MG Force (series)

MG Force is an action-adventure video game series created by Akifumi Chiyotanda. It is developed and published by Rhode.

Most of the games are set in San Francisco. Early games where platformer-racing game hydrids, with the game alternating between car chases and platforming every level, also mixed with some RPG and beat'em'up elements. Later games are mostly 3D open-world games mixed with beat'em'up and driving elements. Most of the antagonists are characters which have bertrayed the main character.

The original game was based on Magnum Force, however, due to problems while negotiating over the Magnum Force licence, the characters were altered and the game was renamed MG Force.

MG Force
The first game was released in 1988 by Rhode for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and was later ported to the Atari 8-bit family and MS-DOS.

Plot
Jammer Maddar along with the others in his car is murdered by an SFPD cop for a minor traffic violation. Inspector Nicholas Korhonen visits the crimescene, despite being on a stakeout duty.

Gameplay
The game is a side-scroller with beat'em'up elements, where the player must defeat all enemies on the screen. There are many weapons, including a revolver (similar to the M1873), semi-automatic pistol (like the Beretta 70), submachine gun (almost identical to the M3), shotgun (resembling the Remington Model 11) and rifle (Winchester Model 677.)

In the car chases, the player must get to the destination in 50 seconds and not hit any police car.

Vehicles

 * '68 Ford Galaxie 500 (main car)
 * '71 VW Beetle 1200 (traffic)
 * '73 Ford Pinto (traffic)
 * '70 Ford Custom 500 (police)

Reception
Overall, the game was quite well recieved, with most complaints stemming from it's lack of variety.

MG Force 2
The second game was released 5 years later for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and was also ported to the Commodore 64, Game Gear and MS-DOS.

Plot
Set 5 years after the first game, Nicholas Korhonen was forced to retire due to his violent approach to police work. Meanwhile, an overabundance of random killings takes Nick's attention, who begins investigating the case and try to track the killer.

Gameplay
The game plays very similarly to the first game, but with a lot more variety. An HP system was added, with the player having 255 HP by default (compared to the 3-hit system in the first game.) More weapons were added, like a double-barrel revolver and shotgun, rocket launcher, grenades, molotov cocktails and satchel charges.

In car chases, the time limit was increased to 60 seconds, and bikes were introduced.

Reception
Although it was generally considered to be a great game, complaints struck the game over it's steep difficulty curve.