After Burner — PDF

Information

Genre: Shoot'em Up! - 3-D
Language: Machine Language
Controls: Joystick
Players: 1
Resolution: Low
Programmer(s): [unknown]
Graphic Artist(s): Hibbert, Stuart, Jones, Mark A., Marchese, Saul
Game design: Sega
Musician(s): Lowe, Dave
Sound FX: [unknown]
Year: 1988
Publisher: Activision UK
Distributor: Mediagenic
Developer: Argonaut Software
Licensed from: SEGA
Country: United Kingdom
Software: English
Box/Instructions: English, French, German
License: Commercial
ST Type: ST, STe, 0.5MB
Number of Disks: 2, Single Sided

Votes / Statistics

Rating: 6.9/10 · Votes: 23 · Downloads: 5,276 · Hits: 15,179

Additional Comments

Game music recorded by: SNDH Recording project

See P. Putnik's site for adapted versions for hardware like HxC Floppy Emulator, Atari harddisk, TT, Falcon030 and more: The Atari ST Game Archive

Screenshots (22)

Cover Art (4)

Instructions (14)

Ads (3)

Posters (1)

Stickers (1)

Tips (5)

Trivia (6)

Origins

Based on Sega 1987 coin-op.

Produced in association with Marjacq Micros.

Sound

Features digitized title soundtrack at 15.8KHz
Features partially digitized sound fx at 8KHz

Graphics

Features up to 24 colours on-screen simultaneously (in-game)

Charts

Top UK charts position: 1 (2/1989)
Months on charts: 7 between 2/1989 - 4/1991

Releases

First 8-bit releases reviewed in UK multiformat magazines for ZX Spectrum (11/1988), Commodore 64 (12/1988), Amstrad CPC (3/1989)
First 16-bit releases reviewed in UK Atari or multiformat magazines for Atari ST (12/1988), Amiga (4/1989)

Based on the review data, the Atari ST version was released first on the 16-bit market in Europe, and ported later for other 16-bit systems.
Source: Research of over 16700 software reviews from UK computer magazines between 1985 and 1996.

Book / Magazine Reviews (5)

The One · January, 1989 · Rating: 63%

ACE · January, 1989 · Rating: 687/1000

ST Action · January, 1989 · Rating: 65%

The Games Machine · February, 1989 · Rating: 47%

Atari ST User · March, 1989 · Rating: 7/10

Comments (2)

the big m — 19 May 2024
wasn't impressed with the smaller screen setup like the 8-bit computers. And the big complaint is you don't really have control. Not true. Cannon fires automatically cause you only have one button. You fire missiles when prompted but you have to evade incoming fire. To perform a 360, go to the left of the screen and tap left several times to evade a missile from your backside! A cool digital voice warns, "Left right!!" So while it has it's negatives, I still recommend Atari fans give it a go.
IntoTheVerticalBlank — 1 Jul 2022
I really WANT to like this, but I just can't. There are so many ST games of this type without a license (and some with) that perform so much better. Let's start with the good...They tried to squeeze a lot into this game, and it has both music and SFX at he same time. The Bad...pretty much everything else, from the chuggingly slow frame rate to the auto fire to the music that cuts out for some samples to play, it's all a slop fest. It's more like a tech demo. You only have marginal control over your plane and very shallow up and down movement. It auto fires your machinegun and you can fire off missiles by pressing the button and speed up by pressing space. None of it really feels like you are doing anything though, and possibly it could play without you controlling and it might do better than if you tried to control it. Still for an early ST game they made a valiant effort.