After Burner II

"Buckle in and get ready for a ride....."

Ever since I first saw an After Burner machine in an arcade, I've always wondered if the game would be any good on a home system and after finding it on the Genesis in the form of After Burner 2, I'd have to agree that there isn't another one closer to it outside of this title right here! Piloting a fighter plane, you drill through several different hair raising missions, firing lock on missiles and heavy machine guns at enemy planes that are trying to take you down and stop you from reaching your goal. You'll pilot through some intense fire fights, and you'll take down several different type of targets from other fighter jets to ground targets!

-Game Play 8/10-

You pilot a heavy duty fighter jet with the capability to hit several targets in strafing run type missions through 6 different missions that lasted anywhere from five to ten minutes. In order to refuel or reload, you had to hook up with a large supply plane and refresh your resources before heading back out to battle! This meant that you didn't ever really stop and get away from the action, but merely took a small break so you could reload and continue on your run of destruction! A couple of solid hits, and your plane went down in flames, but a handy roll maneuver allowed you to avoid incoming missiles and enemy machine gun fire. With five continues, you have ample opportunity to make it through the different missions which really aren't that hard once you get the feel for each of them!

-Control 8/10-

With a little practice, you will learn how to barrel roll and keep your lock on without much of a hassle. In many of the later missions, it's imperative that you learn to roll out of the way of danger, and that you use your lock on feature as much as possible. It'll be the deciding factor on if you live or die!

-Visuals 8/10-

The plane and it's surroundings are well detailed, and in Genesis fashion, they show bright colors and plenty of scrolling effect. As you move forward, the line of perspective changes to show targets rushing towards your plane, and in all aspects, this particular behind the plane view has little to complain about. It truly captures the feel of the After Burner games with the amount of detail and speed!

-Audio 8/10-

The music nearly matches that of the arcade version, but still leaves a little to be desired. As with most Genesis games, this was a common problem but it's easily overlooked by the action going on in battle! The sound effects of the game come out rather well on a stereo or on the headphones if you have that option on your Genesis, and it matches just what you would expect from the arcade counterpart!

-Overall 8/10-

After Burner II is a pretty good game that doesn't stop with the action and reproduces the experience in a fairly detailed and well designed way! However, with the Genesis having it's usual technical flaws, you can't get the full arcade experience, but you can get damned close. With several action packed missions, non stop action, and precise, easy to use control, you'll have a hard time finding another title on the Genesis that can match this particular title!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/04/01, Updated 10/04/01