Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
Great Sea Power
Metal Squad
Down Right Attack
Love Dream
Stand Up Against Myself
Because You're The Number One
Remember of "Knight of Legend"
The Stars
...and this is how Succulla got No Miss on Maniac.
But seriously, though, if you've never seen the Maniac ending, now's your chance.
0:11 - This boss is a jerk. He moves out of the way of the incoming fireballs that take almost the entire screen really fast. Once you make it to where the last boss is, it hides out and lets the spheres spin around the screen, connected only by a force field that can also destroy.
1:35 - Here it is...the final boss. This thing rains death and lets loose with multiple homing missiles when it reaches the top of the screen, but blowing the sides off temporarily puts a stop to all that.
2:16 - It grows legs! Oh, my! When it starts climbing the walls, something rotates around it as a fireball bounces off the screen like a ping-pong ball. The Hunter takes the guesswork out of where it is, and all one would have to worry about now is avoid the thing that rotates around the boss and the fireball itself.
Everything before 1:30 - The first 90 seconds need to be seen to be believed. Sets of cogs you have to push back with the Hunter in order to go any further, things with laser tripwires, things that track you with lasers and shoot at you when you trip them...all with a very good frame rate.
1:30 - We've shot four or five of these things, and the next one we spot decides it wants to be a mini-boss? Okay. Too bad it takes a lot of hits compared to the ones we saw earlier.
1:45 - Now it wants to put on some additional armor and shoot missiles. Now that's something right there. Even worse is the weapons that it has that force you to juke and jive while you're trying to shoot it. This game definitely does not screw around!
2:06 - After taking a zillion hits, it finally goes down.
2:35 - After a rather boring 30 seconds of not shooting, this thing comes from the left side of the screen and tries to bring the ceiling down. If you stayed to the right, though, you wouldn't lose a life to that thing.
2:38 - If you kept an eye on the ceiling like Succulla did, though, you'd find another 1-Up that you shouldn't waste anytime trying to grab! Win!
2:47 - These solo cogs are a little different. They'll send a whole circle of them to entrap you, and the only way out is to shoot the gray one.
3:11 - A short trip to the corner of the screen to grab power-ups for points when the screen slows down, then the screen scrolls up slowly, with more laser-activated traps along the way.
3:45 - It's projectile avoiding time. It gets seemingly difficult near the end, but there's a spot near the missile where you don't have to keep the finger on the trigger at.
4:12 - It pays to take the high road here. Gee, 10000 points or another 1-Up? Hmmm...which is better?
4:41 - Boss time! Succulla uses the Free Way to destroy four of the five laser cannons at the rear, then uses the Hunter to finish off the last one.
5:50 - We now see what the front of this thing does...and it does quite a bit. Besides shooting homing missiles and regular projectiles, it can also shoot flames from its sides, which leaves its weak point extremely vulnerable while making it unable to attack way up close.
6:12 - Now it wants to shoot a whole salvo of homing missiles at Succulla. Too bad the Blade and nimble agility both make quick work of them.
6:43 - The left arm gets blown off. That makes things easier...not! Now it can shoot its flamethrower everywhere, but it is still limited to only one direction, rotating throughout the screen. Thankfully, it can now be hit anywhere, which makes the Hunter the weapon of choice for this part of the battle.
7:17 - It still wants to follow you as it's explode. Ten seconds later, you get what is probably the greatest boss explosion in the game.
0:30 - This may look like a mini-boss, but it really isn't. It just opens up, closes, blows up and then the core flies away after taking enough damage.
0:58 - These funny movements where Succulla backs up is actually for preparation against the next mini-boss. It takes only a few seconds with the blade to blow these things on the ceiling to pieces.
1:07 - Gee, I guess that shield really did come in handy.
1:21 - But don't worry...there's another shield shortly after this!
1:29 - This mini-boss is very annoying. It takes a bunch of charge shots to get through the shields and hit this thing...and the shields regenerate very rapidly. Its weapons are just as bad.
2:28 - It's that core we saw earlier! Apparently, it was part of some really big mechanical worm! Succulla lets loose with the Rail Gun, then powers the shot up when it turns around...and fires when it opens its cannon again.
3:08 - That is a lot of bonus points. There's also a 1-Up here!
3:17 - This boss is just really weird. It's not even mechanical...instead it seems to be some sort of alien lifeform. The flies that come from it block your shots, so keeping the finger on the trigger to kill these things really helps. Thankfully, a charged shot past its tentacle-like arms into its core speeds things up a bit. The arms are then blown off.
