Top Gun was popular during the 80’s, and with fighter jets featured prominently in movies of the time, it was no surprised that they would become the subject for arcade games as well. After all, who could resist the rush of flying a high tech fighter jet, and dogfighting with reckless abandon? With movies such as Iron Eagle and Top Gun around, inspiration was not hard to find.
A staple in arcades at the time was an innovative game called Afterburner, made by Sega. This game featured joystick controls. You manned an F-14A Tomcat, and basically kicked ass in the sky. Not only did you have a unique way of controlling the plane, you also had an adrenaline pumping soundtrack. A soundtrack made by Sega’s SST team which was even played in live concerts! The Afterburner theme(s) became classics and are still memorable even today.
Afterburner spawned sequels, and sometimes the arcade would feature an actual cockpit to sit in! Now this was cool. This would later be adapted by the arcade version of G-Loc, also by Sega. Speaking of sequels, there is Afterburner Black Falcon which saw release on PSP a few years back, and is now available from the PSN network. Yet what about a modern Afterburner for the next gen systems?
It took a while, but the modernized arcade Afterburner will finally see release on the Xbox360 and PS3, via the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network!
Afterburner Climax debuted in arcades a few years back. Now games like this are a rarity. The last game like this to be featured in arcades, before Climax, was Air Combat 22 by Namco, from the mid 90’s. It must be said that Air Combat 22 is an entry in Namco’s venerable Ace Combat series, and as such, plays much differently than Afterburner. The trailer for it wet appetites as unlike modern day remakes of classic video games, it didn’t fix what wasn’t broke.
Afterburner Climax not only features modernized graphics but also a new soundtrack with influence from the original. Do you love the classic OST from Afterburner III? Well you’re in luck! You’ll be able to select that soundtrack in the console versions of Afterburner Climax. You will also be able to use other planes aside the iconic F-14 Tomcat, such as the F-15E/I Strike Eagle and F/A-18E Super Hornet.
In any case it’s about time this game hit consoles! It’s great to see a classic that is redone in a fashion which incorporates everything which made the original memorable in the 1st place. You don’t see that often with modern follow ups to classic games. Afterburner was a unique game for it’s time, and it’s a unique experience that we can experience again, only now, next gen.
Yes, Yes…Oh God Yes!
Want me to go faster? [/joke]
But in all seriousness, when they do things like this… you know… GOOD updates… that’s something to look forward to. Never played the original, but damn it looked great.
Uhh, Namco… what’s up with Splatterhouse?