Reviewed
07.25.1999
Publisher
Sega
Developer
CRI
Format
1x
CD
Origin
Import
/ Domestic
Available
1993
(Japan)
1993
(USA)
Exclusive
Yes
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 1991 -- 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. It was to be called After Burner
III, as the second game was already available in arcades and on
Genesis.
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! |
| Graphics |
|
> The jets, and especially your F-14, look very good. This game appears
to combine software and 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, after burner 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:
8.7 | Graphics: 8.5 | Control: 8.9 | Sound: 9.5 | Fun: 8.0 |
~
Shinobi ~
|
