MG Force (series)

MG Force is an action-adventure video game series created by Akifumi Chiyotanda. It is developed and published by Rhode. Later games were mostly made by his son, Hidetsugu Chiyotanda, as Akifumi Chiyotanda died in 2008 at 51 years of age due to bone cancer.

Most of the games are set in San Francisco. Early games where platformer-racing game hybrids, 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 betrayed the main character.

The original game was based on Magnum Force, however, due to problems while negotiating over the Magnum Force license, 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 crime scene, despite being on 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 received with most complaints stemming from its 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 its 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 its 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 its 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 the 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 continuously burps or randomly says all of his voice lines. 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 in 1990 and was originally conceived 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 in 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 a year to be finished, and as such, development of the game was rushed.

As mentioned in 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 "its great soundtrack has nothing against its true-to-life graphics, harmonious sounds and an amazing amount of 3 guns," "revolutionary features such as indestructible babies, embarrassing cutscenes and living fairy men," and that it's "totally recommended for whoever wants something more exciting than watching static on a TV or clean the entire house."

MG Force Europe
MG Force Europe is not technically an independent game since it is an expansion pack for the PC version of MG Force Opus, made by Rhode. However, it was released as an independent game on the PlayStation, N64 and Game Boy Advance.

Changes to main game

 * Adds several new weapons: submachine gun (Mini-Uzi,) revolver (probably Ruger SP101) and Molotov cocktails.
 * Replaces the fairy costume with a hotdog costume. The only way to trigger it now is via a cheat code (A Up A Down A Right Insert in the PC version, A Up A Down A Right Start in the N64, Playstation, and Game Boy Advance versions.)
 * Fixes the infamous glitch where the game would crash if one were to kill a pedestrian or enter a car while the mission is over.
 * Replaces pedestrian, mission pictures and car graphics with new ones.

Germany

 * '69 Aston-Martin DBS (main car)
 * '71 Audi 100 (traffic)
 * '74 Ford Taunus TC (traffic)
 * '73 Volkswagen Passat 5-door (traffic)
 * '75 Renault 12 (traffic)
 * '75 BMW 320i (police)

France

 * '69 Aston-Martin DBS (main car)
 * '72 Renault 5 (traffic)
 * '74 Peugeot 504 (traffic)
 * '75 Seat 1200 Sport (traffic)
 * '75 Citroen Ami 8 (traffic)
 * '75 Citroen CX (police)

MG Force Opus 2
The fourth game in the series was developed and published by Rhode for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS and PC.

While not being as innovative as the similar Amber Gold series, it restored the series' good reputation.

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 its huge car and weapon customisability. The player can add a scope or a silencer, although dual-wielding guns as in MG Force Europe are not present. The player can also modify cars into police cars or add decals to cars.

In the Nintendo DS version, one can actually draw their own decals onto their cars using the touchscreen and the stylus.

Vehicles

 * '88 Pontiac Fiero GT (main car)
 * '73 Honda Civic RS (side-character 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)
 * '82 Nissan Skyline 200RS (traffic, police undercover)
 * '88 Chevrolet Celebrity (police)
 * '88 Ford Taurus Wagon (police)
 * '87 Ford Bronco (police interceptor)

Anti-piracy
This game uses the same anti-piracy method as the Amber Gold series - there are lots of errors in the disc, which, due to the error correction mechanism when copying a CD, will be gone on a pirated copy. However, this game is more efficient, since it only has one error in the disc, unlike the first two Amber Gold games, which had at least 14 to 7 errors in the disc (less in the sequel because of needed space.) The first level of anti-piracy called the "Buddy Error" by fans and sceners alike, is similar to the Filthy Hacker screen in the original Amber Gold, with the developers telling the player that they're a dirty hacker. It also appears in a similar manner - if a modchip is detected. Unlike the Amber Gold anti-piracy level, this one detects all kind of modchips, even MM3 or Mayomi v4 (which were thought to be impossible to prevent via DRM) - Amber Gold would only detect early modchips, such as really early PIC16C54-based microcontrollers or early Old Crow modchips without support for anti-modchip games.

