Assuming the role of a chosen rookie aircraft pilot from the United States Air Force by the Flight Command squadron, the player takes control of the titular prototype fighter aircraft in a desperation attempt of The Pentagon to penetrate multiple enemy territories and aid the allies in order to win the war against the enemies. Conceived as a commission to create a pseudo-3D combat flight game by Landrum and graphic artist Arthur Koch, Blue Lightning was heavily inspired by Sega's 1987 Super Scaler arcade game After Burner, in addition of also bearing similarity with the feature film and TV-series Blue Thunder