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The Lowdown
Pros: Good translation into 3D, still fun to play, value priced
Cons: Can be beat in one sitting, could have used new levels
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
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The original After Burner II was a
classic in the arcades. To nobody's surprise it was a popular title on
the Sega Genesis. The home version of After Burner II captured all of
the action of the arcade game without the quarters. It even had pseudo
3D scaling graphics, which were a technical advancement at the time.
Sega takes the design of After Burner II with its remake of the classic
title.If you've played After Burner II before you probably remember
the title screen, which is the same as the Genesis version. The
graphical similarities end there. Instead of using sprite graphics Sega
has remade the entire game using polygons. The differences are
astounding. The ships look more realistic and the backgrounds have depth
to them. Some other neat effects added in the game are the smoke that
comes out of the missiles you fire and some good fire effects.
Presentation wise the game has the classic energetic After Burner II
music. The music sounds like 80s aerobic music or something out of a Top
Gun movie, but its in the right place. While the sound quality does seem
a little weak and of course it would have been nice to see some new
tunes, the music still does its job.
The graphics are the greatest difference between this version and the
Genesis version. You still play as the pilot of the Skykat in a race
against time to destroy enemy communications. You are one person against
the world. Fighting against you are wave and wave of other fighter jets
with their crosshairs on you. To attack back you have a standard machine
gun with unlimited ammo. The machine gun takes a number of hits to shoot
down a plane and careful precision to aim it. You also have a limited
supply of heat seeking missiles. The missiles can lock on to an enemy and
eliminate them on the spot. While missiles are limited in between some
levels you'll be given a refill of missiles. After Burner 2 requires you
to be as good at dodging attacks as you dishing them out. One hit and
your plane is shot down. The controls in After Burner II are responsive
enough so you can move swiftly side to side and even do barrel rolls.
If you are shot down all you do is use up one of your lives. Losing
all your lives means having to use a continue. Not such a harsh penalty
since you can use as many continues as you please. The unlimited
continues makes After Burner II really easy to complete. The game has 23
stages in all and each stage is only a few minutes long. The challenge
in After Burner lies in replaying the game over and over to get the best
score. Most games have extras to unlock or something to get gamers to
come back, but After Burner II doesn't have that. There is an arranged
mode where you can choose a different ship.
Most gamers won't dedicate their lives to getting the best score. So
After Burner II won't be played as much as say Dragon Quest VII.
Although at $20 ($30 for those importing) After Burner II provides some
fun game play for gamers who like to test their reflexes.
Import Friendly?
All of the in game menus are in English and even the status
indicators are in English.
US Bound?
The Sega Ages collection has been announced in America, but there
is no set date for any of the games to be released.
Overall
After Burner II is a classic plane shooter that is still fun to play and
at $20 it isn't a bad deal. If it just had more levels or more something
it would be a great game.
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