"Heads Up...this is an old one..."

Old PC games are pretty easy to come by and you may find that in the bargain bin of your local gaming store, there is a copy of this title either by stand alone or on a compilation disc. What you’ll find is that you’re transported back into day of easy to play, yet hard to master games such as After Burner. This title has appeared on several different systems and platforms, but you may find that the game is somewhat behind the times in both the story line and overall plot that is involved!

As with all computer games, be aware that every system is different in what you can and cannot do. For the most part, the game is nothing more than a carbon copy of either a system port or an arcade machine and it is only worth playing if you’ve got some extra bucks to spend and are looking to expand a collection. However, if your computer isn’t set up to handle the speed and the different visuals that you find here, you may find that some of the game attributes cause the program to shut down or cause illegal operations. Beware, as always because the files on this game take up a small portion of your drive, and if you try to delete it, it could screw everything up!

The Game Play –

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!

The Control –

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! With most games this old, you really have to get used to either the keyboard hotkeys, or using a joystick or else you may find yourself fighting the game more often than you really want to!

When you get into the later stages of the game, you may find that it gets harder and harder to target your opponents and fire on them, and if you’re down to your last couple of continues, then there may be no going back when the enemies overwhelm you. Veterans to action games like this should have no trouble playing through the game with about ten minutes of practice, where as beginners will probably have a little trouble just learning the little intricacies that the game has to offer with the missile firing and otherwise!

The Visuals –

The plane and its surroundings are slightly detailed, and in true PC 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!

Most of the visual problems here is that there is nothing special to look at other than the ground rushing by and the different enemies that you come up against. Probably some of the best special effects that you’ll find is when you plane gets blown up, but aside from that, there is nothing else that will really catch you eye. However, most of what you’ll see is behind the times, with the PC gaming having taken full advantage of the video cards available now!

The Audio –

The music nearly matches that of the arcade version, but still leaves a little to be desired. As with older PC port over 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, but when you try to mesh it altogether, you’ll find that there are problems abound in some of these smaller aspects.

The stage music is your standard adventure music that doesn’t necessarily come through with the greatest of reproduction ease, and it really doesn’t change much for the different stages that you go through. The sound effects are also your standard fare of action game sounds that rather blare out instead of flow with the rest of the game. If you’re not much of a stickler for the finer points of the audio, then there is nothing here that you’ll find wrong, but if you’re into audio acuity, then you’ll find that the game seems to fail this portion in most respects!

The Verdict –

After Burner is for those of you who are looking for some old school games that have a simple fly and shoot gaming system. With the current advances in computer gaming, you may be hard pressed to even load this software onto your computer, simply because it’s outdated. Much like other flight simulation games {even with the action} like Agile Warrior, it takes plenty of practice and several instances of unlearning what you’ve learned. The control is easy once you’ve gotten into it, and the game is even easier with enough practice. I’d only recommend this title to those who have nothing better to do with their time and are sick of the RPG’s!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/24/02, Updated 04/24/02