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, also ported

to the Atari 8-bit family and MS-DOS. Later, it was ported to a lot of home computers by Entelis, including the ZX Spectrum, Oric-1, Thomson TO7/70, Camputers Lynx, Texet TS8000, CCE MC-1000 and Comx-35.

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. One magazine said that "the music in some levels sounds like Indian music."

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.

The NES version used a Namco 163 mapper to enhance it's sound capabilities with an extra 4 channels of wavetable synthesis.

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 tries 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.

Vehicles

 * '74 Pontiac Firebird Formula (main car)
 * '77 Volkswagen Beetle 1303 (traffic)
 * '78 Trabant (traffic)
 * '78 Chevy Malibu (police)

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

Many complaints also arose from the fact that the NES had to be modded in order to play music correctly, which is not the case for the Famicom. Essentially, the NES had to be modded to send the audio through the cartridge output in order for the cartridge to mix in it's additional 4 sound channels, for a total of 9.

Due to this, many people did not mod their console, and complained of a "drum and bass-only soundtrack." Several songs, like the Game Over theme, would only play the drums without a modded NES.

MG Force Opus
The third game, which could be considered a spin-off, was released in 1995 for the 3DO, and in 1996 for the Playstation, Nintendo 64 and PC. It was developed by Ixtend and published by Rhode.

Plot
Set 5 years after the second game, Nicholas Korhonen and his new partner Riley McKinley were sent out of city in a small town to chase the mafia gang Roland Boys. On the way, they find a murder witness, named Christine Schnorrer.

Gameplay
The game is set in a big city, however, the game is not open-world. The game is divided into 27 levels, which can be completed in any order. There are timed missions, where the player must complete the missions in a certain amount of time. Overall the missions break down into several types: Unlike the last game, this game has only three weapons: a pistol (possibly Automag), rifle (Remington 7600 Synthetic) and shotgun (somewhat close to a Remington 870.)
 * Car Chases: The player must go from point A to point B without being caught by the enemy who is chasing you.
 * Killer: The player must kill the target before they get to their destination.
 * Transport: The player must transport a load from point A to point B.

If the player presses a certain button (⏸/▶ in the 3DO version, Select in the Playstation version, START in the N64 version, and Alt in the PC version,) a star powerup will appear in front of the player, which can be picked up, changing the player's outfit to that of a fairy and granting invincibility and the ability to hover mid-air all while the player continously burps or randomly says all of his voicelines. This is apparently a remnant of a debug mode which was left in the game for "putting sprinkles on top of a cake that's made out of demon's semen and reese's feces" according to a developer. However, this means that, in the N64 version, the pause button is A.

Vehicles

 * '78 Ford Falcon Cobra (main car)
 * '83 Mitsubishi Colt (traffic)
 * '83 Renault Alliance (traffic)
 * '79 AMC Spirit (traffic, gang car)
 * '80 Chevrolet LUV (traffic)
 * '83 Ford LTD Crown Victoria (police)

History
The game started development on 1990 and was originally concieved as an Acorn Archimedes 440/1 open-world 3D game. However, development was halted due to Akifumi Chiyotanda leaving the development of the game due to bone cancer. He returned in 1992 to continue development on the game, this time aiming for development on the A5000. There was a somewhat playable demo made of the 440/1 version, but the A5000 version was scrapped due to the 3DO being released. As such, development was moved over to the 3DO.

However, after difficulties on programming an open-world 3D game, the team abandoned the project, focusing on the development of Racing Spirit 3D instead, and as such, the assets were sold to Ixtend. The game rebegan development on 1994, but had to be halted due to the company going bankrupt. And as such, the assets were sold once again, to Entelis.

This meant the game only had half an year to be finished, and as such, development of the game was rushed.

As mentioned on an interview with Benedict Fraser:

"To be honest, the only reason we even took Opus into our own hands was because no other team wanted to do it, so we were effectively doing it for a paycheck. We were burnt out continuing it because we never had any experience making a 3D game. I mean, seriously, we mostly did conversions for obscure 80's computers. The team deflated from 70 people to just 5 very quickly. There was a lack of structure, lack of management, and overall, it turned out to be a bunch of shit. It just shows in the final product: We had to do so much in half an year that it came out like we just shat it out."

Reception
This is the first game in the series to be considered sub-par compared other games in the series (or Rhode games in general.) One magazine which reviewed the Playstation version gave it 31/100 mentioned that "the game is a complete mess, with mismatched graphics, painful sound effects, absolutely horrendous controls and lack of even a save feature, with it's only saving grace being the unique gameplay, (so bad they're good) live-action cutscenes and stunning ambient soundtrack by some guy called Antti Rita, too bad he probably didn't even know what game he was composing for because the soundtrack doesn't even fit the game," "the game is a pure and total disgrace to the MG Force franchise, which was already somewhat ruined by Rhode's cocky attitude over the last game requiring the players to mod their console to hear music correctly" and that "it would be more fun to crap in two toilets and flush them simultaneously." At one point, the critic even asked if MG Force Opus is supposed to be a parody/mockery of the original games, due to the fairy powerup being easily available. He also insults Rhode over the game, although they barely even developed the final version (only creating the game engine.)

Other magazine critics were more forgiving, stating that the project spent 5 years in development. The N64 and PC versions got overall better reviews, but were still considered lackluster. One magazine which gave the N64 version 6/10 stated that "the game has great live-action scenes, an amazing techno soundtrack but overall clunky controls and a lack of variety which was found in the older installments." The PC version also got unfavorable reviews, with one magazine giving it 2/5.

Several magazines gave it high reviews satirically. One in particular gave the Playstation version 10/10 and stated that "it's great soundtrack has nothing against it's true-to-life graphics, harmonious sounds and amazing amount of 3 guns," "revolutionary features such as indestructible babies, embarassing cutscenes and living fairy men," and that it's "totally recommended for whomever wants something more exiciting than watching static on a TV or clean the entire house."

MG Force Opus 2
The fourth game in the series was developed and published by Rhode for the Playstation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance and PC.

Gameplay
The game is similar in gameplay to the original Opus, however, the game is open-world, taking inspiration from the Amber Gold series. The player must select from 41 levels in a secret room. The game now uses a map instead of an arrow to show direction, similar to early prototypes of MG Force Opus. Unlike the first game, which had music per stage, this game plays any of 34 songs during a level.

Levels are no longer divided into types, so each level is unique. Vehicle physics are much more realistic and less stiff. Whereas in the original Opus understeer is a prominent problem, here, spinning out is a problem, like a real car.

One of the most acclaimed features of MG Force Opus 2 is it's huge weapon customisability. The player can add a scope or a silencer, although dual-wielding guns as in Third Revenge are not present.

Vehicles

 * '88 Pontiac Fiero GT (main car)
 * '73 Honda Civic RS (sidecharacter car)
 * '82 Dodge Rampage (antagonist car)
 * '86 Chevrolet Cavalier Coupe (traffic)
 * '88 Eagle Vista Wagon (traffic)
 * '76 Volkswagen Polo (traffic)
 * '87 Ford Aerostar (traffic)
 * '84 Ford Escort Wagon US (traffic)
 * '79 Fiat Fiorino Panorama (traffic)
 * '67 Fiat 850 Special (traffic)
 * '70 Toyota Crown (traffic)
 * '88 Nissan Pulsar 3-door (traffic)