Nerdicus NES Review #29 : Afterburner

Title : Afterburner

Publisher :  Tengen

Genre : Combat Flight Simulator 

Players : 1 Player

Release Date : 1989

Estimated Value (as of today's date) : $3-4

Here we go folks, one of the first of many unlicensed NES games brought to you by the amazing TENGEN! Now, unlicensed sounds like a bad word, but most of the games TENGEN that were released weren't half bad. And taking part in an combat flight simulator game such as Afterburner is a nice change of pace from the last two atrocious side scrollers we played. Think of this game as a Top Gun redux. I mean, how bad can it be right? It's a port from a pretty good arcade simulator, and the Sega version was semi-decent.

Can't go wrong right?

Right? 

No really, please tell me I'm right.

Oh, no.

Okay, okay. We're in for a bumpy ride with this one. But before we get started can we just take a look at this for a second? Look closely, and tell me what you see. Is that not the most incredible thing you have ever seen! TENGEN ENTERPRISE! What a name for a air craft carrier. Wonder which military that is. 

Sorry, I thought it was hilarious. Anyway, back to the game at hand.

As described earlier, this is a combat flight simulator. Now the problem with combat flight simulators for console games in this time period, was frankly the systems were built to handle these type of games. From the late 1980s to 1990s, flight simulators were extremely popular in your local arcade. The thing is, arcade systems were WAY beyond consoles. Not to mention you had the entire arcade machine built to resemble the interior of a cockpit. For me, flight simulators should always be played arcade style. It just pales in comparison on a console.

So when you get an NES game, like AFTERBURNER here, trying to port itself from an arcade and Sega game, you just end up getting a cluster of a mess. Controls are impossible. Difficulty level is through the roof. If you're purposefully trying to get nauseous, then this is the perfect game for you.

I'd like to see you dodge missiles in this game with the masterful skill that I do. No seriously, it's easy. Just keep going left and right and do some barrel rolls! And be sure you're just holding down the fire button. 

Levels come and go. Half the time you don't even realize you're getting past a stage until the background magically changes. You know, you go over green land, blue land, red land. It's all spectrum of color! And that's about it to this game. Spin around in circles, get vertigo, see a lot of explosions which for the most part will be your own, and see how long you can survive.

I guarantee you it won't be long.

Final Score (out of 5) :

Until next time. Keep on gaming!