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Great video! I remember seeing the After Burner arcade machine in the local arcade and playing it the first time... Amazing feeling, it was SOOOO immersive.
It was also featured prominently in a scene in the movie Suburban Commando. Hulk Hogan's character mistakes it for some kind of real combat control, and is giving the kid playing it all sorts of goofy advice that clearly doesn't apply to the game, with the kid seeming to agree, but the game is definitely Afterburner. Most likely the game footage was inserted later, so the actors were probably told that it was going to be some kind of space game. I recall watching a video review of the movie where they kept showing clips of that scene, with the reviewer getting more and more frustrated, practically yelling "It's Afterburner!"
@ Yeah plus that’s a reference to the the prospect of Skynet nukes in the future I guess so a good little Easter egg. I remember War Games had the guy playing Galaga and I always thought why not Missile Command as the whole movie is about Nuclear War 🤣
Just a note that the 32x version could be played with the Dempa xe-1ap controller giving you full analogue control for joystick and thrust. Makes it more arcade accurate.
AND IT'S BACK, while i do love all the videos you put up the past few days, i won't lie, these ranking vids are THE GOAT...keep it up, good lord i love this game, AFTERBURNER CLIMAX being all time high for the series and glad i still own that game on ps3 and played it in the deluxe arcade cabinet back in like the late 2000s.
Nice to see the 32x making an appearance here its such a hated addon but I loved my unit and glad it got a high rank as it was pretty awesome as well as difficult to play.
@@JustJamie1983 They could have spared themselves a ton of bad publicity had they (meaning Sega of Japan and Sega of America) came together on a single console instead of competing with themselves on separate hardware perhaps give a nod to Sega of America and grant them a small concession to make the Saturn backward compatible with the genesis carts. Something like that wouldn't be seen as a mere cash grab stop gap system Id even wager it would have been seen as a good thing by most in the states and we'd possibly still have Sega as a console maker today had they done that. Still thanks to this blunder I was able to get a 32x for a pittance of a price *clearance sale 29.99 for the addon at the store I worked my first job at as a bagger and games just 5 bucks a piece so Sega's folly made the young me so very happy with 20+ games that most of which were legitimate bangers for the initial investment games like virtua racing deluxe, mortal kombat 2 afterburner, space harrier and especially Shadow Squadron what a great full space flight combat simulator.
@@JustJamie1983 Loved mine as well, contrary to belief the 32x sold surprisingly well on launch which probably cheesed off Sega of Japan. I actually think they should have scrapped the Saturn and doubled down on extending the life of the Genesis a few more years with 32x versus trying to compete against the PlayStation hardware. Would have kept costs low and captured a large market of budget gamers and stengy parents.
What i always find crazy is it took till the 32x and satturn to really get a perfect conversion of an arcade game from the 80's. It shows how far the pushed arcade games back then!
Great video as usual! What surprised me the most is your MSX bezel, featuring a "Talent" computer (from Argentina) that was a locally built variant of the Daewoo one.
@@JustJamie1983 Thank you too for the great videos, of course that's my personal experience and I haven't played the console ports. Those Sega 32X and Saturn ones look amazing.
This Whilst I’m enjoying them I am finding these videos sway between ‘I’m aiming to be close to the arcade machine’ and ‘I played it back in the day’ or a totally different justification quite often depending on what’s being justified and it seems the spectrum is on the receiving end of a rough deal here more often than feels comfortable. Unconscious bias I have zero doubt, but it does rear its head from time to time. I imagine I’d be the same in the opposite direction were I doing them though! Case in point often is when ‘for the hardware’ gets used as a justification for putting a game high (see master system afterburner in this case), but simultaneously comments get made about a lack of music or similar on the spectrum 48k. You can’t do that both ways and seem fair. Still, fun videos to watch and as I say…everyone has a bias!
because C64 Space Harrier conversion was made by that genius of Chris Butler: Power Drift, Ghost'n Goblin, Thunder Blade, Turbo Charge, etc. We missed a Chris Butler version of Out Run and After Burner for C64...
I remember bumping into After Burner during the late summer of 1987 at Coral Island in Blackpool. Another game that I just had to have on my SMS, I loved it. Then I owned the Amiga (Activision) version and enjoyed that too. The Mega Drive version passed me by and the next version I owned was the Saturn Version via Sega Ages. As with Space Harrier, knowing what I know now I really wish I had these games on the 32x and I wish we'd have seen Hang On and Out Run make it to 32x too.
The 32X version blew me away. It's amazing that it could be so close to the arcade, running at home, on my mega drive (and 32x) It was really the reason I got a 32x. If afterburner wasnt on the 32x I don't think I would have got one. Some people prefer the 32x version over the Saturn because of the controls. Please don't take this the wrong way. Your videos are great, and I love watching them but you need to do something with your plosives. Pop filter, or better mic position. Its the only thing letting your videos down. Great video, commentary, topics.
It feels baffling that the Activision version of After Burner 2 on the Amiga, developed by the very Argonaut that later made Star Fox, is such a mess. Nothing is working as it should. The controls are broken no matter if playing with mouse or a regular controller, the collision detection is off and the framerate is abysmal. I guess the horrible port was the reason Sega with Weebee games made another version a year later.
