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79-505: After Burner is a rail shooter arcade video game developed and released by Sega in 1987. The player controls an American F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and must clear each of the game's eighteen unique stages by destroying incoming enemies. The plane is equipped with a machine gun and a limited supply of heat-seeking missiles. The game uses a third-person perspective, as in Sega's earlier Space Harrier (1985) and Out Run (1986). It runs on

158-483: A grindhouse -style prequel to the original, and Dead Space: Extraction (2009), a spin-off of the survival horror Dead Space franchise. The developers, facing controversy over its differences from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, used the term "guided experience" to describe its gameplay. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009) featured shakycam movement. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (2009)

237-423: A steering wheel , a stick shift , and acceleration and brake pedals. Two of the cabinet designs are upright, the larger of which has force feedback in the steering wheel. The other two models are sit-down motion simulator cabinets that resemble the in-game car and use a drive motor to move the main cabinet—turning and shaking according to the onscreen action. Both models feature stereo speakers mounted behind

316-489: A "travesty", and a 37% score from Amstrad Action where the reviewer considered it one of the worst arcade conversions ever. Out Run was followed by various sequels, including three arcade sequels Turbo OutRun (1989), OutRunners (1993) and OutRun 2 (2003), and several non-arcade sequels including Out Run 3-D (1988), Out Run Europa (1991), OutRun 2019 (1993) and later OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006). Sega also developed Rad Mobile (1991) which

395-657: A cameo in Fighters Megamix , accessed with a cheat code. The music from After Burner appears in a remix in Chapter 8, entitled "Route 666", of Bayonetta (developed by PlatinumGames and published by Sega). This remix is reused in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Bayonetta stage, Umbra Clock Tower. An area based on After Burner , "Carrier Zone", appears as

474-599: A flying protagonist or ship. Some take place while walking, running or driving. While rail shooters saw a resurgence on the Wii due to its Wii Remote control scheme, new games in the genre are considered a rarity in the modern day, although many games of other genres contain rail shooter segments. The rail shooter genre stemmed from arcade games, with seminal games being Space Harrier (1985) and After Burner (1987), both developed by Sega . The original Star Fox (1993) further popularized rail shooters, adding 3D graphics . By

553-533: A lock-on mechanic similar to the Data East arcade game Lock-On (1986). Top Score said it has "all the finger-numbing action of the best arcade shoot-em-ups, combined with some of the most stunning animation ever seen in a video game" and that it was "a glossy air combat game that ranks higher than similar efforts that have preceded it". The review called it "one of the most beautiful and realistic shooting games ever produced" with "somewhat shallow" gameplay that

632-422: A role in the arcade video game industry's recovery, and providing the name for a popular music genre . It spawned a series and a sequel was released, Turbo OutRun in 1989. Out Run is a pseudo-3D driving video game in which the player controls a Ferrari Testarossa convertible from a third-person rear perspective. The camera is placed near the ground, simulating a Ferrari driver's position and limiting

711-480: A second production run. Both are motorcycle racing games, and Out Run was Suzuki's chance to develop a car racing game. His original concept was to base the game on the American film The Cannonball Run , of which he was a fan. He disliked racing games where cars exploded on impact, and wanted gamers to enjoy the experience of driving and to feel "superior". Suzuki initially conceived the game's setting across

790-523: A skillful driver in real life would translate to being skillful in the game. They simulated features such as horsepower , torque , gear ratios and tire engineering close to real cars. They also added AI assistance for features that were difficult to control, such as drifting . For the drifting, they added details such as, if the car's tires grip the road surface too closely, the car's handling becomes too twitchy, something that wasn't appreciated in earlier driving games. Out Run ' s original score

869-408: A standard arcade cabinet and a servo actuated, sit-down motion simulator version which moved according to the motion of the plane onscreen. The cockpit would bank in the same direction the on-screen aircraft was banking. It is an updated version of After Burner , with the addition of throttle controls. It was a commercial success, becoming Japan's highest-grossing arcade game of 1988. The game

