After Burner Climax, arcade brutality

One thing I really love about arcades games is their sheer brutality. It’s funny that the “simple” games are seemingly always the hardest. They may not have the best story or character (if any), but they can deliver on the challenge and fun. After Burner Climax is no exception to the rule.

Not an oldie, but definitely a goldie

The original arcade cabinet for After Burner Climax

After Burner Climax is an old arcade game…well, not that old, it was released in 2006…and it was ported to Xbox Live Arcade this week. This game is another from the massive Sega arcade library, and a great choice for anyone looking for that simple-yet-brutal gaming experience. There’s nothing new with here…or at least nothing new if you have played the arcade version, or if you’ve ever played a video game post-1987.

The object: shoot everything. Pretty simple and a lot of fun. The port to XBLA is awesome. It looks great, sounds great, and plays pretty well…although controlling your F-14 Tomcat with an analog stick is not as rewarding as sitting in a faux cockpit in the arcade. Maybe you can make one out of cardboard around your television.

Thank goodness you don’t need quarters

You have your choice of 3 air planes, yet I don’t think it matters which one you choose. You have your missiles and your guns. Get the enemy in your sights and launch a few Hellfires their way and say goodbye. This is a rail shooting at its best…if you can keep up. After Burner Climax is FAST and extremely chaotic. Keeping your jet under control requires subtle control, so I suggest switching the sensitivity to “low”. After Burner is a relatively short game, assuming you can make it through Arcade mode with default settings. There is also a Score Attack mode with which you submit scores to the global leaderboard. And don’t skip over the available Practice mode that lets you fly through any level…which will be extremely handy if you plan on getting a good score.

One neat thing about the game are the in-game unlockables. Along with an easy 200Gs in Xbox achievement points, the game lets you unlock “EX Options”, which mimic dip switches in the real arcade game. These settings let you change things like the number of lives, continues, unlimited bullets, super power…all that type stuff. However, don’t think these options will help you on the leaderboard. These options only apply to your Arcade mode play, which is not eligible for the score board. I might also say that even with all the arcade options set to what is essentially “easy” mode, the game is still hard. If anything, the easy options let you play through the game as practice to help you memorize the patterns of enemies and level layout.

Arcade brutality at its finest

After Burner Climax is another great Sega arcade game that translates well to the Xbox and will look great next to your download of OutRun. A game that lasts 10 minutes from start to finish might not sound like it’s worth the $10 price tag, but this is a game that will take a long time to master or even be good at (if nothing else, try the demo). If you’re not a high score minded gamer, then you’ve probably already skipped this one, but if you enjoy the challenge of being in the Top 10, this is money well spent.