Gunlord is a run and gun game reminiscent of Turrican where players assume the role of Gordian Gaiden across nine non-linear stages set in the planet Kairos II.

[1] Its plot takes place after the events of Last Hope, where the evil empire was destroyed by pilot Vanessa Gaiden and although she escaped, her victory was short-lived as she never made it home and was declared missing in action.

Meanwhile, a new evil appeared and began to terrorize the galaxy, a planet lord called "The Master" that can create beings of steel and enslave humans by absorbing their souls.

[7][9] Former WayForward and Thalion Software members Andrew "DarkFalzX" Bado and Henk Nieborg, as well as Konstantin Karpenyuk and Neo XYX designer Perry "Gryzor/Rozyrg" Sessions, were responsible for the pixel art.

Club's Anthony John Agnello ranked the original Neo Geo version as number two on their top ten of games released for discontinued consoles.

[3] Jeuxvideo.com's Dominique Cavallo commended NG:Dev.Team for creating a Turrican-like experience, praising the arcade-like presentation, Mega Drive-like graphics, fast gameplay, large stages and audio design.

[43] When reviewing Gunlord X on Switch, Thomas Nickel of MAN!AC gave positive remarks to the atmospheric pixel art, action, balanced difficulty, secrets and soundtrack but criticized the level design for being long and branched.

[44] Nintendo Life's Ollie Reynolds also reviewed the Switch version of Gunlord X, commenting in a positive about the exploration-based gameplay, combat, expansive stages design and overall audiovisual presentation.

[45] RetroManiac Magazine's David Borrachero reviewed the original Neo Geo release, commenting in a positive light about the graphics reminiscent of Shadow of the Beast, modes of play, gameplay and music.

[6] The Games Machine's Danilo Dellafrana reviewed the Switch release of Gunlord X, giving positive remarks for being a successful conversion of the original Neo Geo version, Dyll's soundtrack, the "old school" audiovisual presentation and balanced difficulty but criticized the autosave feature for lowering its challenge level and short length.