Gate of Thunder

~ GATE OF THUNDER ~

Red / Hudson Soft

Super CD-ROM

1992

Now this is a game with great music, from the tense Stage 2 track to the badass boss tune, and from the heavy opening number to the rockin' Dark City theme. Note that Gate's soundtrack isn't all about hard rock; reference the rhythmic Stage 3 tune and the somewhat eerie sixth-boss track.

In addition to having one of the best shooter soundtracks ever, Gate boasts some of the coolest level concepts as well. Few other shooters put you in as tight and tense a situation as Gate does in its very first level, when it places you between the surface of a planet and the hull of a ten-screen-long starship with hardly any breathing room. While many lesser shooters feature the requisite "blow up a big ship piece by piece" stage, Gate has you mutilate a giant sea monster instead. And I can't think of any other 16-bit sidescroller that at any point even comes close to having as much action as the insane Dark City stage, a level augmented by Megadethian riffs that make the experience even more exciting.

With sharp visuals, dynamic explosions, bold guitar riffs, and a shades-sporting hero, Gate goes beyond "stylish" and seems to carry itself with an air of cockiness. Featuring flawless mechanics and a relentless enemy armada, it's one brash, fearless shooter that can back up its attitude with quality and substance. I've beaten the game a million times, and it's still so much fun to play, earning it a place among my five favorite shooters.

Starting things off with style.

Causing destruction beneath an incredibly enormous starship.

Gate continually pits you against large mini-bosses, even as early as the second level.

I dig the third stage's lava-vat background, not to mention its big borer boss.

If the fourth boss can't nail you with its energy weapons, it'll resort to using its body.

The fifth board has you destroy waves of mechanical worms and insects before taking you underwater to battle a sea monster.

The famously chaotic Dark City. While I use the earthquake weapon in most stages for its sheer destructivity, the range of the wave beam comes in handy here.

The enemy hits you with everything it's got during the final stretch.