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Thursday Jan 28, 2010
After Burner Climax Takes Off This Spring!There are arcade games and then there are arcade games: the former of these, you can ignore row after row of, while the later hold a kind of regal place in the arcade, with attention-grabbing cabinets, lines waiting to play, and graphics and sound that draw you in from halfway across the room. With a lineage dating back to SEGA’s golden age of arcade games, the 2006 game After Burner Climax can safely be called an arcade game, the sort of game that made going to the arcade an indelible experience, even as the arcade itself has become more and more of a scarce creature. All of this is to say, you can start getting excited, because After Burner Climax is heading to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network this Spring! In After Burner Climax you take to the skies in one of three officially licensed fighter planes (the F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, and FA-18 Hornet — all with customizable paint jobs) and do battle with hordes of enemies in a series of fast-moving stages; the player picks the course of the game on-the-fly, choosing which path to take at the end of missions, and depending on those selections and player performance the game will unfold differently.
With HD graphics this is a mind-bogglingly gorgeous game: the stages and aircraft look at once photo-realistic and stylized, with incredibly bright colors and, in particular, a stunning use of light: flying into the sun on some stages, it is almost painfully easy to be distracted by the nuanced way that light reflects off of a crisply detailed ocean. Likewise, the aurora borealis in one stage is mesmerizing, and flying through canyons has exactly the sort of exhilarating feel that a top-notch air combat game should have. The game comes from SEGA’s AM-2 studios — the same arcade developers who crafted Out Run, Hang-On, Virtua Cop, and even the original Space Harrier. Actually, this jet-fighter game has a lot in common with games like Out Run — it isn’t just a fast-paced arcade action game, but a full immersion in beautiful settings and top-notch arcade graphics with sound & music to match; a tour of every conceivable vista in which you could do battle. Also like the recent Out Run arcade games released on Xbox Live Arcade, this is a game that may look great in stills, but the screen shots don’t really do justice to how good the game looks when playing. I feel compelled to mention some more of After Burner’s lineage, too: even the Master System port of the original arcade game (with its tiny voice compelling you to “Get Ready!” as you rocketed off the aircraft carrier) was incredible, with amazing action and exceptional difficulty (I only beat the game a few times, which is saying something considering how often I played it). But the original arcade game itself was designed by SEGA legend Yu Suzuki, who’s creation Virtua Fighter has the distinction of being the first Japanese game ever to be housed in the Smithsonian. Need more proof of the game’s pedigree? Among its biggest fans are Hideki Kamiya — creator of none other than Bayonetta — who lists After Burner Climax as one of his favorite games, with references to its titular (and titillating) subtitle scattered throughout Bayonetta. Stay tuned for more on this terrific arcade game!
Posted by Edward@Sega in After Burner Climax, PlayStation Network, SEGA, XBox Live Arcade on 11:44:28AM Jan 28, 2010
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Comment # 1
yes more psn love bring sega
Posted by akiratech on January 28th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Comment # 2
bring it sorry
Posted by akiratech on January 28th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Comment # 3
This is simply fantastic news. I can’t wait to but this on the US PSN.
Posted by RandomBlogReader on January 28th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Comment # 4
Yay, we get some Afterburner goodness on PSN US.
Now, can we please have OutRun Online Arcade in america?
Posted by Anthony V on January 28th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Comment # 5
XBLA here we come!
Posted by Barry the Nomad on January 28th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Comment # 6
Awesome! I’m glad I finally get to play this.
Posted by Yamishi on January 28th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Comment # 7
I would get this, but for no more than $10.
Posted by Ron on January 28th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Comment # 8
AWESOME.
Posted by DJ Fob Fresh on January 28th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Comment # 9
Unreal! For years i’ve been saying this would be awesome on XBLA! And if they include Ace Edge and other flight stick support, as close to arcade perfect as you can get! Please have Ace Edge support on this awesome game!
Posted by Chris McLeoud on January 28th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Comment # 10
I want this on PC though
you could sell it via Steam or Games For Windows Live…
Posted by IceMan on January 28th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Comment # 11
in love
Posted by James on January 28th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Comment # 12
Good move! Will very likely buy this, my god 2010 is going to destroy me and thats just the Sega games.
Should have licensed the EuroFighter! =3
Posted by Sharky/Ryan on January 28th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Comment # 13
beautiful!
2010 is to be a good year for you guys!!
