New Afterburner game from Sega

[SSS]

This came out of no where.

http://www.segaarcade.com/pdfs/afterburnerclimax/afterburnerclimax.pdf

 

[Mushiki]

After Burner Climax was announced long ago.

 

[soopafamicom]

Should be called Afterburner:AntiClimax.

It can't be any worse than the rest of the games in the series.

Worst games ever.

 

[SSS]

Should be called Afterburner:AntiClimax.

It can't be any worse than the rest of the games in the series.

Worst games ever.

Don't see Nintendo releasing many arcade games lately.

 

[soopafamicom]

Don't see Nintendo releasing many arcade games lately.

As far as I can recall they havent released any arcade games for about 20 years........nor do they need to.

I don't see SEGA releasing any consoles ever again, not that they are missed.

 

[SSS]

As far as I can recall they havent released any arcade games for about 20 years........nor do they need to.

I don't see SEGA releasing any consoles ever again, not that they are missed.

The Dreamcast was a better system than the GC, and will probably be better than the redesigned GC with that remote thingy (oh, I guess I mean the Wii)

and Nintendo did release an arcade game somewhat recently. F-Zero. Oh, nevermind. Sega did it for them because Nintendo was too inept.

 

[Moose]

This is certainly not new news, but the game itself is fairly new in America. I look forward to playing it when I see it! Looks great!

 

[soopafamicom]

The Dreamcast was a better system than the GC, and will probably be better than the redesigned GC with that remote thingy (oh, I guess I mean the Wii)

and Nintendo did release an arcade game somewhat recently. F-Zero. Oh, nevermind. Sega did it for them because Nintendo was too inept.

ROFL

Yeah, the DC with all it's great games such as erm........erm.....oh I know......erm no no it's gone........and all the other awesome stuff.The only reason I kept mine for so long was Bass and Marine Fishing, there was sod all else that was any fun for more than three minutes.

The DC was dead as soon as Sony announced the release date for the PS2 and then it just hung around for a further year in the shops before SEGA gave up and threw in the towel.

SEGA were given F-Zero to release as they had hundreds of their own cabs rotting away in warehouses with nothing to put in them that was worth putting more than one coin into, that Nintendo had SEGA virtually begging them to give them something to try and keep them afloat as their pathetic 3D Sonic games weren't bringing in the bucks.

Yeah you're right the DC was just the best ever wasn't it?

The 3Do was more fun than the DC.

 

[RGP]

Played this few days back for free:

http://www.sega-naomi.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=405&highlight=

quite liked it, cab was nice too.

 

[segasonicfan]

The original arcade Afterburner from '87 (later ported to 32X and Saturn) has to be one of my all-time favorite games. I'd absolutely kill to play the new one, it looks amazing...

-Segasonicfan

 

[Jedah Doma]

ROFL

Yeah, the DC with all it's great games such as erm........erm.....oh I know......erm no no it's gone........and all the other awesome stuff.The only reason I kept mine for so long was Bass and Marine Fishing, there was sod all else that was any fun for more than three minutes.

The DC was dead as soon as Sony announced the release date for the PS2 and then it just hung around for a further year in the shops before SEGA gave up and threw in the towel.

SEGA were given F-Zero to release as they had hundreds of their own cabs rotting away in warehouses with nothing to put in them that was worth putting more than one coin into, that Nintendo had SEGA virtually begging them to give them something to try and keep them afloat as their pathetic 3D Sonic games weren't bringing in the bucks.

Yeah you're right the DC was just the best ever wasn't it?

The 3Do was more fun than the DC.

I didn't know DashK had a brother.

 

[soulthug]

Mario Kart Arcade? Who produced that?

 

[RGP]

Namco, its the first Mario Kart game to have other non Nintendo characters in it, i.e Pacman, came out on Tri-Force arcade hardware.

 

[Weevus]

I thought AM2 was disbanded.

 

[themisterfalcon]

does that thing swing all over the place like the last afterburner? looks like it with the support riser up behind the players head to hold the seat.

 

[RGP]

From side to side, like on F-Zero AX.

