After Burner
After Burner — frequently asked questions
- What platforms is After Burner on?
- After Burner was released on Arcade, Sega Master System/Mark III, Sega 32X, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/STE, Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amiga, FM Towns, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sharp X68000, DOS, Video Challenger, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PC Engine, Sega Saturn, PC (Microsoft Windows).
- When did After Burner release?
- After Burner was first released on July 13, 1987.
About After Burner
Muster up all the skill, reflexes and guts you've got. Because inside your F-14 Thunder Cat, you're going to need all that - and more. Blast laser-directed, anti-aircraft fire at enemy planes. Dodge heat-seeking missiles with fancy flywork, like dips, turns and barrel rolls. Come head to head with the infamous Flying Fortresses (the toughest of all enemies) and dogfight your way through, to a nanosecond of safety. And if you make it far enough, a fuel tanker will be waiting for you. Dock successfully and you'll replenish valuable energy and ammunition. So get your adrenaline pumping and grab your joystick. Then take to the skies. You're not going to believe what's up there!
Summary via IGDB.
After Burner on Wikipedia
After Burner is a 1987 combat flight simulation video game developed by Studio 128 and published by Sega for arcades. The player controls an American F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and must clear each of the game's 18 stages by destroying enemies. The plane is equipped with a machine gun and a limited supply of heat-seeking missiles. The game uses a third-person perspective, as in Sega's earlier Space Harrier (1985) and Out Run (1986). It runs on the Sega X Board arcade system which is capable of surface and sprite rotation. It is the fourth Sega game to use a hydraulic "taikan" motion simulator arcade cabinet, one that is more elaborate than their earlier "taikan" simulator games. The cabinet simulates an aircraft cockpit, with flight stick controls, a chair with seatbelt, and hydraulic motion technology that moves, tilts, rolls and rotates the cockpit in sync with the on-screen action.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- Arcade, Sega Master System/Mark III, Sega 32X, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/STE, Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amiga, FM Towns, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sharp X68000, DOS, Video Challenger, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, PC Engine, Sega Saturn, PC (Microsoft Windows)
- Developer
- Sega AM2
- Publisher
- Sega AM2
- Game modes
- Single player
- Themes
- Action
Details via IGDB.
Reception
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sega Master System | 1988 | $9 | $15 | $50 | 6 reviews | Low (look-alike) |
Also released on: Arcade · Sega Master System/Mark III · Sega 32X · Amstrad CPC · Atari ST/STE · Commodore C64/128/MAX · ZX Spectrum · MSX · Amiga · FM Towns · Nintendo Entertainment System · Sharp X68000 · DOS · Video Challenger · Sega Mega Drive/Genesis · PC Engine · Sega Saturn · PC (Microsoft Windows). We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.
Collector value & authenticity
Sega Master System · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-28
Other releases and variants
| Release | Loose | Complete | Sealed |
|---|---|---|---|
| European (PAL) release | $7 | $19 | $469 |
| Japanese release | $15 | $40 | — |
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a week
- Complete: about 3 times a week
- Sealed: about once a year
Prices marked “few sales” rest on about one recorded sale a year, so treat them as a rough guide: the next copy could sell well above or below. Expect to wait for one to come up.
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-28.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $0.75 in Jul 2009, $10.30 five years ago, and $9.49 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $0.75 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $1.00 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $1.12 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $1.38 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $4.23 | $4.24 |
| Jan 2015 | $5.50 | $7.86 |
| Jan 2016 | $5.00 | $8.00 |
| Jan 2017 | $6.34 | $8.94 |
| Jan 2018 | $6.46 | $9.97 |
| Jan 2019 | $7.99 | $10.52 |
| Jan 2020 | $8.14 | $10.48 |
| Jan 2021 | $9.42 | $13.90 |
| Jan 2022 | $10.71 | $14.99 |
| Jan 2023 | $5.13 | $13.65 |
| Jan 2024 | $6.61 | $14.99 |
| Jan 2025 | $7.00 | $12.00 |
| Jan 2026 | $6.99 | $14.95 |
| Oct 2026 | $9.49 | $15.49 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Date | Product number | Known board |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | March 1988 | 9001 | 171-5559D · 315-5235 |
| Europe / PAL | March 1988 | 9001 | 171-5559D · 315-5235 |
| Japan | 12 December 1987 | — | — |
- Region
- NA+EU+JP
- Released
- 1988
- Authenticity
- Low
A fast but shallow take on the arcade flight shooter that sold well, and still an easy, inexpensive cartridge to own.
