Winds of Thunder
ウィンズ オブ サンダー1993Winds of Thunder
ウィンズ オブ サンダーALSO KNOWN AS LORDS OF THUNDER
Wear four elemental armors and face a dark god.
Lords of Thunder is the follow-up to Gate of Thunder, and in Japan it was released as Winds of Thunder. The knight Landis takes on a dark god and the generals who serve him.
| RELEASED IN JAPAN | 23 April 1993 |
|---|---|
| NORTH AMERICA | March 1993, on TurboDuo |
| DEVELOPER | Red Company's Red Raimon group |
| PUBLISHER | Hudson Soft in Japan, Turbo Technologies in North America |
| COMPOSER | Satoshi Miyashita, as Groove King |
| SEGA CD VERSION | 1995 |
Landis wears the armor of his ancestor Drak, and there are four armors based on the four elements. Each one changes his shots, his bombs and the difficulty of the run.
The first six stages can be played in any order, as in Thunder Force III. The seventh stage opens once the first six are cleared. Before each stage, a shop sells items for crystal currency, such as bombs and healing elixirs.
Enemies drop hearts and crystals as you destroy them. Crystals buy items in the shop, and they also count toward high scores. Getting hit lowers your health and your firepower.
Landis sets out to fight Zaggart of the Garuda Empire. Zaggart has revived the evil god Deoric, and Deoric's six dark generals also fight Landis. The world they fight over is called Mistral.
Kazunori Nakazawa was planner and character designer. Eiji Aoyama and Masaki Kobayashi, both from Hudson Soft, co-led production, and Tomonori Matsunaga directed the game. Satoshi Miyashita composed the soundtrack while working as Groove King with T's Music.
PC Engine Fan readers gave it 23.76 out of 30, ranking 53rd. Some reviewers found it less fierce than Gate of Thunder. The 1995 Sega CD version got a mixed reception, since reviewers found its colors washed out and its difficulty too low.
IGN Italia names it among the most important PC Engine shooters. It is one of the best-known Super CD-ROM² shooters, alongside Gate of Thunder.
- A promotional recording edited by Tony Hawk was given away in a run of 10,000 copies.
- A hidden boss rush mode unlocks with a cheat code on the options screen.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly named it Game of the Month in March 1993.
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