Tornado features high-speed, low-altitude precision bombing runs over a battlefield full of active friendly and enemy air and ground units.

The company consulted the Royal Air Force on various aspects of the game including turn rates, cockpit layout, workings of the weapons systems and wing-sweep mechanics.

On Tornado's faults, he highlighted the lack of shadow beneath the plane in external view, the use of a single crash sequence regardless of cause of death, the lack of mission replay facility, and the fact that "Digital Integration makes absolutely no concessions to the fact" the gamer had to micromanage both the pilot and navigator roles with their myriad of keystrokes in the heat of the battle.

[2] Computer Gaming World's reviewer, an F-16 instructor pilot with the Vermont Air National Guard, approved of the accurate flight dynamics but disliked the "oddball" keyboard commands and lack of view modes.

He especially criticized the air-to-air combat as "a farce", stating that the limited radar and view modes and poor graphical depictions of enemy aircraft made the game an "arcade reflex shooter"; further, modem play only permitted head-to-head air combat despite the Tornado's strike design.

The editors wrote that Tornado features "the most versatile and realistic mission planning approach that flight sim fans have ever been able to use".

The editors wrote that its "level of long-term appeal and faultless attention to detail easily make Tornado the best flight sim going at the moment.