Gate Of Thunder has more solid gameplay.
Rover nailed it.
Graphics, music, difficultly, and character are important, but gameplay makes the game. Lords is perfect for what it is, but outside of the strategy of picking levels and shopping, the gameplay is nothing more than gluing a thumb to the trigger button and navigating bullet hell for level after level on the D-pad (not that I'm complaining).
GoT has a much more advanced control scheme with its split-second weapon changes, reverse fire, and speed select. Not only are these genuinely useful functions, but they can be executed quickly without messing up the elegance of the two-button controller.
I love both games (graphics more on LoT, music more on GoT), but nothing beats switching to wave, reversing, and blowing the crap out of those ships that try to surround you on level 4 of Gate of Thunder
This is THE comment.... all the way down to the
"I love both games (graphics more on LoT, music more on GoT), but nothing beats switching to
wave,
reversing, and blowing the crap out of those ships that try to surround you on level 4 of Gate of Thunder"
Lord of Thunder has the more interesting graphics and the collecting crystals to buy things at the shop is great. The End bosses are massive.
But, the level design of LoT is pretty standard and the bosses don't have as much strategy as GoT has (In my opinions anyway). Also, something has to be said about the level progression of GoT. Each level just builds perfectly on the previous. That is lost in the "Choose a Level" route that LoT too.
I think that Gate of Thunder is not only the winner of this contest but I place it very high in the list of ALL shmups. It just has it all.
