The player controls a fighter craft, the leader of the Storm Squadron, in a mission to prevent a terrorist group from attacking major cities worldwide.

Originally named Sonic Storm, the development team focused on making the game appealing towards a casual audience, using simplistic mechanics to create the feeling of flight.

In it, the player pilots a CFA-44 Nosferatu air superiority fighter, the flight leader of the Storm Squadron, in a mission to prevent a terrorist group from attacking major cities worldwide.

[5] If the boss is defeated, the player is given the option to insert another credit to play a special bonus stage, where they are given 60 seconds to destroy as many enemies as they can to earn additional points.

[2] Development of Mach Storm was directed by Namco Bandai Games designer Kazushi Imoto, who is known for his work on the company's virtual reality-focused entertainment complexes.

[11] Writing for Game Watch, Kenji Saeki believed that Mach Storm retained the impressive technology of Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield, specifically with its sense of speed and trill.

4Gamer's Tetsuya Inamoto was impressed with the arcade cabinet, complimenting its "magnificent" globular screen, vibration effects, and air blowers, saying they provided a sense of reality and made the player feel as if they're really flying a fighter craft.

[5] Multiple publications, including Excite and Retro Gamer, have used Mach Storm as a way to describe modern-day arcades and their focus on experiences and games that unable to be replicated elsewhere.