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948-466: A stigma of being overly shallow. While games such as Rez (2001) and Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002) were still released during this time, the lull lasted until the advent of motion control on home consoles, leading to a "rebirth" of the genre with major third-party releases in order to capitalize on the light gun -style gameplay. These included The House of the Dead: Overkill (2009),

1027-677: A tennis court in Sega Superstars Tennis and as a race track in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed . The latter also features a playable racer, AGES, whose vehicle transforms into an After Burner -inspired F-14 Tomcat during flight segments. A remix of After Burner appears in Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA on both the arcade & console versions, complete with Vocaloid vocals. Rail shooter Rail shooter , also known as on-rails shooter ,

1106-413: A worldwide audience. The game was programmed and tested on a PC-98 system, making it the first Sega-published video game to be developed using personal computers rather than workstations . One of the biggest challenges the team had to overcome was researching and implementing sprite and surface rotation, which for the time was considered a milestone in video games. The team also struggled with creating

1185-449: Is a subgenre of shoot 'em up video game . Beginning with arcade games such as the 1985 Space Harrier , the gameplay locks the player character into a set path, only allowing for limited or no divergence from it, in a similar manner to a theme park dark ride , which are typically on train tracks . While moving on this path, players must aim and shoot enemies while dodging projectiles and avoiding damage. Many rail shooters feature

1264-490: Is nevertheless "definitively worth the price of admission" especially in the "cockpit simulator" cabinet. Sinclair User reviewed the arcade game, scoring it 8 out of 10. Ciarán Brennan of Your Sinclair said that, despite the higher price point, do not "let a little thing like a pound coin stand between you and action like this". Robin Hogg of The Games Machine called it the "hottest Sega release so far" with praise for

1343-585: Is similar to Out Run . Former Sega arcade director Akira Nagai has credited Out Run and similar games for Sega's arcade success in the 1980s. According to Nagai: " Out Run , in particular, was really amazing for its time... Suzuki went on to make After Burner and a number of other games, but Out Run is still talked about with a special kind of wonder. With the taikan games, Sega's arcade business, which had been Sega's lowest performer in sales, gradually started to rise... For me personally, Hang-On and Out Run are my most memorable titles. They helped lift

1422-467: The Forza Horizon games and DriveClub . According to Jacopo Prisco of Wired UK , the influence of Out Run "is still being felt on consoles, in music, and in movies". Along with its influence on a wide range of racing games from Need for Speed and Gran Turismo to Project Gotham Racing and Forza Horizon , the game's selectable radio music has become commonplace in video games such as

1501-545: The Game Machine charts for upright/cockpit arcade cabinets in November 1986, and remained at the top of the charts in the following month. It was Japan's highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game during the latter half of 1986, and the overall seventh highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game of 1986 . Out Run went on to become Japan's highest-grossing arcade game of 1987 . In North America, it topped

1580-649: The RePlay dedicated arcade game chart in February 1987, and went on to become the highest-grossing arcade game of 1987 in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the game topped London's Electrocoin arcade charts for several months in 1987, from February through June, and was the top arcade game of the year. In Japan, it continued to rank among the annual highest-grossing dedicated arcade games for

1659-462: The Sega X Board arcade system which is capable of surface and sprite rotation. It is the fourth Sega game to use a hydraulic "taikan" motion simulator arcade cabinet , one that is more elaborate than their earlier "taikan" simulator games. The cabinet simulates an aircraft cockpit, with flight stick controls, a chair with seatbelt, and hydraulic motion technology that moves, tilts, rolls and rotates

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1738-774: The Swiss Alps , the French Riviera , Florence , and Milan . While in Monaco, Suzuki was inspired to use the Ferrari Testarossa as the playable car in the game, so when he returned to Japan he arranged for his team to find and photograph one. They took many photos of the car from every side and recorded the sound of the engine. A small team of four programmers, a sound creator, and five graphic designers developed Out Run . Suzuki had to use only personnel that were available and not assigned to other projects at

1817-447: The best games of all time by Next Generation , Retro Gamer , Stuff , Time , G4 , Killer List of Videogames , Yahoo! , and NowGamer . In 2017, GamesRadar+ ranked the game 31st on their "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time". Writing in 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die , Joao Diniz Sanches praised Out Run ' s "unforgettable design and expertly tuned game balance", describing

