After Burner Complete

PRESS START

An Introduction To Today’s Game

A couple glances at the screenshots and you probably have a good idea what famous 80’s movie inspired this game series.

If you said Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo…respect. But wrong.

Game Director You Suzuki was inspired by the success of Top Gun and wanted to try and capture the excitement of the film in video game form.

After Burner Complete, is based on the sequel After Burner II. Sega's arcade flight combat series had already been thrilling players for years by the time this version showed up in 1995. Rather than reinvent anything, it aimed to bring the arcade feeling home as closely as the hardware allowed.

You strap into an F-14 Tomcat, take off from a carrier, and start shooting. There's no deep story here, no branching missions. It's you, a joystick, and a sky that fills up with enemy jets fast. Let's see how it holds up.

BEHIND THE PIXELS

Let’s Dive Into The Game

Picture the arcade version of After Burner as the game everyone remembers from the late eighties, the one with the moving cockpit cabinet that tilted as you flew.

After Burner Complete is Sega's attempt to bring that same experience onto the Genesis add on, and for the most part it succeeds. It's a rail shooter, meaning your plane moves forward automatically while you steer left, right, up, and down to avoid fire and line up shots.

This was about as close as arcade perfect the series ever came for home consoles.

The core loop is simple. You have a machine gun with unlimited ammo and a limited supply of heat seeking missiles.

Enemy jets swarm from every direction, and your job is to survive each stage while racking up points. Every so often you'll dock with a refueling plane to top off your missile count before diving back into the fight.

There isn't much strategy beyond staying alive and managing your missiles wisely. That's honestly part of the charm.

This is a game built for short, intense bursts rather than long sessions of careful planning. The difficulty ramps up quickly, and more than a few players will find themselves getting shot down more than they'd like to admit.

Graphically, the 32X squeezed out sprite scaling that was a real step up from the earlier Genesis port of the same game. Planes grow and shrink convincingly as they approach and retreat, which was no small feat for the hardware at the time.

The soundtrack leans on the same driving, heavy energy the series was known for, and it holds up as one of the more memorable parts of the package.

Where things show their age is in the controls. The missile lock cursor doesn't feel as sharp or predictable as fans of the original arcade cabinet might expect, and it can take some getting used to. The game also runs at a lower frame rate than the arcade version, which softens some of that signature speed.

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GAME INFORMATION

WHERE TO PLAY

• The original copy or emulation will be your best bet in playing the original version.

• Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)

  • Loose: $55

  • Complete: $86

  • New/Sealed: $142

COVER ART

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GAME OVER

Why You Should Play This

After Burner Complete isn't going to convert anyone who wasn't already interested in fast paced arcade shooters. But if that description sounds appealing, this is a genuinely fun way to spend an afternoon. The action rarely lets up, the visuals were impressive for their time, and the soundtrack still slaps.

It's also a neat little piece of console history. The 32X had a short and often disappointing library, and this port stands out as one of the system's better efforts, showing what the hardware could do when a developer pushed it.

I remember being so excited when I received my for Christmas. And then so disappointed over the next coming years when I only bought 2 games total for the system. So much potential…

For After Burner, the series. I never regretted spending a quarter for these games. Especially the full cockpit arcade experience. Being able to finally play it at home on this version was a dream come true.

Track one down if you're curious, whether on original hardware or through emulation of the arcade original. Just don't expect deep strategy. Expect noise, speed, and more enemy jets than you'll know what to do with.

SUPPORT

This is a passion project made with love, and every open or read means the world.
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RETRO HARDWARE

The Miyoo Flip V2 is a tiny clamshell retro handheld that lets you carry a whole library of classic games in your pocket. With a bright screen, solid controls, and the nostalgic flip design we all remember, it’s perfect for quick gaming sessions anywhere. Click the picture to check it out. My readers can use the following code for a 12% discount: NY12