4:00 - After the second arm is blown off, the core hits the ground. A bunch of flies pick it up and carry it around, then drop it when it starts spinning around and shooting lasers. A few well-placed charge shots send it packing, though Succulla loses the shield yet again to save time.
4:36 - A big flying bug comes and picks it up, then carries it around while shooting lasers at you. The strange liquid that comes from it causes explosions to rock the ground. Thankfully, the Rynex's upgrade helps make short work of this insect.
4:54 - The core explodes, and the boss is blown away!
1:10 - In case you can't tell, these bubbles are in Succulla's way. Thankfully, the Blade does a good job of mowing them down, since the Hunter goes right through them. Too bad the Rail Gun will have to be used shortly, as waves of enemies come in from both directions.
Unlike the first four stages, which you can complete in any order, you'll be on rails for the rest of the game.
0:04 - We finally get to see a little more of Free Way for the first time in this series. Which is sad, because it isn't used very often. For the next few seconds, Succulla makes the game look like a joke on Maniac difficulty.
0:19 - A big enemy ship shows up to be promptly de-armed...by force. Even the mini-boss it sends in is no match for the Blade.
1:44 - After further disarming the missile pods, Succulla gets another 10,000 points...and another 1-Up!
2:00 - The ships that fight alongside the Rynex are shot down with little warning. Not long afterwards, the Snake makes quick work of the entire ship before Succulla switches to the Hunter.
2:08 - Here's the boss. More ships come in to try and destroy it, but they're no match at all for it. The boss then flies away.
2:27 - Upgrade get. Not only does the Rynex get a charge shot, but also upgraded Claws.
The beginning of the video mostly involves shooting as many things down as humanly possible, with the Hunter running full blast.
1:07 - ...and now we come to the mini-boss. It looks like a cross between a scorpion tail and a motorcycle helmet. Thanks to the Blade and Hunter Weapons, Succulla is able to make quick work of this enemy.
2:07 - The sandstorm stops...and more enemies try to strike before the boss shows up...which should be about...
2:44 - ...here. It takes a little time, but Succulla switches back to the Blade and is able to break through the boss's defenses and get rid of its shields.
3:13 - The boss's shields disperse before coming back, but now they disperse after a couple of direct hits.
3:27 - Succulla blows the bottom half of the boss off with the Blade. Two of the shields home in to try to shoot the ship down, but the Blade makes short work of them.
3:52 - The middle part is now gone. Succulla switches to the Hunter, before switching back to the Blade for the coup de grace.
4:02 - The boss finally goes down and sinks into the endless sand.
1:46 - We finally have the Hunter weapon! This thing is mandatory for a no-miss run, as it homes into all the enemies on the screen and powers through them!
1:53 - Instead of sticking to the Hunter, however, Succulla switches through all the weapons to destroy these mechanical monstrosities as efficiently as possible...and does a rather nice job.
2:27 - Succulla switches back to the Blade just in time to fight the second boss. He blasts the cannons off, and as soon as the boss gets in close, Succulla is already in for the kill.
Once upon a time, some guy named Succulla decided to play a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive game called Thunder Force IV, also known to some of you as Lightening Force. He decided to play it on the Maniac difficulty, which was the hardest of the four.
He tore it a new one. And he got the No Miss bonus.
This is how he did it.
Unlike my previous guides, where I tell you what to do, I actually relax a bit. Call it my personal commentary on a "no death run," if you will.
0:37 - Succulla finally gets the Blade power-up, which upgrades the Twin Shot. This makes it easier to beat some of the bosses later in the game.
0:58 - Now the Rail Gun is available, which upgrades the Back Shot and makes it almost as powerful as the Blade.
1:22 - After almost 90 seconds of destroying things that fly in the air, the ship goes towards the water to destroy this thing. The final segment shoots beams at the ship after a few seconds, but Succulla dodges it and destroys it, anyway.
1:43 - And now we go in the water. Succulla gets a 1-up before destroying everything that can possibly be blown up. The foreground at the beginning of this section is impressive, by the way.
2:44 - We're out of the water...and it's boss time!
2:58 - Succulla switches to the Rail Gun and makes a mockery out of the boss, shooting down every single projectile the claw spits out.
3:35 - The claw swings away. After a while, Succulla fights this monstrosity. The Rail Gun takes care of some fireballs while shooting down the orb.
4:22 - The orb on the second form turns red, and it dives under the water for a second to hit the ship with the orb...but that fails.
4:41 - ...and the boss attacks with the orb again. He does it one more time, but Succulla is able to dodge even that.
