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Today, Sega-16 hits another milestone. Our latest review, for After Burner II, is our 600th! What better way to celebrate than by taking a look at the Sega classic? For an early port of such a powerful arcade machine, the Genesis does a pretty good job, and all that's missing is a flight stick (something Sega remedied with the superb Mission Stick for the Saturn). Read the full review and then check out any others you may have missed.
Great game to finally have reviewed, I posted a comment already and think this is a pretty great game. Had some great memories as a kid. The difficulty is a bit high though.
Thats funny I was playing this earlier in the day before I knew the review was up and I hadn't played it in ages.
After Burner II, the Super-Scaler X-Board powered arcade version was, at one time, my favorite video game of all times.
While I am not 100% certain of this, I believe that the 1990 Megadrive/Genesis rendition of After Burner II is actually a port of the 1989 Sharp X68000 version, both developed by Dempa.
Look at the back cover of the X68K version:
http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_gspos36.jpg
http://kikux68k.hp.infoseek.co.jp/x68k_spph19.jpg
They're awfully similar, with the X68K version looking slightly better than the MD/Gen version, but not much, and certainly not as good as the 1989 FM Towns computer version, the 1994 32X version, or the arcade-quality 1996 Saturn version, which was the first version to truly be on par with the arcade without any noticeable sacrifices.
:lol: @ the F-15 on the cover. Maybe the art department had a vision of "After Burner Climax"?
I don't know if I ever played the Genesis version, I have played both the 32x and Saturn ports though.
Saturn port + the Mission Stick = jawusumness.
After Burner Climax = complete & utter jawusumness.
I agree Saturn AfterBurner II + Mission Stick is pure awesomeness.
I wish to hell that Saturn Galaxy Force II had been of the same quality as Saturn After Burner II. I don't think they were developed by the same people. Rutubo Games did Sat ABII, but I don't know who did Sat GFII.
Ewwww that FM Towns After Burner looks awful. It's all choppy and it loads inbetween each level. Fail.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Redifer
Yeah, but name something graphically better that consumers, even if only Japanese ones, could buy in 1989.
Very good review.
I loved this game on the arcade, so good. I still need to get this for my megadrive collection, next on my list i think.
I was just playing this last night and its still one of my favorite genny games of all time.....I love the music in the game as it really pumps me up especially when you get into a zone while playing.....Talk to me goose......talk to me....
The PC Engine version is still my personal favorite console port of the game. The Genesis version is still pretty good though... I just wished it had the landing intermissions. About the Marty version, I like the music (is this redbook audio?) and graphics but the screen aspect ratio seems more suited for a vertical shooter game or Pac-Man.
I think that this game coulda been better with a bigger cart size.
I think the PCE version looks better than the Marty version. The soundtrack on the Marty version is the same as the Sega CD After Burner 3.
Can you turn off the automatic machine guns? that really got annoying. Even the Galaxy Force II you can turn off the automatic guns.
In the control menu, choose "Type 4".
"the coop" I have a request for a review. You seem to be good at these flight sim style games. You should look into Mig 29 Fighter Pilot, it's a lot more involved then these are but I'm no good at them and you seem to be. Give it a try.
I could give it a try. I have a good number of the simulators for the Genesis, including Mig-29. But right now I'm working on reviews for Shadow of the Beast II and Spot Goes To Hollywood. So it'll have to be after I get them done.
I fired it up again today after reding the review.
Man, I still love the smoke coming out of the missiles. But what I like most about the MD version is that it's the easiest one for you to lock on incoming aircraft.
I really like the PCE version as well. I think it pushes the PCE harder than the Genesis version pushed the Genesis, harder than the X68K version pushed the X68K and harder than the FM Towns version pushed the FM Towns.
In the PCE version I like how the runway looks when you land.
I agree with that statement, for sure. I like how the PCE version also had scaling (though very rudimentary, but scaling nonetheless) of the air craft carrier and refuel jets, etc. It also had gradients on the horizon unlike the Genesis version. In fact, the Genesis and SMS versions seem to be the only ones without the gradient as far as I know. The Genesis version has a weird ground texture that doesn't move unless you rotate. Looks very odd.
When I got home from work yesterday, I popped in the 32x version and for some reason, I just found myself not having as much fun as I do with the Genesis version. Graphically, the 32x is far superior, but the Genesis version has such a tighter control scheme that it makes the game feel so much faster to me. I felt that the 32x version was much slower and led to me not liking it as much, even though it looks worlds better......
The game just went from a 5 / 10 to a 8/10. Thank youQuote:
Originally Posted by The Coop
I take back my previous statement....Just took me a while to adjust to the difference in the games.....32x all the way...
have to agree 32x version is the business! love the game was playing it the other night in fact! great music, great game play and love the re-fueling landing bits :)Quote:
Originally Posted by runback22
This video so belongs to this thread! :love::love::love:
My God, what an awesome game!
