Game #6 – After Burner Climax

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sega-AM2

Platforms: PSN/XBLA

Technically, this entry is kind of cheating, but I want to make an exception here. Sega's strategy for downloadable re-releases this year has paid off dividends, with the company (finally) going away from re-releasing the same group of Mega Drive games to new platforms and experimenting with new things. This year, we got ports of Dreamcast titles Sonic Adventure & Crazy Taxi, the iPhone received a version of Chu Chu Rocket. And for consoles? We got After Burner Climax.

Released originally as an arcade game in 2006- the game is a ludicriously fast paced game in the vein of traditional After Burner – you fly your plane head on into the unknown and hope you can survive it. The big thing in the game is the “Climax” move – after filling up a bar, you're able to slow down time, paint over a bunch of targets, and a barrage of missles will instantly kill them. It's an incredibly vital technique, and it helps in keeping the frantic pace of the action going.

The game is here for two reasons – for starters, it's insanely fun. Sure, you can beat the game in 10 minutes, but it's something mindless and it's always great to score chase. But the main reason? It's the kind of port that people should be supporting – instead of buying yet another version of Altered Beast or Golden Axe, we can possibly have more ports of modern day Sega arcade games that most people won't have the chance to play, thanks to the arcades slowly dying out.

With that being said, for around the $15 Sega's asking for, it's well worth it. Word of advice – chuck on the After Burner II soundtrack while playing. It's guaranteed to make the game sound much better.

This is awesome. GOTY.