To be honest, I think that Argonaut were ill-employed on this game. Previously they had done the brilliant Starglider and astonishing Starglider II, and as you note they went on to do Skyfox - they were 3D graphics wizards , and asking them to do a sprite heavy super scaler game is just completely left field to my mind...
Afterburner is one of my favorite arcade games ever. It's just crazy. The Sega Ages Vol 1 version for the Sega Saturn is my pick for best home version. It's arcade-perfect, and so are the versions of Outrun and Space Harrier that also come in the compilation.
These kind of games rely the high frame rate to be fun and most home computers just weren't going to cut it. That Sega Saturn version looks amazing though.
Wow, so surprised to see the Amstrad port rank so highly. Have fond memories of my CPC464, though I was always jealous of my friends who had C64s. That's why the first computer I bought with my own money was an Amiga A500. Loved it. Thanks for the memories.
oh boy.. what a memory of this one. I actually bought the C64 version as a kid.. it was so bad, so traumatisingly bad, I actually even thought the cassette was broken. My heart was broken after that, I'll say that much. Until a few months later with Double Dragon. :D
@@timothylewis2527 I'm not sure that force feedback would pass health and safety these days. I went to buy an Afterburner arcade machine last year (I ended up with Space Harrier instead!) and boy, that is one powerful wrist breaking shake when your plane bites the dust . . . .
A Sega mega CD port would of been Awesome, We did however an exclusive entry of The series on mega CD called afterburner 3. Pretty good game. The music in particular is fantastic.
@@nomadlonestar8004I think After Burner III was a port of an FM Towns game, which is a port of the arcade game Strike Fighter, which in turn is pretty much G-LOC but with lives instead of a timer. I think I only ever encountered Strike Fighter once so I'm not completely sure that I'm remembering its name correctly.
Arcade definitely first place Sega 32X is super arcade perfect ports Sega Genesis Mega Drive very good Sega Master System 8 bit good Turbografix 16 I remember a lot
Slightly controversial take: After Burner is an incredible technical tour de force, but maybe not the best (or at least not the deepest) game. I remember being absolutely agog when I saw a machine for the first time at the age of maybe 12. And playing it was something else. That cabinet! And those amazing visuals, music, and sound effects! And your game would last, at most, a minute - or maybe two - but it was an incredible minute or two. (I remember it was expensive to play for the time: I want to say it was £1 per credit in the late 80s which was... a lot.) Take the experience out of the arcade though and you've already lost a lot of what made After Burner awesome: there's just not quite enough to it to make it a really great computer or console game. That being said, some of these ports are absolutely risible: I remember how disappointed I was with the (PAL) Amiga version back in the day given that, in the early 90s, After Burner was still an arcade machine I'd seek out every time I had the opportunity. The US/NTSC version looks a *lot* better and I'm certainly somewhat jealous that we didn't get that version over here. Great video! One practical tip: I think it would be a good idea to get a pop filter for your microphone. I only noticed this because I was sat waiting for my wife in the car watching a couple of videos the other day and the sound was coming out of the car speakers, but your plosives (Ps, Bs, etc.) are pretty boomy because there's no filter. Doesn't show up on laptop speakers, or when I'm just using my phone and it's not paired with the car, but I bet if I watched on the TV and put the sound through the hifi it'd be pretty loud as well. Pop filters aren't expensive and you can even (and I've done this) make a serviceable one out of a wire coathanger and a pair of tights: then just stick it a couple of inches in front of your microphone and, hey presto, no more loud plosives.
The smoke on the X68000 probably looks far better on a CRT to be fair. A lot of the blurring of pixels to create such effects are lost on modern displays
I played it a lot on the Amstrad CPC. Obviously, it's just a 8 bit machine, but it was so much fun back then. Glad the CPC version ranked high on the list.
I had Afterburner for the SMS and a few years later, I had a friend who had the Genesis (Megadrive) and Afterburner... and while I remember being somewhat disappointed with the Genesis port... it was still miles ahead of the SMS version. Never tried the PCE version... but the scaling is better than I expected. Maybe it's the same trick used for the PCE port of Art of Fighting? Some years later, I ended up with Afterburner Complete on the 32x... Still my favorite version to this day. Really fast paced and fun! Yeah, it runs at half the framerate... but 30 fps for sprite scaling isn't exactly bad. One of these days I need to get it on Saturn (I still have most of my old systems!). I've also played the arcade A2 a bit... My local arcade (about a 5 minute walk from my place) had it... but it was $1 to play in a large moving cabinet... So it was something I couldn't afford to even try very often...
The Saturn version of AB2 was fantastic, as was the 32X version (even if it does run at half the framerate). But I'm going to have to disagree about the Genesis port. The music was surprisingly faithful to the arcade (sans the extra melody channel). It almost sounds like it's a streamed rendition at a lower bitrate, to be honest. And while the ground was pretty much just water/bushes/both a lot of the time, it scaled well. The controls were good, the gameplay felt like AB2 as you played, and all in all, it was a rather good port. Not the best, no, but better than the likes of the Master System and GBA versions (the GBA version was very slow and lacked all of the high speed thrill that even the Genesis version captured). But hey, that's just my opinion.