I never thought this game was like THE game for the genesis or anything, but I would rank it 7 or 8.
I just want to play this game in that cabinet that John Connor played it in right before the T-1000 finds him in that arcade.
IMO, the best thing that Afterburner/II had going for it was its graphics and music. Otherwise the game's a mindless quarter muncher. I much prefer Yu Suzuki's racing games, and Galaxy Force II as far as flying games go.
The 4 MEGA POWER Genesis port of AFII just doesn't do it justice graphically. The levels are all boring and samey. The soundtrack, like most other AM2-Genesis ports, was translated nicely however.
AF32X is clearly superior.
After Burner II... this is a game I have been wanting to get for my Genesis for YEARS, but I have NEVER, that's right, NEVER come across the cartridge in ANY video game store I've been to. It really pisses me off, as I like almost all the versions of After Burner(the FM Towns port is my most hated because it's very jerky and the controls are just too damn tight, on top of the F-14 recentering every time you release the D-pad. At least if it would have controlled like the PC Engine version, it would have been okay!).
Wow, in that video the game doesn't look or sound nearly as good as the arcade IMO. I'm waiting for After Burner 32x, but I can't find the game anywhere, except for one guy who wanted a $15 for a CIB copy :/.
man thank you so much for asking that question, and thanks to teh coop for responding!Quote:
Originally Posted by TheEdge
While I like the Genesis version, most of time with Afterburner II has been spent with the Sega Ages one on Saturn. I love turning the music up and flying fast.
good review...but the pc engine version blows the genesis version out of the water. The play control and the graphics are so much better. I hate the delayed aiming in this version, doesn't feel right. You can lock on and blow a line of jets in secs in the pc engine version. There is more detailed landscape in the PCE version, not just trees/bushes being repeated. Nec Avenue even generated some cool scaling effects for the launch sequence and the charging jet. Sega must have felt really stupid handing the rights to the folks and NEC. :daze:
One more game on the multicart I didn't own.
Nice version IMO. Game play feels very smooth with 6 button controller.
However, this version is very hard because the missiles are hard to dodge (I only made it to level 15).
Also, the landscape consists of rocks and bushes, meaning no variety.
Still, It is a nice version.
SEGA Genesis have a program to Rip and Replace Sound Samples like the SNES with the SNESSOR?
I really want to replace some sound samples to the correct frequency (THE INSTRUMENT ON THE "AFTER BURNER" MUSIC SOUNDS OUT OF THE CORRECT FREQUENCY) and with the correct sound volume.
Afterburner II has probably held up as my favorite of the stock Genesis scaler games along with Outrun. Yeah it's not arcade perfect but's manic and fun and does what it's supposed to do which is more than I can say for most ports of Afterburner.
Did you know there were two releases of After Burner II?
Well there are. In similar fashion to (at least) Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Monaco GP (if you know any more please tell me... ) Sega got this game rated by the ESRB and re-released in the US using the grid artwork! Which is interesting to say the least because with these types of releases, you wonder why they went through the trouble of doing what they did... when they have had other re-leases that didn't bother doing this and just kept the VRC if it even had that.
Anyways, there are two cases and two carts and (likely) to shells.
The differences are obvious when you see... one has an ESRB rating on it and the other doesn't.
https://i.imgur.com/oxyVPtWl.jpg
The backs are different also. The original has the PO Box and whatnot, but the new one has the ESRB rating and a white rectangle that has the PO Box and a bunch of patents.
https://i.imgur.com/UtRCA26l.jpg
The insides are... welll the insides. Nothing to write home about. Original version has teh Sega logo stamped onto it. Since the new version has the large cart holder, this probably came from Accolade land.
https://i.imgur.com/7ELVvXWl.jpg
The carts have different labels. The new version doesn't put the ESRB on the label like some other games (such as Sonic Spinball or Eternal Champions) but you can see they put a trademark on the After Burner logo.
https://i.imgur.com/oqIAVhrl.jpg
On the back, the original is Sega Made in Japan and the new one is Sega Assembled in USA.
https://i.imgur.com/2Ll0LROl.jpg
And here is what I mean about the extra work. OK I get they made a new art insert... but here they made a new manual too!
https://i.imgur.com/Pxrpumcl.jpg
That's all I got. No inserts for the original. The new one comes with the registration card and a flyer saying you can have a seizure if you play the game.
Here is the Imgur gallery: https://imgur.com/gallery/RCyqe3T
I can't for the life of me figure out how do you do barrel rolls in this game. I keep doing them by accident which gets me killed.
Well, maybe it was released too soon in the system's life (however, I feel it was necessary to do so given that Sega wanted to display its arcade muscle on the brand new Mega Drive) and could have been made with a little more detail on graphics, but it's still After Burner: fast, fun and pure Sega goodness. Not bad at all without being a masterpiece.