1896-467: The 1980s. By 1994, 30,000 cabinets had been sold worldwide. Sega eventually surpassed OutRun ' s arcade sales with Virtua Fighter (1993) and Virtua Fighter 2 (1994). The 8-bit computer game ports published by U.S. Gold sold over 200,000 copies within two weeks of release in the United Kingdom, and more than 250,000 by Christmas 1987, topping the UK's Christmas 1987 chart. Out Run became

1975-540: The Commodore 64 version which was described as "incredibly disappointing" with "laughably bad" graphics and sound. It was given an overall rating of 17%. A later Computer Gaming World review for the PC was much more critical, giving the game one star out of five and stating that it was inferior to the arcade version. Reviewing the 32X version, GamePro commented that the graphics, sound, and gameplay are all great, but that

2054-552: The Master System version a score of 72%, stating that the Master System version came closest to the original coin-op. Reviewers for Dragon described it as a "refreshing" game "that provides hours of entertainment". Computer Gaming World named it as the year's best arcade translation for Sega. Reactions to the 16-bit versions were generally positive. The Atari ST version (1988) was described by Computer and Video Games as "far from perfect", but that it came closer to

2133-480: The Master System, citing aircraft depicted in "remarkable detail", "spectacular" scenery, and excellent explosions. On the ZX Spectrum the 1988 conversion of After Burner by Activision was well-received, with Sinclair User describing it as "top-class coin-op conversion destined for the top of the charts" and giving it 90%, whilst Crash magazine gave it 86% overall. Zzap!64's reviewers were unimpressed with

2212-492: The Sky ; he originally planned for the game to have an aesthetic similar to Laputa , but instead went with a Top Gun look to make the game approachable for worldwide audiences. It was designed outside the company in a building named "Studio 128", due to Sega adopting a flextime schedule to allow for games to be worked on outside company headquarters. An updated version with the addition of throttle controls, After Burner II ,

2291-537: The United States, After Burner won the award for "Most Innovative Game" at the Amusement & Music Operators Association's 1988 AMOA Games Awards. In Japan, After Burner II was tied with After Burner as the highest-grossing arcade game of 1988. Mega placed the Mega Drive version at number 38 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time. MegaTech magazine praised the smooth and fast gameplay, as well as

2370-462: The United States, and he requested to scout various locations there. According to Suzuki's boss, Youji Ishii, Sega president Hayao Nakayama believed the US was too unsafe, and suggested Europe as a safer option. Additionally, Suzuki concluded that the US was too "large and empty" for the game's design. He scouted Europe for two weeks in a BMW 520 for ideas. This tour included Frankfurt , Monaco , Rome,

2449-505: The United States, it was one of the top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games of 1988, and remained a top ten earner at various arcades through 1990. In the United Kingdom, it was the top-grossing arcade game upon release in September 1987. The arcade game received positive reviews from critics. Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games called it a "fabulous game" with praise for the gameplay and motion cabinet while noting it has

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2528-745: The all-formats chart in November 1990, and the Commodore 64 version was at number two on the all-formats chart in March 1991. It also topped the PC Engine charts during January–February 1991. In 2020, Out Run became the second best-selling Sega Ages title in overseas markets outside of Japan (after Sonic the Hedgehog ), especially in Europe. As of 2021, the game's various home conversions have sold millions of copies worldwide. Out Run ' s arcade release received positive reviews and became one of

2607-408: The arcade industry out of its slump, and created entirely new genres". The game's title has been adopted as a name for the synthwave music genre, which is also known as "outrun" music, inspired by the game's soundtrack which is selectable in-game as well as the game's 1980s aesthetic. French musician Kavinsky named his debut album OutRun (2013) after the game. The game has been listed among

2686-468: The arcade original than the other ports. The 1991 Sega Genesis version also received positive reviews, scoring 90% from French gaming magazines Joypad and Joystick , as well as an 85% from Swedish magazine Svenska Hemdatornytt . The reception for the 8-bit personal computer ports by U.S. Gold was mixed. The ZX Spectrum version received positive scores from Your Sinclair and Sinclair User . Some reviewers at Crash expressed disappointment at

