software company

Technosoft was a Japanese video game developer and publisher based headquartered in Sasebo, Nagasaki. Also known as "Tecno Soft", the company was founded in February 1980 as Sasebo Microcomputer Center, before changing its name to Technosoft in 1982. The co ...

and published by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

. The franchise is recognized for its distinctive gameplay, graphics, and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

-based

chiptune Chiptune, also called 8-bit music (although not all chiptune is 8-bit music), is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video gam ...

music soundtracks. There are six games in the series in total. The first appeared on the personal computers. The majority of installments in the series appeared on the

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

console. The most recent entry was released on

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

History

The series' first game, '' Thunder Force'', appeared in 1983 on a variety of Japanese computers, such as the X1, PC-8801 mkII, and

FM-7 The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a home computer created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in Japan and Spain. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as th ...

. Since '' Thunder Force II'', the majority of installments in the series appeared on the

console, where the series gained much of its popularity. The most recent entry was released on

. The original ''Thunder Force'' video game was created by Kotori Yoshimura in 1983. She later left Technosoft and founded

Arsys Software Arsys Software (アルシスソフトウェア), later known as Cyberhead (サイバーヘッド), was a Japanese video game software development company active from 1985 to 2001. Overview The company was founded as Arsys Software by former Tec ...

in 1985, where herself and Osamu Nagano worked on notable titles such as '' Star Cruiser''.Alt URL
/ref> In 1984, Technosoft released a

level editor A level editor (also known as a map, campaign or scenario editor) is a game development tool used to design Level (video games), levels, maps, campaigns and virtual worlds for a video game. An individual involved with the development of game levels ...

, or game creation system, titled ''Thunder Force Construction'', created by Yoshimura for the

computer. In September 2016,

announced at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publication ...

that they've acquired the rights to the ''Thunder Force'' franchise and all other Technosoft intellectual properties.

Games

Compilations

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thunder Force (Series) horizontally scrolling shooters Sega video game franchises video game franchises introduced in 1983