Too bad the car doesn't actually look like this in the game.

Turbo Force

-Video System Co., LTD. (1991)

The Story:

Saki, a Japanese man who sold cars at a Lexus dealership, always had dreams of Lexus becoming the number one car in Japan. While cruising the intra-web he found some ancient demon summoning spells and decided they could help the dominance of Lexus. Through the placement of cherry scented candles and the consumption of too much sake, Saki called forth a giant demon head. This head gave Saki the knowledge to make a Lexus luxury sedan three times bigger than normal and outfit it with space technology. The head also gave him the knowledge to resurrect dinosaurs and create his own army of robots. Like any Japanese man craving power, Saki built up an army of Gundam-inspired mechs. The head aided Saki further by enlisting the aid of a gruesome fellow demon and an evil Arabian who was banished to Hell hundreds of years ago.

Saki was mulling over his plans while flying in space in his Lexus when he came across legions of space insects hiding on the moon. The insects wanted to consume humanity. Saki agreed to help them, but only if Lexus was their car of choice after the humans were annihilated... and that a few cute Japanese school girls were spared. The insects would invade Japan first, then spread throughout the Earth. A few days later Saki and the space insects launched a surprise attack on all of Japan’s car dealerships.

To combat Saki’s forces, the Japanese military decided they would fight back using the natural enemy of the Lexus, the Lamborghini. Three Lamborghini Diablos were outfitted with jet engines and cutting edge laser weaponry. This would be a dangerous mission, but a monopoly of Lexus dealerships in Japan cannot happen. The consumers must have a choice in their automotive buying decisions.

My Thoughts:

Turbo Force is one of those shooters where the developers couldn’t think of exactly what to do so they threw in an assortment of unrelated enemies and bosses. There are big tanks, mechs, a sand battleship thing, robotic space insects, demons, a giant Arabian riding a cloud, Dino Riders, and an oversized Lexus. Seriously, the final boss is a huge car flying in space that shoots Lexus symbols. This non-sensical assortment of foes is fought using a Lamborghini with rocket boosters attached to the sides.

The game has power-ups, but you don’t actually get to use them yourself; the game does it for you. When you collect a bomb power-up it automatically gets used right away. Many times this results in the bomb being wasted because you already destroyed most of the enemies that were on screen. The normal weapon power-ups work the same way. You collect them and the gun gets upgraded, but only for a limited time. As you shoot, the weapon upgrade depletes so you have to start over with the puny normal lasers even though you never died. This game is a mess of mismatched adversaries that have no reason to be fighting together. I’m glad it’s over so I can go back to things that make sense, like disposing of giant turtles with the fireballs I fling from my hands.  

Score: 4.0 

-Shawn