2765-611: The brand since After Burner II . After Burner Climax was later ported to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN . It was followed by the spin-off After Burner: Black Falcon for the PSP in 2007. After Burner Climax was de-listed in December 2014, leaving the game no longer available for purchase, only to be brought back in March 2019 to digital mobile platforms for free, with ads, under the Sega Forever brand. In Japan, After Burner II

2844-464: The cockpit in sync with the on-screen action. Designed by Sega veteran Yu Suzuki and the Sega AM2 division, After Burner was intended as being Sega's first "true blockbuster" video game. Development began in December 1986, shortly after the completion of Out Run , and was kept as a closely guarded secret within the company. Suzuki was inspired by the 1986 films Top Gun and Laputa: Castle in

2923-426: The company; After Burner was one of the first games to be produced under this new system, with development taking place in a building named "Studio 128". Suzuki was inspired by the film Laputa: Castle in the Sky and initially wanted to employ a similar aesthetic for After Burner , but this idea was scrapped early on in favor of a style akin to the movie Top Gun , as Suzuki wanted the game more approachable for

3002-596: The driver's head. The arcade system board made specifically for the game is the Sega OutRun , based on the Sega System 16 . Suzuki said that he was often unable to make games based on existing hardware and that Sega would have to create a new board. He said that his "designs were always 3D from the beginning. All the calculations in the system were 3D, even from Hang-On . I calculated the position, scale, and zoom rate in 3D and converted it backwards to 2D . So I

3081-510: The element of danger in the gameplay as well as the hydraulic motion simulator cabinet. Top Score newsletter called it "the most enjoyable" and "realistic driving video game ever created" while praising its innovative simulator cabinet, detailed visuals and stereo soundtrack. A review in Commodore User described it as "a great game for driving enthusiasts" and awarded it a score of 9 out of 10. Gary Penn, writing for Crash called

3160-532: The fastest-selling and best-selling computer game in the UK that year. By early March 1988, it had sold over 350,000 copies, becoming the UK's all-time fastest-selling game up until then. In May 1988, the Atari ST version of Out Run became the first ST title to top the UK all-formats chart. The Atari ST version had sold over 25,000 copies in the UK by mid-1988. Out Run remained on the UK charts for several years. The budget price re-release from Kixx topped

3239-502: The game "highly polished" and praised the attention to detail. In Your Sinclair , Peter Shaw praised its realism and described it as "the most frighteningly fast road race game" he had played. Out Run was ported to numerous home consoles and computers. Computer and Video Games praised the Master System release, with the writers concluding that it had "all the thrill power of the arcade version". The Games Machine gave

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3318-494: The game as " the consummate exhibit in an oversubscribed genre" and "one of the purest and most joyous experiences in video gaming". In 2015, Out Run appeared at 4th place on IGN 's list of The Top 10 Most Influential Racing Games Ever, behind Pole Position , Gran Turismo and Virtua Racing . According to Luke Reilly, traces of Out Run DNA can be found in series like Test Drive , Need for Speed , Project Gotham Racing and Burnout as well as modern racers like

3397-468: The game developed by Tengen also exists, which was reworked by Sunsoft for their Japanese-exclusive port to the same console. A port of After Burner to the Game Boy Advance was included in an arcade 4 pack named Sega Arcade Gallery . After Burner for the Master System was a best-seller for Sega in the United States during 1988. Computer Gaming World reviewed After Burner on

3476-574: The graphics and gameplay, but with some criticism towards the £1 UK price. At the 1987 Gamest Awards in Japan, After Burner won the Best Graphics award, while being a runner-up for Game of the Year (2nd place), Best Ending (6th place), Best VGM (4th place), Best Sound Synthesis (8th place) and Most Popular Game (3rd place). After Burner also won a Special Award at the 1988 Gamest Awards. In

