Yu Suzuki's After Burner first hit arcades in 1987. The country, still pumped from the hunk-laden Jerry Bruckheimer action fest Top Gun, was in the middle of a love affair with air combat. The game put players in the cockpit of a fighter plane, shoved a flight stick in their hands and made them feel the need for speed. Twenty years have now passed. And in retrospect the era that saw three Iron Eagle flicks, F-16 posters on the wall of every 11-year-old boy and Kenny Loggins rocking the charts with “Danger Zone” seems more than a little cheesy. The creators of After Burner: Black Falcon are on the same page. They've made a game that revives Suzuki's seminal arcade actioner with a  tongue planted firmly in its cheek.

Lock On!

The game plays just like the original. Players swerve to avoid oncoming aircraft, artillery and obstacles, but don't really plot their own course. Just as before guided missiles can be locked onto and deployed against airborne enemies. New air-to-ground missiles have been added to the players arsenal for dispensing targets on land and sea. Power-ups dangling on parachutes can be swooped up. Players have a much larger arsenal of aircraft to chose from. Earning the dough to unlock, upgrade and customize the fighters and bombers (all licensed from real aerospace companies like Lockheed Martin) is carrot enough to keep players engaged. Just in case wannabe Mavericks need something human to latch onto the game offers a bit of story. This is where things start to get interesting. 

Fighter Planes Are Serious Business

At first the motivation for all the dogfighting seems deadly serious. Thirteen high-tech planes have been stolen by a rogue pilot. You've been tasked to stop the enemy from deploying their ill-gotten assets. And that's the last time the game says anything with a straight face. The bits of story, told in rudimentary animation, keep things light and airy. Each of the game's three playable characters get a slightly different plot. Pay close attention and you'll learn that the game's token hot chick, Tomiko “Shinsei” Rossellini used to be a vampire hunter before she became an ace pilot.

Return to the Danger Zone

After Burner: Black Falcon doesn't try to be anything it isn't. It delivers a payload of pick-up-and-play fun, a goofy story and unlockable do-dads without resorting to overbearing plot contrivances or busy work. On top of that the game's soundtrack is by Trans Am – an indie band who's instrumental tunes merge Krafterwerk's electronics with the same kind of butt rock that you heard on soundtracks to flicks like Top Gun. The genius that paired the band's half-corny stylings with this kick-ass, retro-flavored remake can be our wingman any time.

Article by: Gus Mastrapa
Video produced by: Jeanne Goshe