Flying cars and don’t ask question
This week’s Arcade Archives entry comes from the first-draft-name developer Video System, and sees us once again returning to the bottomless well of late-’80s/early-’90s shmups — Now available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, its vertically scrolling blasterTurbo Force!
Released to the arcade market in 1991, Turbo Force is the predecessor of smash releaseSonic Wings, (better known in the west as Aero Fighters), and was a standout release for the shmup market, due to its support for up to three players over the typical genre standard of two. The “Turbo” of the title apparently refers to the player vessels, which are essentially flying sports cars packed out with powerful weaponry. Why, you ask? Frankly, it’s hard to tell, asTurbo Forcewas developed as something of a mish-mash, a confusing project that shifted direction multiple times during its production period.
Check out the action in the video below, courtesy of YouTuberPaul Eales.
As such, whileTurbo Forcehas a lot going for it — with fast action, cool pixel visuals, and an army of varied enemies and boss characters — the game is something of a tonal and directionless mess, lacking in story, purpose, or definitive theme. Regardless, lessons learned in the development ofTurbo Forcewould lead to the inception of theSonic Wingsseries, which would offer up a bounty of explosive hits both in the arcade and on home formats. Ultimately,Turbo Force was the “training wheels” for better things to come, and stands today as more of a shmup curio than anything else.
Turbo Forceis available to download now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, priced at around $8.