@@casinowilhelm enemies are coming too fast towards you , it's impossible to lock on every single of them . There's another video game similar , I played it on emulator over a decade ago , the emulation was imperfect , I can't remember the name of the game , maybe it was on sega Model 2
Best port? After Burner II on SEGA Saturn. That said, the 32X port is pretty amazing too, with only the lower framerate letting it down (not that it spoils the game in any way).
I know Argonaut, of Star Fox and Starglider fame, ported one of the Amiga versions. But I don't know if it was the European or US one. If it was the European version then I have to assume they had almost no time or resources.
I looked into it, and Argonaut did indeed do the bad Amiga version and the Atari ST one. Of the pre-32-bit versions, I personally only really liked the PC Engine port. Oh yeah, fun fact, the arcade board couldn't do sprite rotation at all, besides flipping sprites on the x and y axis. The scaling is real but the rotation is all faked with animation frames. Credit where it is due, they got away with it and the game still delivered!
Regarding the X68000 smoke trails looking "dotted": I'm not an expert on the X68000, so I can't say for sure, but my guess is that the system lacks the ability to do transparent graphics, and/or there weren't enough colors on the screen to do it properly. To make transparent objects, the color of the object has to be blended with the background colors that it overlaps, to make it look like the background is showing through. Without hardware support, this can be CPU intensive. It also requires a high number of colors, so that the object and background colors can be blended into a proper third color. If the CPU isn't fast enough to do this in real time, or there aren't enough colors, you either have to make the object opaque, or dither it. The simplest way to dither it is to make it a checkerboard, so that every other pixel is "off" and lets the background show through. This gives it kind of a screen door effect. I've seen some early DOS and Windows games do this in software rendering. I'm pretty sure I've seen it done on the Amiga as well, although I can't think of any specific examples.
I played Afterburner on the Amiga version at home first, even though I'm in the UK I believe it was a US version pirate lol, it's wasn't terrible, but obviously the best experience was playing it in a hydraulic arcade cabinet which I was spoilt playing before. I remember playing on a specific Afterburner emulator around 2000 on PC that played utterly flawlessly, how far it came from the awful 1989 PC conversion to emulate it perfectly and now you can even emulate it in a web browser. A great game visually for it's time in the arcade, but in my opinion it lacked in actual gameplay.
Recently subbed to your channel as loving these comparison vids. Played both C64 versions of After Burner. American version is pretty good but the Euro one looks just terrible with big blocks round everything and there is no sense of speed. Saturn & 32X are definitely the best versions. As for future vids: Bionic Commando Ninja Spirit Ninja Warriors Forgotten Worlds Double Dragon 2 Typhoon (aka AJAX in arcade) Desolator (aka Halls of Kyros in arcade) Shinobi Rolling Thunder Narc APB Xybots
Interesting you rate the Sega Master System version over the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis! I played the SMD cart years ago and did not really like it. I suppose a gamepad is not close enough to the original arcade controls.
The dots you can see on the 6800 you wouldn't have on a CRT screen, CRTs used this as a form of anti aliasing... You can set this on sonic the hedgehog 1 on the mega drive with waterfalls, on modern displays it looks crap, on crt it looks transparent.. same with the smoke on the 6800
After Burber is another "why bother?" port for a lot of things lol Even the best ports can't replicate the arcade well considering it had a cabinet that moved to add to the effect.
I didn't have a scooby what was going on when I played this game, even in the arcade. Looked amazing at the time though! I was more obsessed by Mach 3. Do you remember that laser disc game?
Cheers my friend. I always welcome others opinions. When those opinions turn to insults. That's something else entirely..that then becomes keyboard Warriors status.
Dang…despite the ambitious attempts, Sega Master System looks quite unplayable. It's still pretty impressive I guess, even though it's a Sega game ported to their own consoles Good list though, despite some nitpicking
My personal least favourite would be the EU C64 version, as the graphics are so messy and clashy, especially the char boxes around the constant bullets. I'd even rate the Tiger LCD version slightly higher than it just for neatness...
Can't agree with the placement of the Mega Drive, Master System and possibly the PC-Engine versions. I had the Master System and Mega Drive versions, And the 16 Bit version is miles better than the 8 bit. Back in the day the FM audio for the SMS was not globally available, most of us were stuck with the standard audio. On the Mega Drive the audio is the main standout, that sound chip is doing a great job. Soundtrack wise the PC Engine delivers some good tunes, however it is let down on the sound effects; bullets, missiles and explosions lack the same oomph that the Mega Drive provides. Looks wise in some of the stages the PC Engine's higher on screen color abilities, better conveys the arcade original, I haven't played the PC Engine version so I can't say if it plays better than the Mega Drive, I do know the Mega Drive does a good job with the gameplay.
Me and a mate tossed a coin to see who was going to buy afterburner and who was going to buy thunderblade for christmas 1988. He got Afterburner which while not an incredible port is at least solid (and playable).. Thunderblade on the other hand though... eek
Everything I could have hoped for with this, minus the Sunsoft Famicom game, but that's just a modest upgrade + recolor variant of the NES port. As usual, I disagree passionately with some choices (GBA and its struggles to make enemy fire visible would be much lower, Genesis a bit higher, especially with the analog controller), but that's why I tune in. Btw: isn't it strange this used to be AAA gaming? An entire 4 Megabit cart, the size of Super Mario World, for a few minutes of arcade super scaler thrills on an 8-bit Z80 with no sprite scaling capabilities at all. By the time we got hardware at home capable of doing it, only Sega still cared to do it, and it wouldn't much help them... They've been acting ashamed of their arcade legacy ever since.
