After Burner: Black Falcon buzzes the tower

The other thing you'll notice about the scenery is that you are screaming by it at substantial speed, a sensation well-conveyed and well-pleasing to us. Exactly how fast and how responsive your ride is will depend on which of the licensed jets you choose. Go for the Harrier and you'll be rolling circles around the many projectiles that are headed your way at any given time. Choose the bomber and the skin on your face will pull taut as you reach Mach-tastic speeds.

AB: Black Falcon has a story mode that lends some structure to its arcade-style play, and two multiplayer modes (4 player ad hoc, 2 player co-op) that will let you duke it out with your fellow flight school wannabes. The latter of these two modes will purportedly allow you to unlock unique content, though we weren't able to give it a whirl. Yet.

With an arcade-style shooter like Black Falcon, the key is keeping things interesting, since the gameplay remains largely unchanging. Different jets, attractive scenery, innumerable foes, and destructible areas that trigger cinematic cut scenes all add up to a pretty entertaining arcade title. If the multiplayer turns out well, look for this After Burner to make its daddy proud.