Thunder Force VI

Thunder Force VI is a horizontal-scrolling shooter video game. The player controls a starship that must make it to the end of each stage by destroying incoming enemies and avoiding collisions with them and their projectiles. Stages feature 3D visuals while taking place on a 2D plane, occasionally zooming the camera towards and away the player. Two starships are available at the beginning of the game — the RVR-001 "Phoenix" and the Rynex-R — both of which have different weapon loadouts and playstyles.

Additional ships can be unlocked by progressing through the game and completing specific objectives. The player has access to five different weapon types, each having varying abilities and strengths; unlike earlier games in the series, the player starts with all of them, without needing to collect them while progressing through stages. The primary weapon is the "Craw", which can be launched at enemies to create powerful electric charges that obliterate anything in their path. Other weapons include a twin shot, a backwards shot, and a free-range homing shot.

D. 2161, ten years after the events of its predecessor Thunder Force V. After the artificial intelligence known as the "Guardian" is destroyed, Earth returns to an age of prosperity and peace. Shortly after this, an extraterrestrial race known as the "Orn Faust" make contact with Earth and begin to invade the planet, leaving the Unified Earth Fleet powerless and nearly destroyed.

The Unified Earth Government discovers several strange readings from its analysis report of an underground chamber on the island of Babel, where the Guardian was once installed. The readings lead to the location of technology related to the "Vasteel", the starship that had destroyed the Guardian long ago that has since been abandoned and sealed away to protect it. When researchers analyze the technology, they discover that the Vasteel was originally named the "Rynex", a powerful weapon that had been used by the Galaxy Federation extraterrestrial power to combat the Orn Empire, the leader of the Orn Faust. Scientists design a new starship called the RVR-001 "Phoenix", based on the Vasteel's technology, to destroy the Orn Faust and to save all of mankind from destruction.

Thunder Force VI was originally being developed for the Dreamcast by series creator Technosoft, reportedly being in production in early 2000. Aside from an early test video showing an early introduction sequence and several pieces of music, very little progress was made; it was indefinitely shelved during early stages of production after Technosoft folded into Japanese pachinko manufacturer Twenty-One Company. The composer for the project released the music as part of a soundtrack album, titled NOISE Game Music Vol. 3 – Broken Thunder, encompassing both tracks from Thunder Force VI and other games in the series, such as Thunder Force V.

In early 2007, Sega acquired the license from Technosoft and Twenty-One to revive the project and give it a full release. Development was headed by Sega veteran Tez Okano, known for his work on titles such as Segagaga, Astro Boy: Omega Factor, and Gunstar Super Heroes. Okano was a big fan of the Thunder Force series and was interested in producing a full-length sequel for a modern platform; he had previously designed a Thunder Force-esc stage for his earlier work Segagaga, which also incorporated music from the Broken Thunder album and the Dreamcast version of Thunder Force VI, which he was able to use after securing a deal with Technosoft. Okano worked to assemble a development team that were also fans of the series and had prior experience with designing shooters, gathering several designers from Taito and Konami to assist in production.

Reviews for Thunder Force VI were often mixed, with common complaints being towards its unbalanced difficulty level, soundtrack and usage of assets and entire stage designs from earlier entries in the series. Fans of the series were particularly negative towards it for failing to live up to prior Thunder Force games and for greatly lacking in both innovation and originality.

Japanese publication Famitsu criticized the game for relying mostly on stages and concepts from earlier games in the Thunder Force series, saying that it lacked innovation and originality. They praised the 3D graphics for being used in an interesting way throughout the game, but disliked the textures themselves for being low-textured and unappealing to look at. MeriStation praised the variety of weapons within the game, particularly the CRAW for being greatly improved over the one featured in its predecessor Thunder Force V, but were disappointed towards the level design for being too similar to those in prior entries, as well as its graphical style for being inferior to games like Gradius V. MeriStation applauded its soundtrack for its "techno new age" vibe and for the gameplay still being enjoyable and fun to play, although were critical of its short length.