When I was first getting into playing PC Engine games. One game I wanted to try badly was Lords of Thunder. When I went to go play it, I realize I had the wrong game downloaded. I saw it said Gate of Thunder and went "I don't want that one" and proceeded to ignore it. Looking back I honestly wish I didn't neglect it till now because it's also pretty great.
This is a pretty good shmup that reminds me somewhat of Thunder Force. It's got that speed changing I really like letting me feel comfortable with what I want. It's also got three different weapons that all feel great to use in any situations that are needed. You even have these helper bots that you can change the direction for their shots which is helpful for enemies behind you.
Stages feel very well designed in fact if that's one thing this game does better than TF 3 and 4 is the difficulty. It's not easy once you're powered up but its also not insanely hard. Which is what I prefer the most in shmups like these. Bosses aren't too challenging either and they even let you see when it's getting close to death which I appreciate.
I do have one issue with Gate of Thunder and that has to be the music. Now hold your torches people, I'm not saying it's bad. It's actually really good but I can barely even hear it in game. I heard this might be an emulation issue so if anyone has played this on real hardware, let me know.
The game looks pretty good and like I said the game itself has really good music. I really like the color choice and aesthetic brought to this game. It really makes it stick out from a lot of the library. They did a great job.
Honestly this and Lords of Thunder so far have entertained me the most on the console. I'm sure someday something will beat these two for me knowing my odd opinions but this is a big must play for anyone into shmups or curious about the PC Engine.
Also I might remove this part if it changes but why is the cover for this game on this site so terrible? Like why that yellow rectangle under it? Sorry it just always bothered me.
This is a pretty good shmup that reminds me somewhat of Thunder Force. It's got that speed changing I really like letting me feel comfortable with what I want. It's also got three different weapons that all feel great to use in any situations that are needed. You even have these helper bots that you can change the direction for their shots which is helpful for enemies behind you.
Stages feel very well designed in fact if that's one thing this game does better than TF 3 and 4 is the difficulty. It's not easy once you're powered up but its also not insanely hard. Which is what I prefer the most in shmups like these. Bosses aren't too challenging either and they even let you see when it's getting close to death which I appreciate.
I do have one issue with Gate of Thunder and that has to be the music. Now hold your torches people, I'm not saying it's bad. It's actually really good but I can barely even hear it in game. I heard this might be an emulation issue so if anyone has played this on real hardware, let me know.
The game looks pretty good and like I said the game itself has really good music. I really like the color choice and aesthetic brought to this game. It really makes it stick out from a lot of the library. They did a great job.
Honestly this and Lords of Thunder so far have entertained me the most on the console. I'm sure someday something will beat these two for me knowing my odd opinions but this is a big must play for anyone into shmups or curious about the PC Engine.
Also I might remove this part if it changes but why is the cover for this game on this site so terrible? Like why that yellow rectangle under it? Sorry it just always bothered me.
Reviewed on Dec 06, 2022
3 Comments
I have the Sega CD version of Lords of Thunder. First Sega CD game I ever played, crazy OST. I've never heard of this though lol.
You should give the PC Engine OST of Lords of Thunder a listen. I haven't played the Sega CD version but I hear the OST is kind of different.
Angel_Arle
1 year ago