3555-465: The highest-grossing arcade game of 1987 worldwide as well as Sega's most successful arcade cabinet of the 1980s. It was ported to numerous video game consoles and home computers, becoming one of the best-selling video games at the time and selling millions of copies worldwide, and it spawned a number of sequels. Out Run is considered one of the most influential and greatest games ever made , cited as an influence upon numerous later video games, playing

3634-415: The hydraulic motion simulator deluxe arcade cabinet . The goal is to avoid traffic and reach one of five destinations before time runs out. The game was designed by Yu Suzuki , who traveled to Europe to gain inspiration for the game's stages. Suzuki had a small team and only ten months to program the game, leaving him to do most of the work himself. The game was a critical and commercial success, becoming

3713-524: The low quality in contrast to the arcade original. The Games Machine gave the Spectrum version a score of 61%, noting the machine's technical limitations in comparison to the Master System and Commodore systems. The Commodore versions received positive to average reviews, though Computer and Video Games described the Commodore 64 port as "rushed". The Amstrad CPC port received a score of 8 out of 40 from Computer and Video Games , which described it as

3792-478: The master ROM chips failing, and the glitch was not noticed until Sega was preparing a soundtrack box-set for the game's 20th anniversary. The correct files were recovered from an 8-inch floppy disk , and subsequent re-releases of the game use the fixed data. Cassette tapes of the arcade soundtrack were distributed in the United Kingdom during December 1987, both with the home computer conversions and with Computer and Video Games magazine. The Mega Drive port has

3871-464: The mid-1990s, first-person rail shooters became popular in arcades, notably light gun shooters such as Time Crisis (1995) and The House of the Dead (1996). Panzer Dragoon (1995) and Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (1996) were two well-regarded rail shooters released around this time. Star Fox 64 was released in 1997 and gained wide renown for its graphics, level design and non-linearity. It

3950-456: The modern day, the genre has become largely relegated to indie games , such as Ex-Zodiac , a retro -styled game heavily inspired by the now-defunct Star Fox series. Out Run Out Run (also stylized as OutRun ) is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay , a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi , and

4029-465: The most popular arcade games of the year. The game won the 1987 Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year, as well as for Arcade Game of the Year. It also won "Best Visual Enhancement in a Video Game" at the 1986 Amusement Players Association's Players Choice Awards. Clare Edgeley reviewed the arcade game in both Computer and Video Games and in Sinclair User , praising the graphics and

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4108-696: The music tracks from the arcade, along with one exclusive new track titled "Step On Beat" composed by Masayoshi Ishi. Out Run was released for the Master System in 1987, and the Genesis in 1991. Out Run was ported to the Amstrad CPC , Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers for the European market. A conversion of Out Run was under development by Hertz for the Sharp X68000 but according to former Hertz employee Tsunetomo Sugawara, it

4187-589: The next several years, ranking number three in 1988 , number five in 1989 , and number seven in 1990 . In Europe, Out Run was the most popular arcade game during the late 1980s. Sega had sold 18,000 Out Run arcade machines worldwide by early 1987, including 3,500 units in Japan, 8,000 units in the United States, and 6,500 units in Europe and Southeast Asia. By late 1987, Out Run had sold 20,000 units worldwide, earning Sega over $ 100 million ( $ 280 million adjusted for inflation) in arcade machine sales, and becoming Sega's best-selling arcade cabinet of

4266-507: The only difference between it and the Genesis version of After Burner II are some minor graphical and audio enhancements, making it only worthwhile to gamers who have never played an After Burner game before. After Burner II has been translated and ported to numerous home systems: PC Engine , X68000 , Mega Drive/Genesis , Famicom , FM Towns Marty , Atari ST , Amiga , Amstrad CPC , Commodore 64 , and Sega Saturn . The game

4345-407: The player's view into the distance. The road curves, crests, and dips, which increases the challenge by obscuring upcoming obstacles such as traffic that the player must avoid. The object of the game is to reach the finish line against a timer. The game world is divided into multiple stages that each end in a checkpoint, and reaching the end of a stage provides more time. Near the end of each stage,