This is the Master System version of Sega's arcade After Burner, released in Japan on December 12, 1987 and in North America and Europe in March 1988. You fly a fighter through a long run of missions in third-person 3D, and unlike the arcade game, the Master System version gives you unlimited missiles. Computer Gaming World praised the detail of the aircraft, the scenery and the explosions.
Mean Machines was far cooler on it in its 1992 games guide: it missed the moving cabinet and the arcade's graphics and sound, found the game itself dull and very easy, and recommended it only to real coin-op fans. It was a bestseller for Sega in the United States during 1988.
What the press said at the time
| Mean Machines Sega Issue 3 | December 1992 | OVERALL 51% |
| Sega Pro Issue 20 | June 1993 | 85% |
| Sega Pro Issue 21 | July 1993 | 85% |
| Sega Pro Issue 27 | December 1993 | 85% |
| Computer and Video Games | 9/10 | |
| Console XS | 85% |
“This classic arcade coin op-needs absolutely no introduction. The sheer speed of Afterburner is breathtaking. Furious action all the way with this game, one of the best blasts yet for the Master System.”
“Arcade Afterburner was enjoyable because of its moving cabinet and fab graphics and sound. Sadly, the Master System has none of these, and the basic game itself is really quite dull (and very easy).”
“Arcade Afterburner was enjoyable because of its moving cabinet and fab graphics and sound. Sadly, the Master System has none of these, and the basic game itself is really quite dull (and very easy). Only for real coin-op fans.”
“Speed and frenetic action of the simple arcade machine still here. It contains all the coin-op features, even the flying flip which will send you well dizzy.”
Undated scores are from the review table in the game's Wikipedia article, limited to reviews of the Sega Master System version.
In the sales charts
In one sales chart, June 1993; highest position #9.
Show the placing
- #9 in the HMV Master System chart — Sega Pro, Issue 20, June 1993
Sales charts as printed in the magazines of the time.
Also on other platforms
Arcade · 32X · Amstrad CPC · Atari ST · Commodore 64 · ZX Spectrum · MSX · Amiga · FM Towns · NES · X68000 · MS-DOS · Video Challenger · Genesis · PC Engine · Sega Saturn · Windows
| Arcade | Studio 128 |
- Arcade. The arcade game used a hydraulic motion-simulator cabinet, the fourth Sega game to do so.
How the other versions reviewed
| Windows | Computer Gaming World | 4.5/5 |
| ZX Spectrum | Crash | 86% |
| Arcade | Computer and Video Games | Positive |
| Genesis | GameFan | 232/300 (32X) |
| Genesis | GamePro | 15.5/20 (32X) |
| ZX Spectrum | Sinclair User | 90% |
| Arcade | The Games Machine | Positive |
| Arcade | Sinclair User | 8/10 |
| Arcade | Your Sinclair | Positive |
| Commodore 64 | Zzap!64 | 17% |
| Arcade | Top Score | Positive |
These are the other versions’ scores, not this one’s. Ports of this era were frequently built by different studios, so they do not transfer.
Before you buy
You can buy the US, European or Japanese release. The European cart is cheaper loose but usually costs more complete, while Japanese copies cost more than the US cart in both conditions. The Japanese cart is a different, smaller shape and does not fit a Western console without an adapter. This is a cheap cart, below the typical price for its year, so there is no need to pay extra for a copy that looks tidy but lacks the manual, which is the part most often missing.
After Burner screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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