I really rate the pc engine version it may not be the best looking but its play amazing on real hardware and the music tho not as good sounding as the arcade is a perfect match note for note. i have played the towns version on a real FM towns its not that good the machine struggles with the frame rate i was pretty disapointed with it but the graphics are good, its not up to the quality of splatter house and tetsujin 2.
Have to disagree re the megadrive being lower than master system. Megadrive was solid in my view. Master system looked good but huge glitch that you can tilt one way and get to level 14 untouched.
dude , you complaining about the dotted smoke fifteen minutes in is exactly why you need to be capturing these games on CRT monitors. In fact, I don't know why retrogaming youtubers don't do that.
probably the saturn one is an emulation... which is nothing to be ashamed of, but in that case is not a port. same case with outrun for example, or some others in playstation like R-type (on the R-types compilation)
@@JustJamie1983 nothing 100% conclusive... forum discussions point about the files on disk, that are small for a 32bit CD game (~40MB) and maybe the original arcade assets were used.
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Together with the "Unofficial Arcade Ports" vids, I'm bloody LOVING this series, Jamie! Thank you for the great content.
Glad you like them!
Power Drift would be a good one to do the future
@@davidjames5043 Yes and Cabal 👍🏼
Definitely!
@@WarrentheGunnerdefinitely cabal! Nice to see another fan of this very underrated arcade game. One of my all time faves!
Was one of my favourites in the arcades especially the sit in hydraulic cabinet.
@stevenallan5822 yep guaranteed to make you bring up the panda pop lol
Great video! I remember seeing the After Burner arcade machine in the local arcade and playing it the first time... Amazing feeling, it was SOOOO immersive.
Afterburner! Forever immortalised in Terminator 2 in the arcade scene.
John Connor rocking those curtains and public enemy shirt 👕
It was also featured prominently in a scene in the movie Suburban Commando. Hulk Hogan's character mistakes it for some kind of real combat control, and is giving the kid playing it all sorts of goofy advice that clearly doesn't apply to the game, with the kid seeming to agree, but the game is definitely Afterburner. Most likely the game footage was inserted later, so the actors were probably told that it was going to be some kind of space game.
I recall watching a video review of the movie where they kept showing clips of that scene, with the reviewer getting more and more frustrated, practically yelling "It's Afterburner!"
For me, I always remember Missile Command from that scene, lol.
@ Yeah plus that’s a reference to the the prospect of Skynet nukes in the future I guess so a good little Easter egg. I remember War Games had the guy playing Galaga and I always thought why not Missile Command as the whole movie is about Nuclear War 🤣
Just a note that the 32x version could be played with the Dempa xe-1ap controller giving you full analogue control for joystick and thrust. Makes it more arcade accurate.
Growing up, my home port of after burner was on the mighty master system.
Real nostalgia hit there for me.
AND IT'S BACK, while i do love all the videos you put up the past few days, i won't lie, these ranking vids are THE GOAT...keep it up, good lord i love this game, AFTERBURNER CLIMAX being all time high for the series and glad i still own that game on ps3 and played it in the deluxe arcade cabinet back in like the late 2000s.
Climax is epic!
Nice to see the 32x making an appearance here its such a hated addon but I loved my unit and glad it got a high rank as it was pretty awesome as well as difficult to play.
Underated add on. It had a lot of potential but Sega being Sega screwed it up.
@@JustJamie1983 They could have spared themselves a ton of bad publicity had they (meaning Sega of Japan and Sega of America) came together on a single console instead of competing with themselves on separate hardware perhaps give a nod to Sega of America and grant them a small concession to make the Saturn backward compatible with the genesis carts. Something like that wouldn't be seen as a mere cash grab stop gap system Id even wager it would have been seen as a good thing by most in the states and we'd possibly still have Sega as a console maker today had they done that.
Still thanks to this blunder I was able to get a 32x for a pittance of a price *clearance sale 29.99 for the addon at the store I worked my first job at as a bagger and games just 5 bucks a piece so Sega's folly made the young me so very happy with 20+ games that most of which were legitimate bangers for the initial investment games like virtua racing deluxe, mortal kombat 2 afterburner, space harrier and especially Shadow Squadron what a great full space flight combat simulator.
@@JustJamie1983 Loved mine as well, contrary to belief the 32x sold surprisingly well on launch which probably cheesed off Sega of Japan. I actually think they should have scrapped the Saturn and doubled down on extending the life of the Genesis a few more years with 32x versus trying to compete against the PlayStation hardware. Would have kept costs low and captured a large market of budget gamers and stengy parents.
What i always find crazy is it took till the 32x and satturn to really get a perfect conversion of an arcade game from the 80's. It shows how far the pushed arcade games back then!
Yup. Absolutely.
Great video as usual! What surprised me the most is your MSX bezel, featuring a "Talent" computer (from Argentina) that was a locally built variant of the Daewoo one.
Speccy version was great I'd say 👍😊
I still have the BIG BOX Version for the Speccy..