The second level of anti-piracy called the "Bang Error," is also similar to the second level of anti-piracy in the first three Amber Gold games. Unlike the Amber Gold anti-piracy level, it does not replace the cutscenes with a cutscene specially made in case if the game is copied, but it operates in a similar manner: peds will have their skins randomly replaced, textures will be replaced for milliseconds, sounds will play randomly, random cars or buildings will explode or fly away, and car physics will be messed up. No matter how well the player does in the mission, the player will be given a 1/5 star rating for their performance, with the character's rating being replaced by a normally unused voice clip of Akifumi Chiyotanda saying "何は君は、クソ同性愛者?" (Nani wa kimi wa, kuso dōseiai-sha?) in an interview alongside his son, Hidetsugu Chiyotanda, which literally means "What are you, fucking gay?" Sometimes, it is possible that a caricatured black and white Hakeem (with a face similar as the disturbing Amber Gold in the Filthy Hacker screen) literally banging a black and white Amber Gold with the same face.

The interesting thing about the two textures is the fact that they are only 2BPP (4 colors) and appear to be uncompressed images, which is the same format that the first Amber Gold game used. Later Amber Gold games used this simple and fast run-length encoding data .3PX format: 0000-7FFF | Copy n + 1 bytes from input to output. 8000-FFFF | Read one byte from input and write it to output n - 125 times. MG Force Opus 2 uses a somewhat slower but more efficient bit-based run-length encoding data format: 0000 | End of stream.

0nnn | Copy the next n×8 bits, i.e. n bytes, to the output.

1nnn | Read the next 8 bits, and output this byte n+2 times. A regular image would usually benefit in an about 12% reduction in file size with the Amber Gold data format while using the bit-based RLE however a file can be reduced by about 21%.

The original MG Force Opus used either uncompressed images or JIF-standard JPEG images.

Opus 3
In 1999, Entelis bought Ixtend and merged in 2000 to create GNI, a game company. Rhode gave the rights for MG Force to GNI in 2002 while working on Project MG (which would turn out to be M3 Force.)

While Opus 3 didn't tarnish the series' reputation as much as MG Force Opus due to not directly using the MG Force name, it still rose questions as to whether Rhode cares about the MG Force series anymore, due to the low frequency of releases and low-quality games from outside developers. However, it completely ruined GNI's already awful reputation due to controversy.

Due to the low quality and dropping budget of GNI's games, Rhode stopped publishing GNI's games in mid-2004.

One interesting feature of Opus 3, however, is the fact that it runs at a resolution of 1280x360 at a time when widescreen wasn't common and is the only PS2 game to do so.

Gameplay
The game plays pretty much the same as the original MG Force Opus, except now it has the mission mechanic directly ripped off from the GTA series.

In one of the missions, a teenager parks their car in the back of the player's car, where the player is parked against a wall and can't leave. The game introduced an 'Explodeness' meter, where the player must rock the car back and forth hitting the wall and the car, raising the Explodeness meter. When the Explodeness meter is full, the teen's car explodes, and then the teen cries when he comes back.

Controversy
The first scandal was related to its commercials. The commercials advertised many features that were not in the game, including: The reason as to why there were so many features not in the game was related to it's $3,000 budget, the one-year development span and the fact that the commercials were made 4 months before release. This sparked a lot of criticism for misleading advertising.
 * Multiplayer features
 * A 2-player mode
 * Illegal street racing
 * Live-action cutscenes
 * Being a cop or a prisoner
 * Aging in-game

Another scandal was related to one of the missions in the game, "Black Pack," where the player is ordered to do something very disturbing, and the mission "Women," where the player must kill all women in town. This actually got the game banned worldwide until the game was re-released in 2005 with the mission removed and replaced with a mission where the player must steal cars and use them to destroy the Empire State Building. However, the game's reputation was already ruined.

Rerelease differences

 * A disclaimer was put on the title screen to warn people that the game might not work on slim PS2's (even in the PC version this disclaimer is still here.)
 * The ability to pee on corpses was removed.
 * The missions "Black Pack" and "Women" were removed.
 * Copyrighted music was replaced with placeholder MIDIs.

Opus 4
Opus 4 was made during GNI's golden era and overall rebranding and was the first game made by GNI to be considered actually decent.

It also runs at default at a resolution of 960x540, although widescreen is only available in the PC version.

It is also the first MG Force/Opus game to use CD-DA streamed audio instead of .MOD, .XM, .IT or .MID music (even if the menus still use MIDI music) and the first one to use copyrighted music from musicians, including Apollo 440, Eminem (in MIDI format) and others.