Posted by Essie on January 28th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Comment # 14
Thanks
Posted by john on January 28th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Comment # 15
Back in 2005, I was wondering when Sega would make the jump into showing off their stuff for the next generation. It seemed like they were shipping very few projects from their homebase at the time. At E3, I remember they were showing Shadow the Hedgehog, PSU (and 2006…and 2004) and games that were for the next gen, but were just being published (Full Auto/Chromehounds). These of course being just a few.
Something else was there though. A small theater with restrictions on recording video/taking pictures. One with awesome seats. They first showed trailers for a few games they had on the floor (again Full Auto/Chromehounds). However, they moved on to the really exciting part…what the announcer said was a collection of demonstrations running in real time on custom hardware delivered by Japan. It started with a nice “Welcome to the Next Level” message (an oldschool tagline for Sega hardware). The hardware is what would become the Lindbergh. The demonstrations became what we now know as Virtua Fighter 5, House of the Dead 4, Afterburner Climax, and Sonic 2006 (this unfortunately changed a fair deal before it released…even before it was outed, but I think Unleashed picks up where it got cut back). It was probably too much at once. My mind was blown. The announcer (while using what appeared to be a Saturn controller) kept stressing that the whole deal was running in real time and made sure we knew it during a segment of the Sonic footage (by throwing ring capsules around a room…sort of like Tails).
When the Afterburner kicked in, you could hear that familiar melody bust into an awesome version of the theme. It played while we were all rocked by HD blue skies and blue seas. This (and other demos) were much of the first footage I saw of games containing what is known as high dynamic range lighting (an up and coming term at the time). Oh. My. God. One time was not enough. By time I went back, they had to start cramming people in the theater to try and get as many through the line as possible. Even without the *again* awesome chairs, the floor still had some of the best seats in the convention center.
I would later get to play a proper motion cabinet at my local Gameworks. It’s still there for great justice. I am highly anticipating a home release though.
Posted by S-T-H on January 28th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Comment # 16
@S-T-H THAT is an awesome story! Thanks for sharing
It is really neat to see something from Lindbergh showing up on next gen. SEGA has been an arcade company since *nineteen-forty* (that still blows my mind) and while we may be best / most widely known for Sonic, Genesis, and Dreamcast, when the arcade stuff comes up, the lineage really shows. I would love to see this game set up on a huge HD screen or in a home theater; as nice as those screenshots look the game is mind-boggling to see in motion. It is a shame we can’t sell some kind of moving swivel-chair to go with it, but I suppose we can always just wiggle around a lot while playing?
Posted by Edward@Sega on January 28th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Comment # 17
I agree with Iceman. Guys, you NEED to get this on PC. Valve’s Steam service, in particular. I love Afterburner, and have been dying to play Climax for YEARS, and while it’s fantastic to know that it’s finally getting a home release, I unfortunately do not have a PS3 or 360 right now.
I know that Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is coming to PC, and other past Sega games like Outrun 2006 and Virtua Tennis 2009 have made it as well, so why not Afterburner Climax? I am just one person, but speaking for myself, I can tell you that I would absolutely buy this game on PC!!
Posted by Cedge on January 28th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Comment # 18
Gawd, it becomes clearer and clearer that I need a 360. This looks great! But I’m afraid I have to be the first sourpuss.
I’m hesitant to thank Sega because it seems they didn’t get the ball rolling on this game until
Hideki Kamiya said, “Gee whillikers, Sega, why can’t I play this on MY high-definition TV set? Is we still friends?”
Now, I don’t suspect Kamiya-san of bullying them into it, but I do suspect Sega had a knee-jerk reaction to his remark because he’s a — say it with me, kids — CELEBRITY. As in, a dude whose opinion carries more weight than the average Joe’s. Which means that until George Clooney, or someone of similar stature within the game industry, puts in a request for Sega Race TV or a light-gun compilation, Sega doesn’t owe us peons a thing.
Posted by JetDog on January 28th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Comment # 19
@JetDog Yes … that’s exactly how it went down. We’re just waiting for Tobey Maguire’s go-ahead to release our 1965 arcade game, Periscope. Word has it he’s a fan and I can’t wait for the hi-def port.
In all seriousness … you realize we had to have been planning this for a long while, right? Converting stuff over from the arcade hardware to XBLA took time. That article is from October of 2009.
