Thunder Force AC

Update #2: Sega has confirmed that Thunder Force AC will launch in North America and Europe on May 28th – not long to wait! It will cost $7.99 in America. Will you be downloading it, or have you already purchased the Japanese version?

Update #1 [Mon 11th May, 2020 09:00 BST]: Sega has confirmed that Thunder Force AC will launch this week (14th May) in Japan, costing 999 yen. There's no word on when the western release is going to take a place – they usually follow shortly afterwards – but you can always use our guide on how to purchase games from Japan if you can't wait.

Original Story [Thu 16th Apr, 2020 09:30 BST]: Sega has announced that Thunder Force AC will be coming to the Switch as part of its Sega Ages range soon, and will cost 999 yen in Japan.

Based on the Mega Drive / Genesis title Thunder Force III, Thunder Force AC was released in arcades around the same time and was ported to the SNES in the form of Thunder Spirits – which sadly wasn't much good.

As was the case with Thunder Force IV, a Kids mode is included which not only grants you higher attack power but also prevents you from losing all of your weapons upon death. Online leaderboards will also make the cut, and you'll be given one for each of the four playable ships in the game: Fire Leo-03 Styx, Fire Leo-03MP Styx Mass Product, Fire Leo-04 Rynex (from Thunder Force IV) and Fire Leo-o4 Rynex (equipped with Thunder Sword).

Naturally, the port will benefit from the usual Sega Ages features, such as the ability to save your position in the game, record replays of your performance and also watch footage of advanced players. The original arcade game had mono sound, but this has been upgraded to stereo in this version, and HD Rumble has been added, too. A range of screen filters are present so you can obtain that faithful CRT-style look if you so desire.

If you'd like to know more about this series of shooters, then be sure to check out our Thunder Force history feature.