Thunder Force II was one of those early Genesis games that made you realize this wasn't just another 8-bit console. You start off in this weird top-down mode where your ship zips around like a spaceship version of Pac-Man, blasting enemies in all directions. Then suddenly—bam—next level switches to side-scrolling, and now you're dodging bullet patterns like in Gradius but with way smoother scrolling.

What's cool is how the weapons feel. You've got this basic pea shooter at first, but after wrecking a few enemy formations, you're suddenly locking onto targets with homing lasers or shredding everything with these wide plasma shots. The power-ups aren't just "+1 damage" upgrades—they completely change how you approach fights. First time I played, I hoarded the spread shot like an idiot instead of realizing the homing missiles were way better for some stages.

Still holds up as a solid "before they figured out the formula" shooter—you can tell Technosoft was experimenting before they nailed it with Thunder Force III. The soundtrack's got that crunchy early FM synth sound too.