After Burner II

After Burner II
File:After burner 2.jpg European boxart (note erroneous use of F-15)
Developer(s)	Sega AM2
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Yu Suzuki
Programmer(s)	Satoshi Mifune
Composer(s)	Hiroshi Kawaguchi
Platform(s)	Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, NES/Famicom, Sharp X68000, Mega Drive/Genesis, PC Engine, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2
Release	1987 Arcade 1987 Amiga 1989 Atari ST 1989 MS-DOS 1989 NES/Famicom 1989 Sharp X68000 1989 Mega Drive/Genesis JP: March 23, 1990 NA: March 22, 1990 EU: 1990 PC Engine JP: September 28, 1990 Sega Saturn JP: September 27, 1996 PlayStation 2 JP: March 18, 2004 Nintendo 3DS JP: December 18, 2013 NA: January 15, 2015
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player
Arcade system	Sega X Board

After Burner II is an arcade-style flight game released by Sega in 1987. It is the second game in the After Burner series. In the game, players fly a F-14 Tomcat jet fighter, gunning down enemies while avoiding incoming fire. Like OutRun, another Sega arcade game, After Burner II came in several versions, the most famous being a large, servo actuated, sit-down cabinet which resembled a cockpit and moved according to the motion of the plane onscreen. The cockpit would bank in the same direction the on-screen aircraft was banking. There was also a more basic upright cabinet version.

Translations and ports

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
IGN	5/10 (Mobile Phone)
MegaTech	90%
Compute's Guide	19/25

After Burner II has been translated and ported to numerous home computers, consoles and mobile phones; including versions for the PC Engine, Sharp X68000, Sega Mega Drive, Famicom, FM Towns Marty, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and Sega Saturn. In Japan, it was released on the PlayStation 2 as part of the Sega Ages classic series. Mega placed the Mega Drive version at #38 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time. MegaTech magazine praised the smooth and fast gameplay, as well as the sound.

It is notable that the version released for Sega Saturn is a nearly direct port of the arcade code, which at that time, was very rare for a home version.

M2 ported After Burner II in Sega's 3D Classics series to the Nintendo 3DS eShop in Japan on 2013 and worldwide on 2015. This version is faithful to the original arcade game with additions, including Touch Controls and screen layouts that resemble the Upright as well as the Commander and Deluxe cabinets. An unlockable new Special mode was also added, which used a time-slowing "Burst" system similar to After Burner Climax, and featured a different story and altered stages. This mode has no stage select or continues, and instead depends on frequent acquisition of extra lives over the course of the game in order to complete it.

External links

• After Burner II at the Killer List of Videogames
• After Burner II at MobyGames
• After Burner II at Arcade-History