Gate of Thunder

 is a 1992 scrolling shooter by Hudson Soft and Red Company for the TurboGrafx-CD. It was also a pack-in game for the TurboDuo (a two-in-one system which runs both TurboGrafx-CD and TurboGrafx-16 games) in North America, where it was bundled with "Bonk's Adventure", "Bonk's Revenge", and "Bomberman" on the same disc. It was released on the Wii Virtual Console on October 15, 2007 in North America and on December 4 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".
Plot.
The player controls the spaceship Hunting Dog, piloted by a space cop named Hawk. Along with his 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. Classic-games.net gave "Gate of Thunder" a 9/10, saying it remains one of the best reasons to pick up a Duo.
"Gate of Thunder" was awarded Best Music for a CD Game of 1992 by "Electronic Gaming Monthly".
In 1997 "Electronic Gaming Monthly" editors ranked "Gate of Thunder" the 53rd-best console video game of all time, explaining that it stood apart from other shooters due to its CD-quality heavy metal soundtrack and animated backgrounds which "are as much an enemy in this game as the swarms of enemy bogies or the dozens of bosses and minibosses". They added that they chose "Gate of Thunder" over the sequel, "Lords of Thunder", because it is lengthier.
Legacy.
The event of "Gate of Thunder" was adapted into a manga featuring the Hudson characters titled "Hudson Makyou" (ハドソン魔境) by Minori Shobo on 1992.