Software:D-Force

From HandWiki

D-Force[lower-alpha 1] is a 1991 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published in Japan by Asmik for the Super Famicom and later localized and published in North America by Asmik Corporation of America for the Super NES. It involves an Apache helicopter set on defeating an evil Middle Eastern dictator. There are seven levels which feature six countries. Some of the levels involve switching altitudes in order to attack enemies from a different height, which uses Mode 7, one of the main features of the Super NES.

Gameplay

The main menu splits the game up into three sections; "Game Start," "Shooting Mode," and "Exploration Mode."

Game Start plays through all of the game's seven levels. Shooting Mode plays only the first, third, and fifth levels where consistent shooting and dodging enemy fire is the main focus. These levels are also the only levels that feature the ability to gain bullet and missile power-ups to the helicopter. "Exploration Mode" plays only the second, fourth, and sixth levels which involve switching altitudes to shoot down certain enemies and avoid obstacles. Only the Game Start mode plays the seventh and final level in addition to the game's first six levels.

Gameplay involves being the pilot of an Apache Helicopter, and shooting enemies down in the style of a vertical scrolling shooter. Large red gunships can be shot down to gain power-ups for the helicopter in order to upgrade the guns and have it fire homing missiles. Each level features a midboss and a boss, and both must be destroyed in order to advance to the next level. The style of the levels as the player advances alternates between "Shooting Mode" and "Exploration Mode," where the latter involves levels set in a fantasy-like setting and are the only level types that provide no power-ups to the player and give the player the ability to switch their altitude.

Music

The music played at the menu is a variation of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise". The music played at the ending credits is a variation of the Soviet Union national anthem.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Consoles +35%[2]
Famitsu18/40[3]
Nintendo Power3.1/5[7]

D-Force garnered average reviews from critics, most of which reviewed it as an import title.[1][2][4][5][6] Game Players's Matthew A. Firme opined that the game's visuals were an improvement over the Nintendo Entertainment System, writing that "What it may lack in graphics, D-Force certainly makes up for in enthusiam".[8] Famitsu's four reviewers found the ability to switch between low and high altitudes in technical mode surprising, but noted how difficult was powering-up the helicopter and fast movement of enemy bullets. They also saw both the helicopter's movement and spawning of enemies confusing and unnatural respectively.[3] François Hermellin of Consoles + commended the responsive controls of the helicopter, but faulted the game's presentation, "ugly" graphics, unremarkable sprite animations, soundtrack, and minimal replay value.[2]

Games-X magazine criticized D-Force for its graphical presentation, particularly the "bland" sprites and poor rotation effects, as well as the monotonous sound effects, and below average gameplay. They stated that "This is anything but the best shoot’em-up on the [Super] Famicom and you'd be better off avoiding it and trying your hand at Gradius 3 instead, a truly class game."[4] Nintendo Power's George Sinfield and Rob Noel liked the background visuals but they felt that it did not offered any innovation compared to other vertical-scrolling shooters on NES. Sinfield also expressed that it played like "a bunch of games made for NES."[7] Génération 4's Frank Ladoire noted that it suffered slowdown when several sprites are present onscreen, as with other shooters on SNES such as Super R-Type and Earth Defense Force (1991). Ladoire also felt the game did not benefit from its audiovisual presentation.[5]

Joystick's Jean-Marc Demoly concurred with Games-X magazine, faulting the game's visuals and animations. Although Demoly commended its controls and boss encounters, he ultimately found it to be poorly done.[6] Aktueller Software Markt's Lars Rückert found the game annoying, lambasting its jerky screen scrolling.[1] In a retrospective outlook, Retronauts writer Jeremy Parish stated that D-Force "might be the worst and most generic shooter ever released for Super NES."[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known as Dimension Force (Japanese: ディメンションフォース, Hepburn: Dimenshon Fōsu) in Japan.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rückert, Lars (April 1992). "Konsolen: Abgeschmiert — D-Force (Super Famicom)" (in de). Aktueller Software Markt (Tronic Verlag) (62): 120. https://archive.org/details/Aktueller_Software_Markt_-_Ausgabe_1992.04/page/n115/mode/1up. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hermellin, François (December 1991). "Super Famicom Review: Dimension Force" (in fr). Consoles + (fr) (M.E.R.7 (fr)) (4): 48–49. https://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=51&num=14218&album=oui. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: ディメンションフォース" (in ja). Famitsu (ASCII Corporation) (158): 40. December 27, 1991. https://archive.org/details/famitsu-0158-december-27-1991/page/40/mode/1up. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Console Connexions: Dimension Force (Famicom)". Games-X (Europress) (38): 25. January 16–22, 1992. https://archive.org/details/games-x-uk-38/page/n24/mode/1up. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ladoire, Frank (February 1992). "Console Test: Dimension Force (Super Famicom)" (in fr). Génération 4 (fr) (Computec) (41): 150. https://archive.org/details/generation4-magazine-041/page/n76/mode/1up. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Demoly, Jean-Marc (February 1992). "Console News: Dimension Force (Super Famicom)" (in fr). Joystick (Sipress) (24). https://archive.org/details/joystick024/page/n160/mode/1up. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sinfield, George; Noel, Rob (January 1992). "Now Playing - D-Force". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) (32): 102–103. 
  8. ↑ Firme, Matthew A. (August 1991). "Super NES: 3 More Games To Play! — D-Force". Game Players (Signal Research) 4 (8): 34–35. https://archive.org/details/game-players-guide-to-nintendo-games-vol.-4-issue-8-aug-1991/page/2003/mode/2up. 
  9. ↑ Parish, Jeremy (March 17, 2023). D-Force: Force manure. Limited Run Games. pp. 1–256. ISBN 978-1955183062. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGcGxTyif-M. Retrieved 2023-05-04. 
  • D-Force at GameFAQs
  • D-Force at Giant Bomb
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.



Warning: Default sort key "D-Force" overrides earlier default sort key "Mobygames".



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:D-Force&oldid=3960808"