In this respect, After Burner is really more of a ride than a legitimate game, which is maybe why it doesn’t quite hold up compared to other Sega arcade games around the same time. Many sit-down cabinets even tilted as you rotated your plane. The first release had a replica of a flight stick, and the second game had a model throttle that let you control you speed. Still, this was originally an arcade game, designed to provide some impressive thrills for a few coins, and nowhere was this more apparent than the cabinet design. Since your movement range is so limited, and the screen can get very crowded, it becomes incredibly difficult to make your way through later stages without crashing and burning every few seconds. The FM synth of Sega’s arcade boards manages to produce some incredibly rocking tunes, and while there are only a handful of songs, all composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, they are all quite memorable.Īlas, After Burner’s greatest asset is also its biggest flaw – it’s ridiculously crazy to play. The soundtrack, per usual protocol during the mid-1980s, is absolutely brilliant.
After burner ii famicom series#
Later games in the series had even more impressive death sequences, with plenty of seizure-inducing screen flashing. There are also some damn nice explosions – get hit by enemy fire and your engines will smoke as you careen downwards, creating a line of fire and destruction as you hit the ground. The sense of speed is still unrivaled by most video games even today. At its best moments, you need to keep enemy fighters in your targets, dodge incoming missiles, and attempt to keep track of your own airplane amidst the explosions and smoke trails, all while the scenery is rocketing by, rotating completely out of control. Other than the color of the sky and the changing landscapes, the core game never changes, but that’s not really important, because After Burner excels at throwing all kinds of crazy stuff in your face. There’s very little variety there are a few stages set in a canyon, where you need to weave between the walls, but these are really just bonus stages. Thankfully, every few stages, a friendly plane comes by and replenishes your stock. Trying to hit anything with bullets is nearly impossible unless your target’s at close range, so conserving your missiles is extremely important. Unfortunately, missiles are in limited supply, so you’ll need to rely on your Vulcan cannons for easier enemies. Your primary weapon is heat-seeking missiles – just line up an incoming enemy fighter with your crosshairs, wait for the “lock-on“ to appear (usually accompanied by a frantic voice yelling “Fire!“) and hit the fire button. It’s impossible to crash into the ground, and for the most part, you don’t need to worry about anything but dodging enemy fire. Turning back and forth rapidly will send your plane spinning dizzily, which looks cool but ultimately doesn’t do much.
%20After%20Burner%20II/(Genesis)%20After%20Burner%20II.png "after burner ii famicom")
The controls in the first game are fairly limited: you can climb, descend, and rotate your plane. After Burner and After Burner II are both powered by the Sega X board, which is an improvement over the boards that ran previous “super scaler“ games like OutRun and Space Harrier, all directed by Yu Suzuki.
0 kommentar(er)
