Late to the Party: Afterburner Climax Edition

OK, so I know I am a little late to the dinner table on this one but I have a valid reason. When someone tells you that a new After Burner game is hitting Xbox Live Arcade you tend to say, "Chaa Right." Surfer accent aside, it looks as if all the rumor mongers were right; Enter: After Burner Climax. Though the name of the game sounds like a bad V.D., Climax actually looks quite promising with newly updated HD graphics, over 20 stages and three different fighter jets to choose from (the F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, and FA-18 Hornet to be exact - all with customizable paint jobs).

Having actually come out in Arcades in 2006, After Burner Climax is finally making its' way to XBLA and the PSN Network; albeit 4 years after the initial release. Set for release in Spring of this year, Climax drops players into furious dog fights spanning different regions of the world. The player picks the course of each game game "on-the-fly," choosing which path to take at the end of missions. Depending on those selections and player performance the game will unfold differently (i.e. different endings).

Coming form developer AM-2 Studios (a sub developer of Sega) the game isn't without merit. these are the same guys who crafted such classics as Out Run, Hang-On, Virtua Cop, and even the original Space Harrier. In a nut-shell, this game looks gorgeous and plays just as good as its original arcade counterpart (yes, this title was originally an arcade cabinet).

Cost is yet to be determined but I would suspect this is going to run us 1200 Microsoft points. For me, this is a definite buy seeing as though I've probably dropped (in my youth) Fifty bucks or more into Afterburner Arcade Cabinets around New England. Damn, I miss arcades.

Don't believe me? Take a glance at these stills:

...and how about some footage?

Nuff Said.