ZX Spectrum version should be much higher IMO. It's easily the most playable of the home computer releases.
Thanks for your feedback.
@@JustJamie1983 Thank you too for the great videos, of course that's my personal experience and I haven't played the console ports. Those Sega 32X and Saturn ones look amazing.
@teddynitro2733 they are highly reccomend.
This
Whilst I’m enjoying them I am finding these videos sway between ‘I’m aiming to be close to the arcade machine’ and ‘I played it back in the day’ or a totally different justification quite often depending on what’s being justified and it seems the spectrum is on the receiving end of a rough deal here more often than feels comfortable.
Unconscious bias I have zero doubt, but it does rear its head from time to time.
I imagine I’d be the same in the opposite direction were I doing them though!
Case in point often is when ‘for the hardware’ gets used as a justification for putting a game high (see master system afterburner in this case), but simultaneously comments get made about a lack of music or similar on the spectrum 48k.
You can’t do that both ways and seem fair.
Still, fun videos to watch and as I say…everyone has a bias!
Love the afterburner games. When i play them these days via emulation. Its usually the 32x one i goto
It's a superb port.
Loving these videos, keep them coming
Thank you 😊
Another shout for the 3DS version 👍
Loving your comparison vids in these classics. More please!
Hey, thanks. Remember. I have a whole playlist.
Awesome video yet again, great work.
Thank you! Cheers!
because C64 Space Harrier conversion was made by that genius of Chris Butler: Power Drift, Ghost'n Goblin, Thunder Blade, Turbo Charge, etc. We missed a Chris Butler version of Out Run and After Burner for C64...
Thunder Blade was surprisingly good on the C64! Better than the SMS port imo
SUPER agree with you
I remember bumping into After Burner during the late summer of 1987 at Coral Island in Blackpool. Another game that I just had to have on my SMS, I loved it. Then I owned the Amiga (Activision) version and enjoyed that too. The Mega Drive version passed me by and the next version I owned was the Saturn Version via Sega Ages. As with Space Harrier, knowing what I know now I really wish I had these games on the 32x and I wish we'd have seen Hang On and Out Run make it to 32x too.
The 32X version blew me away. It's amazing that it could be so close to the arcade, running at home, on my mega drive (and 32x)
It was really the reason I got a 32x. If afterburner wasnt on the 32x I don't think I would have got one.
Some people prefer the 32x version over the Saturn because of the controls.
Please don't take this the wrong way. Your videos are great, and I love watching them but you need to do something with your plosives. Pop filter, or better mic position. Its the only thing letting your videos down. Great video, commentary, topics.
Thank you 😀
It feels baffling that the Activision version of After Burner 2 on the Amiga, developed by the very Argonaut that later made Star Fox, is such a mess. Nothing is working as it should. The controls are broken no matter if playing with mouse or a regular controller, the collision detection is off and the framerate is abysmal. I guess the horrible port was the reason Sega with Weebee games made another version a year later.
To be honest, I think that Argonaut were ill-employed on this game. Previously they had done the brilliant Starglider and astonishing Starglider II, and as you note they went on to do Skyfox - they were 3D graphics wizards , and asking them to do a sprite heavy super scaler game is just completely left field to my mind...
Afterburner is one of my favorite arcade games ever. It's just crazy. The Sega Ages Vol 1 version for the Sega Saturn is my pick for best home version. It's arcade-perfect, and so are the versions of Outrun and Space Harrier that also come in the compilation.
Agreed 👍
Thanks! Really surprised about the CPC version, I want an amstrad now.
CPC 464s aren't too expensive to be honest. You can buy all kinds of USB devices too these days which you can play games on through the expansions.
These kind of games rely the high frame rate to be fun and most home computers just weren't going to cut it. That Sega Saturn version looks amazing though.
The times were different. Anything popular had a game whether it was good or not lol
Too bad that by that time almost nobody would care about old 2d games
Wow, so surprised to see the Amstrad port rank so highly. Have fond memories of my CPC464, though I was always jealous of my friends who had C64s. That's why the first computer I bought with my own money was an Amiga A500. Loved it. Thanks for the memories.
My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it 😊
the speed of the CPC version is insane, considering the hardware.
oh boy.. what a memory of this one. I actually bought the C64 version as a kid.. it was so bad, so traumatisingly bad, I actually even thought the cassette was broken. My heart was broken after that, I'll say that much. Until a few months later with Double Dragon. :D
Was that the Euro version? Jesus. Double Dragon on C64...both versions were awful.
@@JustJamie1983 I am still crying. Yes, it was the worse version, must have been Euro
I remember Afterburner having a force feedback joystick in the arcades. The first time i played it, i lost my balance and fell down.,😅
@@timothylewis2527 I'm not sure that force feedback would pass health and safety these days. I went to buy an Afterburner arcade machine last year (I ended up with Space Harrier instead!) and boy, that is one powerful wrist breaking shake when your plane bites the dust . . . .
always liked the 3DS version and playing it in true 3D, really suited the game.
@@jamesjdh6787 I missed that one. I loved the other 3D Classics but I never knew this one existed. I'm gonna regret this for a while.
I'm honestly surprised After Burner didn't release on the Sega CD..
Yup. A little strange that.