4424-424: The series include Sky Target (which retained similar gameplay and presentation to the original, but with the addition of 3D graphics) and Sega Strike Fighter (an arcade flight combat game which featured free-roaming movement, boasting similar music but with an F/A-18 Hornet as the main plane). In 2006, Sega released a new sequel on Sega Lindbergh hardware, After Burner Climax , the first arcade game to bear

4503-479: The smoke trails made by firing missiles, seeing several tweaks and revisions as development progressed. Unlike their earlier game Out Run , which featured real-world locations in its levels, Suzuki lacked the time to visit any specific places or landmarks, so he and his team made up their own stage settings. Suzuki toyed with the idea of having the Soviet Union as the antagonists to potentially increase sales in

4582-503: The sound. The game was ported to the Amiga , MS-DOS , Amstrad CPC , Atari ST , X68000 , FM Towns , Commodore 64 , Master System , PC Engine , Sega Saturn , MSX , ZX Spectrum . The C64 has two versions: a European version by U.S. Gold, and a US version by Activision and Weebee Games. A port of After Burner to the 32X was done by Rutubo Games, and was known as After Burner Complete in Japan and Europe. An unlicensed NES port of

4661-573: The start of the game, the player takes off from an aircraft carrier called the SEGA Enterprise on a mission to destroy enemy jets over 18 stages. In the arcade version, the jet employs a machine gun and a limited number of heat-seeking missiles (in the Master System version the player has unlimited missiles). These weapons are replenished by another aircraft, after beating a few stages. The aircraft, cannon and missile buttons are all controlled from an integrated flight stick . The game itself

4740-459: The time. As a result, Suzuki did most of the programming and planning himself, spending extra hours at the studio to complete development of the game within ten months. He believed that the most difficult part of developing the game was to make it as fun as possible, which he achieved by emphasizing the design elements of wide roads, buildings, and a radio with soundtrack selection. Four cabinet designs were released, all of which are equipped with

4819-444: The top that indicated an enemy's "lock" on the player's craft. Japan also received a commander cabinet that moved left and right. A third variation, called commander , released elsewhere, featured an open cabinet. After Burner was designed by Yu Suzuki of Sega AM2 , with assistance by programmer Satoshi Mifune and composer Hiroshi "Hiro" Kawaguchi. Development of the game begin in early December 1986 shortly after work on Out Run

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4898-518: The track forks to give the player a choice of routes leading to five final destinations. The destinations represent different difficulty levels and each conclude with their own ending scene , among them the Ferrari breaking down or being presented a trophy. During the mid-1980s, Sega experienced success in the arcades with games developed by Yu Suzuki . Hang-On was a good seller and Enduro Racer had been successful enough for Sega to consider

4977-399: The west, but decided against it later on after struggling to tie it together with the game's level designs and settings. The refueling and landing sequences were created to add variety. The After Burner arcade cabinet was significantly more expensive than most of Sega's other machines at the time. The first prototype unit constructed, which consisted of the monitor attached to a steel frame,

5056-482: 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. An emulated version of After Burner is playable at the in-game arcade in Shenmue 2 . The plane from After Burner makes

5135-591: Was also used for games such as Thunder Blade (1987) and Super Monaco GP (1989). After Burner was officially released in Japan in July 1987, and in October of that year in North America. In Europe, it was released in September 1987, with the hydraulic sit-in cabinet costing £4,000, or $ 6,500 (equivalent to $ 17,000 in 2023), in the United Kingdom. After Burner was followed by After Burner II , which

5214-489: Was always thinking in 3D". The game achieves its 3D effects using a sprite-scaling technique called Super Scaler technology, as used one year earlier in Hang-On . Released in September 1986, Out Run ' s fast sprite-scaling and 3D motion provide a smoother experience than other contemporary arcade games. Suzuki also set about simulating car features that were previously lacking in earlier driving games, so that being

5293-462: Was claimed by Mifune to have "amazing power", but was considered too dangerous to operate and had the power levels lowered. Suzuki also thought of the game using a gyroscopic arcade cabinet that spun the player around, an idea that later became the R-360 . A throttle control was briefly considered, but was abandoned as it would have destroyed the game's difficulty balance. It uses the Sega X Board , which

