I remember my younger days spending quarter after quarter on SEGA's classic After Burner - the Tom Cruise, Top Gun inspired arcade jet fighting title that had me wanting to sport aviator shades and be called the ICE MAN. While I never did become a jet fighter pilot, After Burner was as close to the thrills of flying high above the populous and shooting down planes as it got. Sadly the After Burner series has remained somewhat dormant for some time and my aspirations to get back in the cockpit for some high flying combat along with it. Thanks to Planet Moon and SEGA, however, the good times are back and in some ways seem better then ever with their latest addition to the franchise - After Burner: Black Falcon.
After Burner: BF storyline lifts off with a radical terrorist group known (are you ready for this?) as the Black Falcon. It turns out that this group is infiltrating undisclosed bases and pilfering some very "hush hush" top secret prototype jets. With the government now in a state of frenzy, they've decided that they need to get these jets back and with this thought in mind they've recruited the best of the best to try and take down the organization, get back the jets and in there somewhere make some fat loot (it's the government, go figure). The three pilots tagged to administer a liberal dose of justice and honest to goodness whoops ass are flying ace, Sonic, (named, I assume, in homage of a popular Sega Mascoat), Bull, who is the more hilarious of the bunch and a no-nonsense hottie who goes by the call sign "Shinsei". Essentially, each pilot handles quite similarly to one another, the only real difference being represented in the cut-scenes. Bull, who I used the most, is by far my personal favorite. He is your stereo-typical 80's - early 90's cheese-ball hero with dreams of making it rich and being in a hot tub filled with babes. I find it fantastic that Planet Moon knew the games roots and went wacky with it. The dialogue for Bull is amazingly tongue in cheek, which only adds to the overall allure of the character. Still, each character offers something unique to the game and the exchanges between characters is pretty amusing.
While the After Burner series of the past let would be flying aces fly freely through the blue yonder (to some extent), Black Falcon operates on a complete rail system, which faithfully guides you throughout each and every stage in the game. However, what you lose in freedom is more then made up for in its sheer breakneck action. Think of it as Panzer Dragoon: Jet fighter Edition. Before each of the 24 levels, you're provided with the option of choosing from several jets and then customizing them to your hearts content. Of course, this is all done for a nominal fee. Adding a stronger after burner, being able to carry a bigger payload and even buying different skins for your jets, the government will stop at nothing to charge your ass a pretty sum of money so you can head out on missions THEY send you on! How convenient. Thankfully, money is obtained via combo kills during the stages and other events within the game, so you won't have to do much in order to procure a few bucks. There are fifteen aircraft to unlock in total and each one offers up different advantages and disadvantages in battle, but these are things that are oftentimes not as noticeable as one would like. Sure, there are notable stat differences, but the fact of the matter is that most of the jets handle exactly the same. Still, it's tough to choose between an F14 Tomcat and a A10 Thunderbolt. . .
Control is near pitch perfect. With the design choice being made as a rail shooter, control on the PSP is excellent, allowing you to maneuver your jet around the speeding stages and obstacles located therein simply by using the analog nub. The shoulder buttons allow for air-braking and kicking the jet engines into turbo. Combat is handled via the face buttons, with three buttons representing your different weapons systems, while the triangle button offers gamers the chance to pull off a satisfying barrel roll. This move, by the way, is a genuine life saver when an enemy jet is firmly planted behind you prepped and ready to usher in a new era of pain and suffering. Planet Moon has done a fantastic job in terms of offering fantastic control for your fighter, allowing the gamer more aggressively deal with the often crazy twitch game-play presented before them, rather than look around attempting to figure out how to yaw or throttle. Seriously, this is some fantastic arcade styled jet fighting. If you're a fan of the more realistic Ace Combat series, you'll more than likely skip the enlistment process, but if you're a fan of the arcade fighter, well, this is easily one for you.
The single player experience spans a lofty twenty-four levels, each one featuring separate objectives, as well as numerous secondary objectives which are quite optional, but tend to be good money makers. Getting through the game isn't exactly easy, but it's not the hardest title on the planet, which means you'll beat the game in about five to seven hours. Still, the fun is great while it lasts and you'll easily want to play through the single player episodes again and again. On top of the fantastic single player mode is a multiplayer via ad-hoc, which is surprisingly solid and something I wasn't expecting. Flying through the game as partners is pretty solid and tends to be a lot of fun, but there is a dark side here that makes the multiplayer mode fall flat on its ass - the competitive mode. Since we aren't talking about arena styled, free environments, the dogfighting element is all but lost on the whole rail concept. It's amusing at first, but freakin' frustrating after about the fourth or fifth try. A lot of it ends up being based on luck, not skill. Not cool.
The amount of detail that Planet Moon put into the numerous stages is simply breathtaking and thankfully the environments are as varied as they come, from desert landscapes to chilly artic tundras - Planet Moon constantly keeps the game feeling and looking fresh. One of the first levels comes to mind, when I was thrusting through some canyons and delivered a well-aimed missile blast to a nearby mountain which exploded and revealed a volcanic tunnel, bubbling with lava. At the moment the tunnel was revealed, a small in-game cinematic kicked in as I speed through the passageway hot on the trail of some enemy jets. Honestly this game is just a thrill ride and often pumps you up on adrenaline! While not in the middle of combat, Planet Moon has gone out of their way to include some stylish comic book like cut-scenes that carry the story along. While these really serve no real purpose in the grand scheme of the story they do manage to inject some rather cornball humor into what is already a hilarious cast of pilots and situations.
Soundwise, the game is nothing to write home about, but it certainly serves its purpose with some decent sound-effects and some of the most hair band rock tracks this side of 1988. This is fine, though, as it fits in perfectly with the entire game, making you relive the age of Top Gun, Tab soda, and parachute pants.
After Burner: BF is one of those games that comes along once in a while, which does damn near everything right in its intended genre. Those who would believe this to be a hardcore flight sim would simply be missing he point. After Burner: Black Falcon brings arcade fun into to the palm of your greedy little hands with beautiful environments, a likeable, if not eccentrtic, cast of pilots and truly exceptional rail shooter styled game-play. If you love arcade flight games, this is a must own title for the PSP. Planet Moon and SEGA have relit my love for flying the blue skies and I love them for it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a pair of aviator sunglasses to find.
Graphics | Audio | Gameplay | Replay | Genre | Final |
