After Burner (アフターバーナー) is an arcade game designed by Yu Suzuki and developed by Sega AM2 in 1987. The player pilots a F-14 Tomcat jet through 18 levels, destroying enemies with machine gun fire and a limited supply of missiles.
After Burner stands as one of Sega's most successful arcade games, building on the momentum started earlier in the decade with Hang-On, Space Harrier and OutRun. It was one of the earliest games (if not the earliest game) to utilise Sega X Board technology allowing for the easy scaling and rotation of in-game sprites. It is also remembered for its then-revolutionary sit-down cabinet design, complete with a horizontally rotating seat and a vertically rotating cockpit, controlled (like the game) by the integrated flight stick. Upright cabinets were also available.
The original After Burner was released exclusively in Japan, however the western world would receive an updated version of the game, After Burner II in the months which followed. After Burner II is extremely similar in design, bar a few minor tweaks (such as a throttle control, extra levels and slight changes to the missile system), so much so that people often consider it to be a more "complete" version of After Burner than a direct sequel. Due to the similarities and shared cabinet designs and artwork, After Burner II is frequently confused for the original After Burner. A similar relationship would develop with Galaxy Force and Galaxy Force II, also produced by Sega AM2.
Sequels and Rereleases
In its original form, After Burner was only ported to the Sega Master System, however many ports of After Burner II were released under the name of After Burner for home consoles and computers, including the Amiga (twice), Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns, MSX, PC Engine, Sharp X68000 and ZX Spectrum.
It was also ported to the Sega 32X by Rutubo Games and went under the name of After Burner Complete.
After Burner in its original form was also released as part of Sega Arcade Gallery for the Game Boy Advance.
Production Credits
Gallery
Physical Scans
Master System Version
|
69
|
Sega Retro Average
|
| Based on 11 reviews
|
| Publication
|
Score
|
Source
|
| ACE
|
70
|
№7
|
| ASM †
|
76
|
|
| Computer & Video Games
|
82
|
№77
|
| The Games Machine (Italy)
|
60
|
|
| The Games Machine (UK)
|
60
|
№4
|
| Generation
|
80
|
|
| MicroMania
|
70
|
№2/20
|
| Sega Power
|
51
|
№23, p40
|
| Sega Power
|
40
|
№23, p55
|
| Sega Pro
|
93
|
№1, p18
|
| Tilt
|
75
|
|
|
| Master System, US
|
Cover
|
 Cart |
| Master System, EU
|
Cover
|
Cart |
Master System, EU
"no limits" variant
|
Cover
|
|
|
Master System, EU
® variant
|
Cover
|
|
|
| Master System, AU
|
Cover
|
|
|
| Master System, BR
|
Cover
|
|
|