A Sega mega CD port would of been Awesome, We did however an exclusive entry of The series on mega CD called afterburner 3. Pretty good game. The music in particular is fantastic.
@@nomadlonestar8004I think After Burner III was a port of an FM Towns game, which is a port of the arcade game Strike Fighter, which in turn is pretty much G-LOC but with lives instead of a timer. I think I only ever encountered Strike Fighter once so I'm not completely sure that I'm remembering its name correctly.
@@Banderpop pretty much a cauldron mix of all of those lol.
Now that you mention it, it is really odd we didn't get a port of that on the CD.
Arcade definitely first place
Sega 32X is super arcade perfect ports
Sega Genesis Mega Drive very good
Sega Master System 8 bit good
Turbografix 16 I remember a lot
The Amstrad version was very nice indeed. Galaxy Force also received a good conversion to the Amstrad
Slightly controversial take: After Burner is an incredible technical tour de force, but maybe not the best (or at least not the deepest) game. I remember being absolutely agog when I saw a machine for the first time at the age of maybe 12. And playing it was something else. That cabinet! And those amazing visuals, music, and sound effects! And your game would last, at most, a minute - or maybe two - but it was an incredible minute or two. (I remember it was expensive to play for the time: I want to say it was £1 per credit in the late 80s which was... a lot.)
Take the experience out of the arcade though and you've already lost a lot of what made After Burner awesome: there's just not quite enough to it to make it a really great computer or console game. That being said, some of these ports are absolutely risible: I remember how disappointed I was with the (PAL) Amiga version back in the day given that, in the early 90s, After Burner was still an arcade machine I'd seek out every time I had the opportunity. The US/NTSC version looks a *lot* better and I'm certainly somewhat jealous that we didn't get that version over here.
Great video! One practical tip: I think it would be a good idea to get a pop filter for your microphone. I only noticed this because I was sat waiting for my wife in the car watching a couple of videos the other day and the sound was coming out of the car speakers, but your plosives (Ps, Bs, etc.) are pretty boomy because there's no filter. Doesn't show up on laptop speakers, or when I'm just using my phone and it's not paired with the car, but I bet if I watched on the TV and put the sound through the hifi it'd be pretty loud as well. Pop filters aren't expensive and you can even (and I've done this) make a serviceable one out of a wire coathanger and a pair of tights: then just stick it a couple of inches in front of your microphone and, hey presto, no more loud plosives.
How was the shenmue version?
I loved the look and feel of the afterburner arcade but I never felt like I was in control or knew what I should be doing
You needed the ghost of obi wan to guide you
The PC version didn't even have Adlib sound?
Not that I am aware of, I could be wrong though.
No it was a rubbish port...
The smoke on the X68000 probably looks far better on a CRT to be fair. A lot of the blurring of pixels to create such effects are lost on modern displays
Yes, I guess you are right.
I was just about to post the same. On a crt they look great!
I seem to remember there being a great version in the arcade in Shenmue on the Dreamcast.
Stippling to create a transparency effect. We grew up with it before actual transparencies were the norm. I'm so old.
Great video ! I agree with all your reviews !!! Very disappointed with the NES and Master System versions.
I played it a lot on the Amstrad CPC. Obviously, it's just a 8 bit machine, but it was so much fun back then. Glad the CPC version ranked high on the list.
It was worth it 😀
Brilliant arcade classic. The Saturn version is easily my favorite version. The 3DS version is another fantastic conversation as well.
It really is!
I had Afterburner for the SMS and a few years later, I had a friend who had the Genesis (Megadrive) and Afterburner... and while I remember being somewhat disappointed with the Genesis port... it was still miles ahead of the SMS version. Never tried the PCE version... but the scaling is better than I expected. Maybe it's the same trick used for the PCE port of Art of Fighting?
Some years later, I ended up with Afterburner Complete on the 32x... Still my favorite version to this day. Really fast paced and fun! Yeah, it runs at half the framerate... but 30 fps for sprite scaling isn't exactly bad.
One of these days I need to get it on Saturn (I still have most of my old systems!).
I've also played the arcade A2 a bit... My local arcade (about a 5 minute walk from my place) had it... but it was $1 to play in a large moving cabinet... So it was something I couldn't afford to even try very often...
The Saturn version of AB2 was fantastic, as was the 32X version (even if it does run at half the framerate). But I'm going to have to disagree about the Genesis port. The music was surprisingly faithful to the arcade (sans the extra melody channel). It almost sounds like it's a streamed rendition at a lower bitrate, to be honest. And while the ground was pretty much just water/bushes/both a lot of the time, it scaled well. The controls were good, the gameplay felt like AB2 as you played, and all in all, it was a rather good port. Not the best, no, but better than the likes of the Master System and GBA versions (the GBA version was very slow and lacked all of the high speed thrill that even the Genesis version captured).
But hey, that's just my opinion.
rare people dared to play after burner arcade , the cabinet was neglected for weeks , and removed afterwards from the bar
It was expensive and seemed to have zero skill involved, just luck
@@casinowilhelm enemies are coming too fast towards you , it's impossible to lock on every single of them . There's another video game similar , I played it on emulator over a decade ago , the emulation was imperfect , I can't remember the name of the game , maybe it was on sega Model 2
I've never played the Saturn version, but the 32X version is awesome!
