After Burner
| After Burner | |
|---|---|
 Japanese arcade flyer of After Burner. | |
| Developer(s) | Sega AM2 |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Yu Suzuki |
| Composer(s) | Hiroshi Kawaguchi |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PC Engine, Sega 32X, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum |
| Release date(s) | Arcade
|
| Genre(s) | Combat flight simulator Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Cabinet | Upright, sit-down cockpit |
| Arcade system | Sega X Board |
| Display | Raster |
After Burner (アフターバーナー Afutā Bānā) is a 1987 combat flight simulator arcade game by Sega AM2.[1] It is one of the first games designed by Yu Suzuki. The player flew an F-14 using a specialized joystick (with moving seat, in some installations), and the game spawned several sequels.
Gameplay
The game allows the player to control a F-14 Tomcat jet, which must destroy a series of enemy jets throughout 18 stages. At the start of the game, the player takes off from an aircraft carrier called the SEGA Enterprise, which shares a similar name to the one used in the 1986 film Top Gun.
The jet itself employs a machine gun and a limited set of missiles. These weapons are replenished by another aircraft after beating a few stages. The aircraft, cannon and missile buttons are all controlled from an integrated flight stick.
The game itself was released in two variations: a standard upright cabinet and a rotating cockpit version. In the cockpit version, the seat rotated horizontally, and the cockpit rotated vertically. [2] The rotating cockpit version also featured two speakers inside the cockpit at head-level, which produced excellent stereo sound that significantly added to the gameplay experience.[1] Both cabinets contained a grey monitor frame with flashing lights at the top that indicated an enemy's "lock" on your craft.
Reception
Computer Gaming World called After Burner on the console "the first game that uses Sega's new 4MB technology and the enhanced graphic capabilities this added memory provides is abundantly obvious". It cited aircraft depicted in "remarkable detail", "spectacular" scenery, and excellent explosions.[3] A later review on the computer was much more critical, giving the game one star out of five and stating that it was inferior to the arcade version.[4]
Music from the soundtrack to the arcade version was included on the Your Sinclair cover tape.[5]
Legacy
Sequels and related games
After Burner was followed by After Burner II, which was released on the same year. Some consider[6] this game to be more of a revision of its predecessor, rather than an entirely new game, a practice later repeated by Sega for Galaxy Force and Galaxy Force 2.
Although the After Burner brand was long dormant, Sega created a number of aerial combat games centered on the F-14 Tomcat with many similar features, which are frequently regarded as part of the series.[7][8] These include G-LOC: Air Battle and its sequel Strike Fighter (later rebranded After Burner III in its home release, lending credence to the belief that they are related). Later games associated with the series include Sky Target (which retained similar gameplay and presentation to the original, but with the addition of 3D graphics) and Sega Strike Fighter (an arcade flight combat game which featured free-roaming movement, boasting similar music but with an F/A-18 Hornet as the main plane). [9]
In 2006, Sega released a new sequel on Sega Lindbergh hardware, After Burner Climax, the first arcade game to bear the brand since After Burner II.
Ports to other game systems
The game was ported to numerous consoles and computer systems such as the Amiga, DOS based PCs, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Sharp X68000, FM Towns, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, PC Engine, Sega Saturn, PC, MSX, ZX Spectrum, and Game Boy Advance in an arcade 4 pack named Sega Arcade Gallery. An enhanced 3D version of After Burner II was placed on the Nintendo eShop on January 15th, 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console. A port of After Burner to the 32X was done by Rutubo Games, and was known as After Burner Complete in Japan and Europe.[10] An unlicensed NES port of the game developed by Tengen also exists.
After Burner Climax was later ported to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN. It was followed by the spinoff After Burner: Black Falcon for the PSP in 2007.
Reviewing the 32X version, GamePro commented that the graphics, sound, and gameplay are all great, but that the only difference between it and the Genesis version of After Burner II are some minor graphical and audio enhancements, making it only worthwhile to gamers who have never played an After Burner game before.[11]
Appearances in other games
"After Burner" is a stage hazard in the final stage of MadWorld, shown as a replica jet spewing flames that immediately incinerate any enemy thrown into them.
The music from After Burner appears in a remix in Chapter 8, entitled "Route 666", of Bayonetta (2009, developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega).[12]
A level based on After Burner appears in the 2012 racing game, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The F-14 Tomcat also appears as the air vehicle for the unlockable character, AGES.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "After Burner". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 4 Oct 2013.
- ↑ "KLOV entry for After Burner". Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- ↑ Katz, Arnie; Kunkel, Bill; Worley, Joyce (August 1988). "Video Gaming World". Computer Gaming World. p. 44.
- ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (June 1992). "The Modern Games: 1950 - 2000". Computer Gaming World. p. 120. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ↑ Ysrnry.co.uk
- ↑ "System 16 tech information". Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- ↑ Arcade-history.com
- ↑ System16.com
- ↑ "Arcade Flyer for Sega Strike Fighter". Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- ↑ "VGRebirth entry for After Burner Complete". Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ↑ "ProReview: Afterburner". GamePro (IDG) (68): 60. March 1995.
- ↑ Reparaz, Mikel (January 14, 2010). "30 'hidden' references in Bayonetta". GamesRadar UK. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
- ↑ Tssznews.com
External links
- After Burner at the Killer List of Videogames
- After Burner at MobyGames
- Contemporary reviews at Solvalou.com
- After Burner at World of Spectrum
- After Burner series screenshots and statistics
- After Burner Station
- Retrospective of the series at Hardcore Gaming 101
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