 

[Thiessen]

Cruisin USA and Cruisin the World were Nintendo branded arcade machines... perhaps Killer Instinct 1/2 also? I know they didn't make them directly but I remember the "Ultra" 64 branding... Of course Mario Kart in the arcade was also Nintendo branded but made by Namco.

I've always been a real fanboy for Sega's arcade machines, but the AFterburner series never really captured my imagination Cool hydrolic cabinets though

 

[Jimminy]

I know that the US will never get this cab
Soccer moms would start shitting briks seeing the blood red zombie curtains.

RGP nice pics there mate

 

[J69]

ROFL

Yeah, the DC with all it's great games such as erm........erm.....oh I know......erm no no it's gone........and all the other awesome stuff.The only reason I kept mine for so long was Bass and Marine Fishing, there was sod all else that was any fun for more than three minutes.

The DC was dead as soon as Sony announced the release date for the PS2 and then it just hung around for a further year in the shops before SEGA gave up and threw in the towel.

SEGA were given F-Zero to release as they had hundreds of their own cabs rotting away in warehouses with nothing to put in them that was worth putting more than one coin into, that Nintendo had SEGA virtually begging them to give them something to try and keep them afloat as their pathetic 3D Sonic games weren't bringing in the bucks.

Yeah you're right the DC was just the best ever wasn't it?

The 3Do was more fun than the DC.

ROFL>>OMG!!!!11WTF

Capcom Vs SNK, Marvel Vs Capcom, SF3.3, Jet Set Radio, Rez, Crazy Taxi, Guilty Gear, Ikaruga, Border Down, Under Defeat etc. etc.

Pretty much every decent arcade game over the last 7 years. Oh and Last Hope and Trigger Heart Ex. Are coming out next year.

 

[BBH]

sorry for the bump, I just found out that an arcade here in Portland got After Burner Climax.

Even better, it's at a nickel arcade where it won't cost more than 20 or 25 cents, AND it's the deluxe sitdown version.

expect a review soon!

 

[billd420]

As far as I can recall they havent released any arcade games for about 20 years........nor do they need to.

Uhmm have you forgotten about the Mario Kart sit-down arcade games that came out reciently? Or the Tri-Force hardware which Nintendo helped develop (Sega, Namco & Nintendo IIRC).

Also, on a side note, Afterburner Climax is hot shit. My local resturaunt/arcade (similar to a Dave & Busters) has a Deluxe. Too bad it costs about $14k for one of those badboys... maybe when I hit the lottery I'll buy one.

-B

 

[Loopz]

sorry for the bump, I just found out that an arcade here in Portland got After Burner Climax.

Even better, it's at a nickel arcade where it won't cost more than 20 or 25 cents, AND it's the deluxe sitdown version.

expect a review soon!

You lucky son of a bitch.
Pics and a massive review dude...I may never get to play it.

 

[Phil ver0]

How is the game play and is it simliar to the original

 

[BBH]

You lucky son of a bitch.
Pics and a massive review dude...I may never get to play it.

well, I don't have pics (my camera sucks shit), but hopefully this will do!

I'm a tad disappointed because the "deluxe" cabinet they supposedly had was the "Commander"-style cabinet which isn't the largest cabinet possible. I can't find a picture of whatever the super deluxe cabinet looks like, but there supposedly is one. The Commander cabinet still tilts left and right and has a seat belt, but I dunno... I expected more motion out of it. It wasn't as good a "ride" as F-Zero AX or something. But anyways!

Let me first say that I'm really not that good at After Burner II. My experience with the game has always been one of "Hey, missiles are coming at me, I better dodge.... oh, I couldn't dodge it and I died. Huh."... it was fun but it never really "clicked" with me. I'm more of a Space Harrier guy, I guess.

So how similar is the gameplay in Climax to After Burner II? Very. It's the same formula - fly around and shoot stuff, fire missiles when you lock-on to enemies, dodge the missiles the enemies fire, all that jazz. There's even a couple of those moments where you have an enemy missile behind you and you've got to shake it off.