5372-415: Was completed, with much of the development team having worked on Out Run . After Burner was intended as Sega's first "true blockbuster" video game; as such, the project was kept as a closely guarded secret within the company during the entirety of its development cycle. When the game was in its initial concept stages, Sega had adopted a flextime work system, allowing development of games to be done outside

5451-432: Was composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi , who had previously composed soundtracks for other games designed by Suzuki, including Hang-On . The soundtrack is similar in style to Latin and Caribbean music . Three selectable tracks are featured: "Passing Breeze", "Splash Wave", and "Magical Sound Shower". An additional track, "Last Wave", plays at the final score screen. Some of the game's audio samples were corrupted due to one of

5530-445: Was followed by a series of sequels and ports for many platforms, including the Master System , ZX Spectrum , and Famicom . Sega also produced several successors to the game to capitalize on its success, such as G-LOC: Air Battle . After Burner has also been referenced in many other Sega video games, such as Fighters Megamix , Shenmue , and Bayonetta . The game allows the player to control an F-14 Tomcat jet airplane. At

5609-424: Was mostly created by three men: Yu Suzuki , Satoshi Mifune, and Kawaguchi. During development, it was codenamed Studio 128 to specify the secrecy of the project. Game Machine listed After Burner as being the most popular arcade game of August 1987 in Japan, where it went on to be the second highest-grossing large arcade game of 1987 (just below Out Run ) and the overall highest-grossing arcade game of 1988. In

5688-487: Was never released due to company management cancelling its development. A 32X version was also reportedly under development by Sega, but was never released. Ports of the arcade game were released for Game Boy Advance via Sega Arcade Gallery , for Nintendo 3DS via the 3D Classics series on 12 March 2015, and for Nintendo Switch as part of the Sega Ages line on 9 January 2019. In Japan, Out Run topped

5767-470: Was praised for its impressive graphics. The Kinect saw its own games, such as Child of Eden (2011), although other developers avoided making their games rail shooters, fearing negative reception. Following this motion control "boom", the genre dried up yet again, with releases like Crimson Dragon (2013) being sporadic and low-quality. While many modern games limit the player to linear levels, they still allow for free movement within those levels. In

5846-573: Was rebuilt with stereoscopic 3D feature as one of 3D Classics for Nintendo 3DS . Although the After Burner brand was long dormant, Sega created a number of aerial combat games centered on the F-14 Tomcat with many similar features, which are frequently regarded as part of the series. These include G-LOC: Air Battle and its sequel Strike Fighter (later rebranded After Burner III in its home release). Later games associated with

5925-404: Was released in the same year (1987), also released for the Sega X Board arcade system. Some consider this game to be more of a revision of its predecessor, rather than an entirely new game, a practice later repeated by Sega for Galaxy Force and Galaxy Force II . In the game, players fly an F-14 Tomcat jet fighter, gunning down enemies while avoiding incoming fire. After Burner II came both

6004-458: Was released in two variations in the US: a standard upright cabinet and a closed rotating cockpit deluxe version. In the cockpit version, the seat tilted forward and backwards, and the cockpit rotated from side to side. It featured two speakers at head-level for stereo sound, and had a seatbelt to hold the player when the cockpit moved. Both cabinets contained a grey monitor frame with flashing lights at

6083-412: Was released later the same year. After Burner was a worldwide commercial success, becoming Japan's second highest-grossing large arcade game of 1987 and overall arcade game of 1988 as well as among America's top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games of 1988. It was acclaimed by critics for its impressive visuals, gameplay and overall presentation, and is seen as being important and influential. It

6162-655: Was released on the PlayStation 2 as part of the Sega Ages classic series. M2 ported After Burner II in Sega's 3D Classics series to the Nintendo 3DS eShop in Japan on 2013 and worldwide in 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

6241-411: Was the last primarily rail shooter Star Fox game, with Nintendo switching to a fully 3D range of movement going forwards. Bucking the trend of combat-oriented games, Pokémon Snap (1999) was one of the first nonviolent rail shooters, and popularized the photography game genre. Starting in the late 1990s, the genre started to become unpopular, with on-rails gameplay becoming a "dark mark" due to

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