It certainly is a belter 👌
The 3DS port by M2 is the best version by far for me!
Can you do Rolling Thunder next?
It will be coming at some point.
I think the absolute best version (aside from Climax) was the Playstation 2 version that were only available in Japan.
Yes! A JJ vid on one of my all-time favorite games! :)
More to come!
@JustJamie1983 Awesome! Thanks brother! 👍🙏
Best port? After Burner II on SEGA Saturn. That said, the 32X port is pretty amazing too, with only the lower framerate letting it down (not that it spoils the game in any way).
Great video as normal 👏
Thanks 👍
I’m almost certain that Keith Burkhill, coder of the Spectrum version of Space Harrier, programmed the Z80 (ZX/CPC) versions of Afterburner.
That is correct. Keith Burkhill coded the Amstrad version. He is the man behind the good Amstrad version of Commando too
NES version was a dull rental for me. I found that I could just wedge myself in the upper left corner and nothing could hit me.
Could have been much better.
Is Cabal you're list? I hope so 👍🏼
Absolutely, superb game with many versions :)
@JustJamie1983 too right I played the speccy version which I remember being good but it wasn't the same as the playable demo on Sinclair user (think)
I know Argonaut, of Star Fox and Starglider fame, ported one of the Amiga versions. But I don't know if it was the European or US one. If it was the European version then I have to assume they had almost no time or resources.
I looked into it, and Argonaut did indeed do the bad Amiga version and the Atari ST one.
Of the pre-32-bit versions, I personally only really liked the PC Engine port.
Oh yeah, fun fact, the arcade board couldn't do sprite rotation at all, besides flipping sprites on the x and y axis. The scaling is real but the rotation is all faked with animation frames. Credit where it is due, they got away with it and the game still delivered!
Regarding the X68000 smoke trails looking "dotted": I'm not an expert on the X68000, so I can't say for sure, but my guess is that the system lacks the ability to do transparent graphics, and/or there weren't enough colors on the screen to do it properly.
To make transparent objects, the color of the object has to be blended with the background colors that it overlaps, to make it look like the background is showing through. Without hardware support, this can be CPU intensive. It also requires a high number of colors, so that the object and background colors can be blended into a proper third color.
If the CPU isn't fast enough to do this in real time, or there aren't enough colors, you either have to make the object opaque, or dither it. The simplest way to dither it is to make it a checkerboard, so that every other pixel is "off" and lets the background show through. This gives it kind of a screen door effect.
I've seen some early DOS and Windows games do this in software rendering. I'm pretty sure I've seen it done on the Amiga as well, although I can't think of any specific examples.
I know it is an old game but there were lots of versions, can you do Super Sprint?
Glad I bought a Saturn and controller for this.
I played Afterburner on the Amiga version at home first, even though I'm in the UK I believe it was a US version pirate lol, it's wasn't terrible, but obviously the best experience was playing it in a hydraulic arcade cabinet which I was spoilt playing before. I remember playing on a specific Afterburner emulator around 2000 on PC that played utterly flawlessly, how far it came from the awful 1989 PC conversion to emulate it perfectly and now you can even emulate it in a web browser. A great game visually for it's time in the arcade, but in my opinion it lacked in actual gameplay.
Recently subbed to your channel as loving these comparison vids.
Played both C64 versions of After Burner. American version is pretty good but the Euro one looks just terrible with big blocks round everything and there is no sense of speed.
Saturn & 32X are definitely the best versions.
As for future vids:
Bionic Commando
Ninja Spirit
Ninja Warriors
Forgotten Worlds
Double Dragon 2
Typhoon (aka AJAX in arcade)
Desolator (aka Halls of Kyros in arcade)
Shinobi
Rolling Thunder
Narc
APB
Xybots
Welcome aboard. Thanks. They are noted. I have actually done Shinobi though:
ua-cam.com/video/WOZXPmAdJ9U/v-deo.html
@@JustJamie1983 Must have missed that one. One to watch later then. Ta!
Interesting you rate the Sega Master System version over the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis!
I played the SMD cart years ago and did not really like it.
I suppose a gamepad is not close enough to the original arcade controls.
As Joe Redifer from Game Sack would say, it came on FOUR MEGA POWER!
The dots you can see on the 6800 you wouldn't have on a CRT screen, CRTs used this as a form of anti aliasing... You can set this on sonic the hedgehog 1 on the mega drive with waterfalls, on modern displays it looks crap, on crt it looks transparent.. same with the smoke on the 6800
After Burber is another "why bother?" port for a lot of things lol Even the best ports can't replicate the arcade well considering it had a cabinet that moved to add to the effect.
Anything to make a buck 😉
@@JustJamie1983 Those screenshots on the back of the box used to be the closest most of us got to a game review.
So many regrets...
There are two AB on nintendo 8 bits: AB by Tengen and AB by Sunsoft.
Respectfully disagree with putting the master system over the Genesis version but it's not my list
Have Afterburner Climax on PS3. It’s really good.
I didn't have a scooby what was going on when I played this game, even in the arcade. Looked amazing at the time though! I was more obsessed by Mach 3. Do you remember that laser disc game?
Yes. I know of it. For its time it was great but that FMV technology didn't age too well.
