After Burner II

Cover art

Although the aircraft piloted in the game is a variation of F-14 Tomcat, the plane displayed on the North American cover is an F-15 Eagle.

Development

After Burner II was originally planned to have a World War II theme and be a realistic flight sim, but the idea was dropped because Yu Suzuki stated that "it would not have fit the arcade scene." A pure dogfighter was not his intention.

References to the game

In the movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day, John Connor is shown playing After Burner at the arcade at the mall.

References

During one of the take-off sequences of the game, you're followed by a small red car. It's the Ferrari from Outrun, another hit arcade game.

ZX Spectrum version

The ZX Spectrum version of the game has the plane firing its cannon constantly throughout and cannot be switched off. This is due to the fire button being used to fire the missiles.

Awards

• Commodore Format
  • January 1991 (Issue 4) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Bad)

Information also contributed by cafeine festershinetop and Rad Spencer