It's not completely the same of course though - the biggest new addition is the "Climax" mode. Basically a bar will fill up over time (or when you shoot down enemies?), and once it's filled up, moving the throttle all the way forward makes you enter Climax mode. Climax mode is basically a fancy way of saying "slow-mo Matrix bullet time ripoff", a la the pedal in Virtua Cop 3. When you're in Climax Mode your lock-on indicator becomes MUCH larger, so you can instantly target a shitload of enemies, fire off all your missiles, and then get the hell out of there before they fire back. Obviously Climax mode should be saved for moments when lots of enemies appear on-screen, because doing so will guarantee a high combo. Yes that's right, there's a combo counter too. It gives a rather generous amount of time before the combo stops, but I still found it hard to sometimes string together a really big combo... after much play the highest combo I got was 60 or so. Obviously, learning the enemy patterns on the levels will play a big part in this.

Another welcome change is that you actually have a lifebar (err, armor bar). Finally, no more instant death from taking a hit! But wait... taking a missile hit reduces your lifebar by 70%. Getting hit by gunfire (I think?) or laser cannons takes off 50%. I think brushing up against the side of walls or mountains will take off much less damage. You never get a chance to build the lifebar back up, and no extra lives seem to be awarded (you start with 3 lives).

There are 13 stages, and like the original they're all pretty short. There are some branching paths where you can select one of 2 stages, but for the most part a lot of the same stages have to be played in every game. There's also some "secret" stages apparently, I figured out that making it to the 6th stage with only one death lets you play an alternate version of the 6th stage, but I couldn't really tell what was different. I think you get more points? *shrug* Anyway, as there's only 13 rather short stages, the game is over in 10 minutes if you play through to the end. There is some replay value if you want to play the different routes, and there appears to be multiple endings.... but if you're someone that must constantly be seeing new material, this might not be your dream game. If you're into playing for score, then I'd say there's definitely some replay value here. Ultimately I'd like to one-credit clear this bitch, but it's pretty tough. Stage 12 in particular is an absolute nightmare.

Speaking of points, this game has one of my high score-related pet peeves - default high scores that are way too high. The default score is a million. My first complete playthrough of the game (3 continues...) only yielded 673k. It wasn't until the 5th time I finished it that I finally squeaked by with like 1.03 million or so. Maybe there is some bonus for finishing on one credit, possibly more secret stages... but 1 million is just way too high of a default score. I have no idea what the theoretical max score on this game would be. Oh, and you don't even get to put in your initials in your first place unless you finish the game! aggghhghg

I don't think I need to say much about the graphics, because as most anyone can tell from the screenshots, the game looks stunning. I couldn't hear the music too well, but there's also an option to have the original After Burner II tunes play instead, so I usually chose that since those tunes are some classic stuff. You even get the same "Fire!" voice when you're locked-on to an enemy. Good stuff.

Overall I'd say I dig this game a lot. I probably got more enjoyment out of this then I have with the original, although I'm sure some people would disagree with that. Like OutRun 2, it's a sequel that doesn't change much from the formula that made the game a classic two decades ago, so anyone that enjoyed the original needs to play it. Will the game get a home port? It's possible, it would certainly be a shame if it went the route of Planet Harriers and faded away into obscurity, what with good arcades being hard to find these days. But you also have to keep in mind that at its core, After Burner Climax is an arcade game - there's no better way to experience it than by strapping yourself into the seat and actually playing it. I guess I'm fortunate to have an arcade nearby with it - and for 35 cents a play! (it's a nickel arcade which requires an admission fee). Not the 20 or 25 cents I was hoping for, but then again any other arcade is no doubt going to charge AT LEAST a dollar a play, so I guess I'm lucky.


QUESTIONS:

- Do the different types of paint you can select for your jet do anything? Some say "camouflage" and "low visibility" but I'm not sure they make any difference. Heck, I don't know what's different about the three jets you can select from in the first place.

- How the fuck are you supposed to destroy the stealth bomber in Stage 6? I can't shoot it down fast enough, and it seems like even when I'm going full throttle, I end up losing sight of it by the end of the stage. There's probably a big bonus I'm missing out on from not being able to destroy it.

- Is there any warning before some enemies sneak up from behind you on Stage 5? I seem to always take a cheap hit there when I have absolutely no warning of them appearing.

 

[Circa2113]

Thanks for the review BBH.

I'll be sure to drop a few credits in if I manage to find this cabinet anywhere. (highly unlikely)