The player controls the knight Landis, donning the armor of his ancestor Drak on a confrontation against Zaggart of Garuda Empire, who resurrected the evil god Deoric, and his six dark generals across the land of Mistral.

Critics praised its stylish and sharp visuals for showcasing the capabilities of the TurboGrafx, large and detailed bosses, ability to choose between stages, lack of slowdown and flickering, frantic pacing and hard rock soundtrack, though the gameplay and difficulty were met with mixed response.

The Sega CD port received mixed reception from reviewers for being inferior due to the washed out colors, audio balancing issues, low difficulty compared to the original version, instances of sprite flickering and lack of fine-tuning.

Lords of Thunder is a fantasy-themed scrolling shoot 'em up game, in which the player controls the knight Landis, donning the armor of his ancestor Drak on a confrontation against Zaggart of Garuda Empire, who resurrected the evil god Deoric, and his six dark generals across the land of Mistral.

[1][7][8][11] The player controls Landis over a constantly scrolling background, populated with an assortment of enemy forces and obstacles, and the scenery never stops moving until a boss is reached, which must be fought in order to clear a stage and proceed into the next one.

[43] Likewise, Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers highly commended the stylish and sharp visuals, large bosses and soundtrack, though Martin Alessi in particular felt that the gameplay was not as technical as Gate of Thunder.

[49] VideoGames & Computer Entertainment's Clayton Walnum gave positive remarks to the visuals for showcasing the capabilities of the TurboGrafx, large and detailed bosses, lack of slowdown, frantic pacing and music, stating that "Lords of Thunder is the perfect game for players with fast reflexes and strong controller hands.

"[42] Consoles Plus' Kaneda Kun and François Hermellin gave positive comments to the anime-style presentation, graphics, sprite animations, sound design, optimal playability and ability to choose between stages on each playthrough.

[44] Joypad's Jean-François Morisse and Alain Huyghues-Lacour echoed most of the same thoughts as Consoles Plus, commending the game for pushing the capabilities of the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² in terms of visuals and sprites, sound design and controls but they criticized certain aspects such as the easy boss encounters, difficulty and flashing when enemies are hit.

[40] Mega Fun's Martin Weidner and Stefan Hellert felt that it surpassed Gate of Thunder, giving positive remarks to the rock-based soundtrack, varied backgrounds across each stage, large bosses, lack of slowdown and flickering.

[41] Computer and Video Games's Steve Keen and Paul Anglin stated that its concept was not new and the graphics were very simple but gave positive comments to the addictive gameplay, weapon variety and rock music.

[56] MAN!AC's Martin Gaksch expressed his preference for a Mega-CD conversion of Gate of Thunder but nevertheless, he praised the game for its graphical design, rock music and varied action but criticized its audio balancing issues and low difficulty.

[25] Video Games' Wolfgang Schaedle regarded the title's audiovisual presentation as inspiring despite its age, giving positive remarks to the varied stages, enemy patterns and near-lack of slowdown.

Regardless, Sol commended the lack of slowdown and flickering, hard rock soundtrack and playability, stating that "Without being a masterpiece, Lords of Thunder is probably the best shoot 'em up released for the Mega CD console since the consecration of Silpheed, back in the fall of the year 1993.