Retro Gaming 80’s- After Burner: (1987)

When we think about classic arcade games from the 80’s a variety of high profile titles comes to mind such as: Outrun, Space Harrier, Final Fight and many more. One of the more popular video games that appeared in arcade centers worldwide in ’87 was After Burner. For those who are unaware After Burner was one of the few big titles that Sega made before Sonic the Hedgehog existed in 1991. After Burner was created by the famous Yu Suzuki who worked on popular games like Outrun, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA, Virtua Cop and others that are considered to be classics on Sega based consoles. Ironically, After Burner was a vehicular combat game that was inspired by the legendary Top Gun movie from ’86; which earned approximately $357.1 million in relation of box office sales. Following the release of After Burner in ’87 the game ended up becoming a commercial success globally all the way through 1988. After Burner did not have much of a storyline but it was addictive and had simple objective. The game allowed players to control a F-14 Tomcat throughout eighteen different levels while destroying enemies jets in the process.

One of the most impressive aspects about After Burner was the visuals which looked amazing for its time in arcade centers. The gameplay for the arcade version of After Burner was top notch; with the exception of the limited number of missiles players were provided in Compton the Genesis port. Also, the cockpit variations in the American version of After Burner added to the overall gaming experience along with its replay value due to realism. The cockpit variations seen After Burner showed how creative Sega could be in relation to their video games. After Burner was arguably one of Sega’s greatest video games in relation to the late 80’s and pretty much outclassed anything Nintendo had released quality wise prior to the 90’s. Even though, After Burner was eventually ported to the NES; the game looked far more inferior in comparison other versions that appeared on consoles like Amiga, Commodore 64, 32X, PC Engine, etc.