Reviewed
07.25.1999
Publisher
CRI
(JPN)
Sega
Developer
CRI
Format
1x
CD
Origin
Import
/ Domestic
Available
12.18.1992
¥8,400 (Japan)
03.??.1993
$49.99 (USA)
??.??.1993
£44.99 (EUR)
Exclusive
Yes
Platforms
Arcade
FM
Towns
Difficulty
Adjustable
Dimensions
2.5D
View
1st
/ 3rd Person
Genre
Flight
/
Shooter
Player(s)
1
Options
6
Button
Flight
Stick
Requires
n/a
Importable
100% |
| Intro |
> "The F-14 Tomcat... Caged lightning!"... After Burner
goes back to 1987 -- the year in which AM2 created what would
be one of the most successful arcade games ever. Shortly after the
Sega
CD came into existence, CRI began work on a sequel
for the dual 68000 console (Sega CD). It was to be
called After Burner III, as the second game was already available
in arcades and on
Genesis. It's based on the arcade game
called "Strike Fighter", which is a Japan only acrade sequel
to G-LOC: Air Battle. Therefore, CRI
ended
up making a game which combined aspects from the
After Burner
series, as well as the excellent flight/shooter, G-LOC.
The main object remains the same -- fly your F-14 through waves of enemy
fighters and ground targets, while destroying them before they return the
favor!
> Since this game has simple gameplay and minimal options, the importability
rating is perfect -- just make sure you have a conversion cartridge, or
play it on an emulator. |
| Graphics |
|
> The jets, and especially your F-14, look very good. This game appears
to combine software and (minimal) ASIC hardware scaling. There's
not much detail to the ground or sky, but everything moves by quickly and
smoothly. Each stage has different color schemes to represent all
weather and time conditions. When you launch a missile, you'll see
a tell-tale smoke trail in the sky followed by an unimpressive explosion.
There are two views available: cockpit and bird's-eye. You have to
select which view you're going to use before you start, as it can't be
changed during a game. The bird's-eye view is the standard After
Burner view from the original, while the cockpit view looks a lot
like the G-LOC view. Finally, when your jet is damaged,
you'll see bullet holes and smoke emanate from it. |
| Control |
|
> "With a good pilot it's holy terror... With you, it should be unstoppable!"
The controls are standard: vulcan, missile, afterburner and speed down.
A new feature for the series is unlimited missiles, while it maintains
unlimited vulcan bullets. When using the cockpit view, you'll see
a lock-on cue, compass, attitude indicator, radar screen, damage meter,
and airspeed indicator. You'll face various air and ground targets
that shoot bullets and missiles. To make things interesting, enemy
jets and missiles will attempt to shoot you down from behind as well.
Your course of action is evasive maneuvers and throttle control. |
| Sound |
|
> The songs are straight out of the After Burner II arcade
soundtrack, but they're redbook recordings instead of hardware generated.
You'll hear all your favorite songs including the title track. The
sound effects are very good and include sampled jet noises, voice cues
and explosions. |
| Fun |
|
> There are three modes to choose from: Arcade, Time Competition and Hit
Competition. There are over 20 missions to master with increasingly
more accurate and numerous enemies. The famous after burn while turning
to the right scheme to evade everything works, but what fun is that? After
Burner III is loads of shooting fun, especially for fans of the
series. |
| Bottom
Line |
|
> Of the 16-bit based versions, After Burner III for Sega
CD has the best aircraft, cockpit, free flight gameplay and sound...
After
Burner II for Genesis has better ground graphics...
G-LOC
for Genesis has the best all around graphics, but it's slower...
And After Burner II for 32X and especially
Saturn blows them all away... |
| Ratings |
| Overall:
8.6 | Graphics: 8.5 | Control: 8.5 | Sound: 9.5 | Fun: 8.0 |
~ Shinobi
~
|
