The player controls Mike Chen floating on a cloud, maneuvering around the screen and shooting balls of energy at flying enemies.

Some parts of the stages have doors that give the player the opportunity to buy special bomb types with collectible credits.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Cloud Master on their August 15, 1988 issue as being the sixteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

[5] In 2008, Starfish SD, a company founded by former Hot-B employees, bought the rights from Taito and developed a remake for the Nintendo Wii.

It was released under the title The Monkey King: The Legend Begins, dubbed Shin Chuuka Taisen: Michael to Meimei no Bouken in Japan.