|
|
| Title: |
After
Burner |
| Released: |
1994 |
| Genre: |
3-D
Shooter |
| Developer: |
Sega |
| Publisher: |
Sega |
| Regions: |
USA,
UK, Japan |
| Availability: |
Common |
|
Also known as After
Burner Complete in Japan. Also known as Super After
Burner.
After
Burner, like its cousin
Space Harrier, is
a nearly pixel-perfect conversion of a classic Sega arcade game. Sega was
THE premiere developer of arcade games all through the 1980’s (much as
it is today), and
After Burner was amazingly impressive and
popular in its day. Trouble is, that day was in 1987, and the 32x came
out some seven years later. The simultaneous 32x debut of
After Burner
and Space Harrier early on (both of which had been released
for the Sega Master System six years earlier) left many gamers wondering
exactly what Sega was trying to acomplish with their 32-bit add-on. Why
Sega choose to port this pseudo-3D shooting game (it uses scaling sprites
instead of polygons) to the 32x without any upgrades is beyond us, considering
the fact that the 32x is quite a bit more powerful than the16-bit arcade
hardware that hosted the original game. Still, if you’re a fan of this
behind-the-plane shooter, you know what to expect and you won’t be disappointed.
The color palate is rich and varied, the sprite scrolling is fast and furious,
and the sound effects sound just like they did in the arcade (not that
you could hear them in the arcade.) The colorful explosions are still really
cool, and there's nothing quite like watching your plane go down in flames
and plow through a forest full of 2-D trees. The option list is long for
such a simple game, and the joypad is fully configurable (not that there
is much to configure.) The control is more than acceptable with the standard
Genesis pad, but you can substitute any number of aftermarket joysticks
if you want the true arcade experience. A great game for those who want
to relive the original arcade experience or for newbies who want to see
what was considered “revolutionary” back in 1987.
|
|
Early Design
|
After Burner
was also released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. After Burner
II appeared on the Sega Genesis and PC Engine, while Afterburner
III can be found on the Sega CD.
 |
The
Sega Master System didn't have a huge library of games (in the States,
at least, though it was much more sucessful in Europe and South America)
but it did have some decent arcade ports. Afterburner
made its first appearance on the Master System way back in 1988 and was
one of its biggest sellers. Not a bad conversion, considering the limitations
of the 8-bit hardware. |
 |
The
Sega Saturn compilation CD Sega Ages
contains an arcade-perfect port of
Afterburner II, along
with Space Harrier and Outrun. How we would
have loved to see a 32x port of
Outrun, our favorite racing
game of all time! |
 |
Sega finally got around
to updating After Burner in the form of the severely underrated
Sky
Target. This great polygonal shooter originally ran on the
Model 2 arcade board (good luck finding one in an arcade today), and was
ported to the Saturn (not as good, but still fun to play.) |
