Gate of Thunder

Gate of Thunder (ゲート オブ サンダー) is a 1992 scrolling shooter by Hudson Soft and Red Entertainment for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM². It was also a pack-in game for the TurboDuo in North America, where it was bundled with Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, and Bomberman (the last one playable only after entering a code) on the same disc. It was released on the Wii Virtual Console on October 15, 2007 in North America and on December 4, 2007 in Japan. The game is the first CD based game on the American Virtual Console. It was released on the PlayStation Network on March 17, 2010 in Japan.

The game received a sequel, Lords of Thunder.

Story

The player controls the spaceship Hunting Dog, piloted by a space cop named Hawk. Along with ally Esty and her ship the Wild Cat, Hawk must stop General Don Jingi and his Obellon army from taking a powerful energy source called "Starlight" from the planet of Aries.

Reception

Gate of Thunder received generally positive reviews. It was rated one of the Turbo CD's best games by The PC Engine Software Bible, Gaming World, and Retro Game Age.GameSpot gave the Virtual Console release a 7/10, saying that the game is overly short and lacking in innovation (particularly noting the lack of any way of dealing with enemies other than shooting them), but that the memorable level and boss design, well-conceived weapons system, and consistently outstanding soundtrack make it a worthwhile purchase.IGN gave it an 8.5, concurring with the GameSpot review on most points, but arguing that Gate of Thunder makes a number of innovations to the shooter genre.