Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: March 1988
Playing After Burner on the Sega Master System is an interesting experience for me because I have never played any other version of the game. It was originally a very popular Sega arcade game, and I think there are versions of it on all their consoles at least until the Saturn era. There was also a Tengen released NES versions, one only four Sega Games to make it onto the system. However I have played none of those. So I can’t base my review on how how it compares to any other version. It’s all Sega Master System for me. Luckily, I discovered something when I recently played it. This game is fun.
After Burner is simplicity perfected. You are a fighter jet locked in a constant struggle against enemy jets which you battle from a behind-the-back perspective. There’s no fuel gauge to worry about and no power-ups. It’s just shootin’ and dodgin’. The SMS handles it all fairly well too. The movement is mostly smooth and the graphics are sparse but crisp. It’s almost all skies and trees, but it’s nice looking skies and trees with a very pleasant 8-bit soundtrack. Also when your jet does get shot it has one of the biggest explosions I have ever seen in an 8-bit game. Only the game over in Missile Command compares in size. It’s just the kind of fun arcade game that Sega was most known for before Sonic the Hedgehog.
My main gripes are in the presentation. I wish that the score and lives were displayed on the screen at all times instead of only after deaths and at the end of certain levels. It does have an ending, but I can’t see anyone actually beating it legitimately very often. As usual there are no continues and tons of enemy shots to avoid. Because of this it’s much more of a high score game, and I wish this was emphasized more in the game. It should’ve had a a top ten as well. I could see my brother and me taking turns getting high scores, but that’s more fun with a list. As you know I love lists in general, so I always hope for the inclusion of more of them.
Overall though After Burner was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t remember it being this much fun back when I originally bought it. When I got it I was buying a bunch of SMS games so I missed it. However, after spending some more time with it I can definitely say that it is a worthy game for the SMS library. It’s only the third Master System game I have ranked, but it is definitely the cream of the crop so far. It beats out Alex Kidd in Miracle World for its more consistant gameplay, and even inches above NES Double Dragon as my new number twenty-three. I don’t know how the overall quality is going to turn out for Master System, but if it ends up on the plus side it’s going to be because of fun arcade games like After Burner. Let’s hope there are more games like this one out there.
Sega Master System Quality Percentage: 2/3 or 66.66%
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