3D After Burner II (Nintendo 3DS) Review

By Rudy Lavaux 06.02.2015

Review for 3D After Burner II on Nintendo 3DS

Europeans and North Americans felt the long wait drawing to a close when it was announced back in late 2014 that the SEGA 3D Classics were finally going to be released in 2015 outside of Japan. The first couple were indeed very well received by Cubed3, and it cannot be stressed enough that fans of the games, or their genre, who haven't picked them up yet are doing themselves a great disservice as they are probably the best way to play them nowadays, short of having access to the real arcade machines (in the instances of the full-body experiences that are Super Hang-On or Space Harrier). Japan has had access to a much wider array of titles remade in full stereoscopic 3D for a long while, and most of these were even made available at retail on a compilation cartridge released on 18th December, 2014, which has not been denied for the West yet but is reportedly not planned as of right now, but might probably be considered after this second wave of titles is done being released on the eShop. Keep reading for a review of 3D After Burner II.

Rather than a proper sequel to the original arcade After Burner, After Burner II expands on the original by adding three more stages, and tweaking some details here and there, notably in terms of controls as the speed of the F-14 Tomcat aircraft can be increased or decreased for a more involved play-style. For comparison, this is similar in execution and effect to the boost and brakes from Star Fox, except that this game is much older. This explains why the second game was chosen to be ported directly instead of the first one, as it is the more complete experience. Both could have been released separately, but people having bought the first one could have felt robbed - thankfully this won't be the case.

After Burner II, and the series in general, are fast-paced, 3D shoot 'em ups in the vein of Star Fox, except much speedier and more nerve-wrecking and with not as many environmental hazards to be dodged. Think Star Fox without quite as much rock and building dodging in exchange for more enemies on-screen and being sped up about three or four times, and all rendered using the now eponymous "Super Scaler" technology SEGA put forwards back in 1985, two years prior to the release of After Burner, and now powered by more advanced hardware, the SEGA X Board. Some will be fans and others will not, but to put things back in perspective, both version were released in 1987, which was just after the craze of dogfight style movies of 1986 after such classics as Iron Eagle and, most importantly, Top Gun had been released in theatres to commercial success, the latter of which also featured the same type of aircrafts.

Screenshot for 3D After Burner II on Nintendo 3DS

Therefore, having a full body experience game in the arcades that would let youngsters hop in and pretend they are Tom Cruise speeding in a Tomcat was really something that left an impression on gamers of the time. The type of gameplay may not have aged quite as well as other arcade classics of the same era, as speeding past forests and buildings down below or down narrow canyons in bonus stages, avoiding hitting the cliffs, and just shooting waves after waves of enemy aircrafts and ground-bound targets may get repetitive. However, the presentation, excellent gameplay and, most of all, the brilliant hard-rock styled soundtrack, not so far off from the aforementioned movies in-fact, do a lot to put gamers in the right mood to keep playing and, in this case, the 3D-effect once again being perfectly mastered by M2 contribute to the appeal of the software. The changing scenery also helps keep things more varied than they would be otherwise and proves that the game was already very well thought-out and designed originally, perhaps much more so than, say, Space Harrier, which was a lot more repetitive in terms of visuals, albeit being admittedly rendered on less advanced hardware.

Missions vary from pursuing "matches," targets which must be taken down before they can get away, to taking down enemy bases on the ground, for variety, which is nice. The controls are fairly simple, as the Tomcat is handled using the Circle Pad, moving the cross-hair about the screen and allowing to lock-on to enemies at the same time, while the B button fires homing missiles, limited in quantity, onto locked targets. The Y button fires the built-in machine guns and, finally, the L and R buttons control the aforementioned brakes and booster.

Screenshot for 3D After Burner II on Nintendo 3DS

If using a Circle Pad Pro or plays the game on a New Nintendo 3DS, the right stick (or C-stick) will control the throttle just like on a Tomcat, where pulling down on the lever, or in this case the joystick, increases the throttle, while pushing it back up will decrease them and slow down the aircraft. This is a neat addition that works in favour of immersion... but turns out to be not so indispensable. Indeed the Circle Pad Pro limits portability of the system, so it can't be required so much unless the game using it really plays immeasurably better with it, as was the case with Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D for example, but in this case, the controls for the brakes and boost are otherwise mapped to physical buttons, so not having the accessory won't matter too much. Those who already own, or will own a New Nintendo 3DS when it releases, however, will be treated to this little addition always with them on the go, and this means more control options.

There is also the option to control the F-14 via the touch screen, as was the case in some previous 3D SEGA Classics, yet this option does not come recommended. Better stick to the Circle Pad or the D-Pad, although the latter does not offer the same level of accuracy, obviously.

Screenshot for 3D After Burner II on Nintendo 3DS

Speaking of which, the Circle-Pad's small size obviously does not offer the same comfort in terms of control as the real deal, big joystick of the arcade machine, as expected, but the game can't be faulted for this, as this is more an issue with the hardware itself and not with the game, and not much of an issue actually as it isn't really detrimental to the overall enjoyment, but it is worth mentioning nonetheless. Gameplay on the whole is extremely enjoyable, and with plenty of control options it's hard not to find one that suits anyone's needs. Speeding above the many types of scenery, shooting down enemies, and using barrel rolls to shake off incoming heat-seeking missile heads proves to be nervous, tense, and highly addictive.

The game is, like all of M2's previous efforts, packed with features. It sports all 21 stages from the original, which can be selected at will after unlocking them, the usual multiple views associated with SEGA 3D Classic titles available on the eShop, multiple "dip-switch" settings for difficulty, and other details like the screen-tilting like it was the real arcade machine moving... Also, the usual accompanying sound test lets users listen to the soundtrack (although, once again, unfortunately, it can't be listened to while the game is in Sleep Mode... sheesh!). Last, but not least, it's still possible to record a replay video of the player's performance. It is regrettable, however, that, like previous games in this series of adaptations, there are no online leaderboards.

Screenshot for 3D After Burner II on Nintendo 3DS

Cubed3 Rating

8/10
Rated 8 out of 10

Great - Silver Award

Rated 8 out of 10

A great classic to begin with, 3D After Burner II is only magnified by the Nintendo 3DS' ability to render things in 3D. Actually, with the New Nintendo 3DS just around the corner (at time of writing), it's hard to think of a better or more affordable way to get into the new super stable 3D feature of the hardware, especially since it takes advantage of the added C-Stick, although this is not an indispensable feature in this case. Whatever the case, whether being played on the old 3DS or the new one, it's well worth the purchase, all the more so for SEGA fans, as this is likely the best version of the game, right after the original 'Deluxe' cabinet released back in 1987. There's no port out there that pulls it off quite as brilliantly as this version does, anyway. Admittedly, it may lack a couple things to be absolutely perfect, and some things, done slightly differently, would have been better, but no deal breakers to be seen here, it's absolutely awesome!

Developer

M2

Publisher

SEGA

Genre

Action

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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