Star Force, released in North America as Mega Force, is a 1984 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Tehkan for arcades. It was ported to the Famicom by Hudson Soft, with Tehkan's successor Tecmo releasing a different version for the Nintendo Entertainment System outside of Japan.

The Story Behind Star Force

Star Force was also ported to the SG-1000 by Sega, and X68000 by Dempa Shimbunsha. In 1986, Hudson Soft released the shoot 'em up game Star Soldier, which is considered a spiritual successor to Star Force. Hamster Corporation released the game as part of their Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 in 2015 and Nintendo Switch in 2018.

In 2009, the arcade version was made available for download on the Wii's Virtual Console for 500 Wii Points as one of the four initial offerings for the "Virtual Console Arcade" category of the Wii Shop Channel (the other three being Gaplus, Mappy, and The Tower of Druaga from Namco). The Famicom version was also included in Hudson's compilation of NES shooters in 2006 in Hudson Best Collection Vol. Sales of the game were promoted through the first nationwide video game competition to be called "a caravan", although it was not the first event of its kind organized by Hudson (they had previously promoted Lode Runner with a similar event).

How Star Force Plays

Unlike later vertical scrolling shooters, like Toaplan's Twin Cobra, the Final Star had only two levels of weapon power and no secondary weapons like missiles and/or bombs. In certain versions of the game, there is an additional level called "Infinity" (represented by the infinity symbol) which occurs after Omega, after which the game repeats indefinitely. Each stage in the game was named after a letter of the Greek alphabet.

, released in North America as Mega Force, is a 1984 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Tehkan for arcades. In the game, the player pilots a starship called the Final Star, while shooting various enemies and destroying enemy structures for points. It was ported to the Famicom by Hudson Soft, with Tehkan's successor Tecmo releasing a different version for the Nintendo Entertainment System outside of Japan.

Why Players Still Load It Up

In Japan, Game Machine listed Star Force as the fourteenth most successful table arcade unit of November 1984. Reviewing the Arcade Archives release on the Nintendo Switch, Dave Frear of Nintendo Life gave the game a 5/10 score, noting it to be mediocre and unoriginal for its time. , released in North America as Mega Force, is a 1984 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Tehkan for arcades.

It was ported to the Famicom by Hudson Soft, with Tehkan's successor Tecmo releasing a different version for the Nintendo Entertainment System outside of Japan.

Star Force — Frequently Asked Questions