Air Buster

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Air Buster

Developer(s)	Kaneko
Publisher(s)	Kaneko
Designer(s)	Hiroshi Kaneko and team
Platform(s)	Arcade Game, Nec PC Engine (as Aero Blasters), Sega Genesis
Release date	1990 (Arcade) 1990 (Nec PC Engine as Aero Blasters)
Genre(s)	Shooter game
Mode(s)	Single player, 2 player co-op
Input methods	8-way Joystick, 2 Buttons
CPU	Z80
Sound	YM2203, OKI6295
Display	Horizontal, Raster, 256 x 224 pixels, 768 colors

Air Buster: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released by Kaneko in 1990, licensed to Namco. You control a fighter jet and shoot enemies, collect power-ups, and defeat bosses to advance levels. It was released for the NEC PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 as Aero Blasters. The following year it was released on the Sega Genesis in the United States as Air Buster. As a console game this title had the distinction of being two player simultaneous. This was rare among side scrolling shooters on home consoles. All games in the Thunder Force, Gradius, and R-Type series were only 1 player on the home consoles.

Of the two versions the Genesis version was closer to the arcade due to its very similar hardware architecture. The Genesis version featured more detailed and larger sprites and backgrounds. The Turbo Grafx version did feature an improved musical score compared to either the Genesis or arcade version.