And also in all seriousness, an XBLA port of Periscope would be awesome. I’ll try and get on that. http://marvin3m.com/arcade/sperisc.htm
Posted by Edward@Sega on January 28th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Comment # 20
I didn’t know how many times Kamiya expressed his wish and how often he met with Sega to know whether it was in production. But that’s being far too paranoid, not to mention ignorant of corporate structure. I concede.
If I may part with a more plausible piece of cantankery, though, I can’t shake the feeling that the architects of Sega — the guys responsible for the “lineage” — are more often than not in the doghouse. They are pumping out arcade games in what you acknowledged is a suffering market, and though they routinely code or supervise the ports, they scarcely do anything in between.
Yu Suzuki did make the original After Burner, yes, but his name wasn’t on Climax.
I checked. Suzuki would have been at AM-Plus squirreling away on the unfinished Psy-Phi or the hyper-obscure Sega Race TV. Perhaps the latter game’s nearly self-parodic use of color, cheesy dialogue, and guitar whammies made it a hard sell for non-Sega lovers, though if Climax sees the light of day on XBLA, that may yet too.
Sega’s internal studios weren’t as holed up in the first half of the decade, but the stuff they made for consoles couldn’t turn a profit. If all they made was stuff like Nightshade and Virtual-On Marz, that would make perfect sense. But every now and then a Rez, a Jet Set Radio, or a Gunvalkyrie would come out of the woodwork and blow everybody away with old-school savvy. They were pleasantly familiar, but not derivative. Still, they were hell to try and market in a world perpetually drooling over the next American (Canadian?) space-marine gorefest.
In that light, there’s a new market emerging that Sega’s internal studios might have just missed the boat on: the retrocore, the guys who like traditional, twitchy game design with fresh aesthetics and, occasionally, more avant-garde mechanics. Its presence has become more apparent with the advent of digital downloads. Climax coming to XBLA and PSN is a step in the right direction — Genesis oddities like Altered Beast, not so much.
All theatrics and whining aside, what I really wanna see is the Sega studios getting back in the saddle, making fun new content for consoles, and more successfully coexisting with your third-parties. I hope that change can happen within the next generation (whatever the heck that looks like after Nintendo made Wii and confused everybody).
Posted by JetDog on January 29th, 2010 at 2:31 am
Comment # 21
Game looks great,cant wait!!!!
I know Im a dreamer but I know that alot of people would buy a new sega home system please come out with something.I know that you guys could compete.I already know what to call it SEGA REVALATION.
Posted by jared on January 29th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Comment # 22
Yessssssss
Now all we need is a port of VIRTUA FIGHTER 5 R !!!!!!!!!
Posted by Akira on January 29th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Comment # 23
Yes!!!! After Burner Climax heading to PSN!! Now Sega please bring Rez HD, Virtual On Oratorio Tangram to complete this great arcade goodness!
Posted by Mark J. Adams on January 30th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Comment # 24
C’mon Sega, we want a retail version:)
Posted by Sharkone on January 31st, 2010 at 7:19 am
Comment # 25
I agree with what is said above…. Please do so.
Posted by Reverse Phone Lookup on February 2nd, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Comment # 26
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Posted by davidbaer on February 6th, 2010 at 2:17 am
Comment # 27
I have been googling this since I have purchased my 360 when they launched. Finally they have done it . Thank you Sega! If there is a flight stick support involved this will be the best PSN/XBLA action released ever in my opinion. Now to just find the confirmed date of launch so that I can bring my anxiety down. Here is a big HELLL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by ccjbelgin on February 8th, 2010 at 9:26 am
Comment # 28
awesome, I will buy ABC for both x360 and ps3. What is the release date? Please bring us: Sega Racers Megamix, Daytona USA 2, and Scudrace/Super GT!!
Posted by scott on March 1st, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Comment # 29
It was extremely interesting for me to read that post. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything that is connected to them. I definitely want to read a bit more on that blog soon.
Best regards
Posted by Passer-by on March 8th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Comment # 30
Sadly this game does not support (local) multi player like the arcade!! So no buy for me. But if Sega release a DLC with multi player for this game then first day buy! Please do it Sega!!!
Posted by Halil on May 5th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Comment # 31
GET THIS ONTO STEAM FOR F*CKS SAKE!
Posted by Jet on July 25th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Comment # 32
as gaming enthusiasts, we are loving playing old sega games and would LOVE it if they (you) re-entered the console market!!
Posted by Arcade Machines on May 17th, 2011 at 5:31 am