I’m not digging at anyone, but I don’t always agree with Jamie‘s worst to his best either but again it is his opinion! Great video Jamie as always!😊🤜
Cheers my friend. I always welcome others opinions. When those opinions turn to insults. That's something else entirely..that then becomes keyboard Warriors status.
Dang…despite the ambitious attempts, Sega Master System looks quite unplayable. It's still pretty impressive I guess, even though it's a Sega game ported to their own consoles
Good list though, despite some nitpicking
I still have my CPC big box cassette release. It's a bit bashed up but it's getting on a bit 😊
Haha. I some times forget the 2000s ever happened so instantly forget how old they really are.
I'll make a guess before I watch. Either 32x or Saturn.
My personal least favourite would be the EU C64 version, as the graphics are so messy and clashy, especially the char boxes around the constant bullets. I'd even rate the Tiger LCD version slightly higher than it just for neatness...
Haha. I should haven't added the LCD version.
I agree with to the video considerations
?
I really liked the CPC version at the time
Saturn is definitely the best IMHO, I agree, but I think the Dreamcast version would have been close.
32x for the win! It's really too bad it didn't have longevity.
Can't agree with the placement of the Mega Drive, Master System and possibly the PC-Engine versions.
I had the Master System and Mega Drive versions, And the 16 Bit version is miles better than the 8 bit.
Back in the day the FM audio for the SMS was not globally available, most of us were stuck with the standard audio.
On the Mega Drive the audio is the main standout, that sound chip is doing a great job.
Soundtrack wise the PC Engine delivers some good tunes, however it is let down on the sound effects; bullets, missiles and explosions lack the same oomph that the Mega Drive provides.
Looks wise in some of the stages the PC Engine's higher on screen color abilities, better conveys the arcade original, I haven't played the PC Engine version so I can't say if it plays better than the Mega Drive, I do know the Mega Drive does a good job with the gameplay.
Just like Out Run, the Saturn is the best. When not including 3DS and Switch releases.
Quality video as ever. Never liked afterburner tbf - always a vastly overrated technical demo for me. Fair argument for the placings.
Me and a mate tossed a coin to see who was going to buy afterburner and who was going to buy thunderblade for christmas 1988. He got Afterburner which while not an incredible port is at least solid (and playable).. Thunderblade on the other hand though... eek
Everything I could have hoped for with this, minus the Sunsoft Famicom game, but that's just a modest upgrade + recolor variant of the NES port.
As usual, I disagree passionately with some choices (GBA and its struggles to make enemy fire visible would be much lower, Genesis a bit higher, especially with the analog controller), but that's why I tune in.
Btw: isn't it strange this used to be AAA gaming? An entire 4 Megabit cart, the size of Super Mario World, for a few minutes of arcade super scaler thrills on an 8-bit Z80 with no sprite scaling capabilities at all.
By the time we got hardware at home capable of doing it, only Sega still cared to do it, and it wouldn't much help them...
They've been acting ashamed of their arcade legacy ever since.
I had the C64 and the Amiga versions, both very disapointing and both systems could be a lot better, so I blame the poor port
I really rate the pc engine version it may not be the best looking but its play amazing on real hardware and the music tho not as good sounding as the arcade is a perfect match note for note. i have played the towns version on a real FM towns its not that good the machine struggles with the frame rate i was pretty disapointed with it but the graphics are good, its not up to the quality of splatter house and tetsujin 2.
Ugh...those bonsai shrubs that make up most of the ground detail in the Gen/MD port. We know the hardware can do better!
it was the system 16 board not the X board?
It was the Sega X Board. Wasn't System 16 at all.
@@JustJamie1983 sorry my mistake.. great video..
@roblove2007 no worries, thanks
Have to disagree re the megadrive being lower than master system. Megadrive was solid in my view. Master system looked good but huge glitch that you can tilt one way and get to level 14 untouched.
Fair enough!
Spectrum forever!!!!
Saturn Outrun - now that’s a game that should’ve been No. 1!
Cool
dude , you complaining about the dotted smoke fifteen minutes in is exactly why you need to be capturing these games on CRT monitors.
In fact, I don't know why retrogaming youtubers don't do that.
It was hardly complaining. I am pretty sure I said "nit-picking"...
Guess which version i had and played... right, the pc msdos version ofcourse.
Somehow I always end up with the worst version of your lists... 😭
Jeez. That's horrible lol
AH GEDDON BAE IT'S BRISTOL'S FOINEST
Eh?
@@JustJamie1983 I thought it was a Bristol accent 🫠
@rc55uk naa. Scottish
The ugly mega cd port? haha. Ok, it is After Burner 3 but well
The GBA version is awful in my opinion....sloooowwww
Game boy advance version is garbage, there isn’t even any throttle control!!!
Cool
@ not really, it’s the work of morons
probably the saturn one is an emulation... which is nothing to be ashamed of, but in that case is not a port.
same case with outrun for example, or some others in playstation like R-type (on the R-types compilation)
Hmmm, do you have a source for this at all?
@@JustJamie1983 nothing 100% conclusive... forum discussions point about the files on disk, that are small for a 32bit CD game (~40MB) and maybe the original arcade assets were used.
The C64 version is bad. Just frantic aimless game play and blocky graphics
Which Version?
@JustJamie1983 the European version
Horrible game, and people like it.