well since this is a new thread I'll just repost what I wrote here.
Also, damn, wish I could see what the deluxe cabinet looks like. The one I played is the "Commander" cabinet which really only tilts left and right, it was smaller than I thought it would be.
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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.
