Overall, After Burner is a game that while it is simple in idea, it's loads of fun and a blast to play.
Your guns automatically fire, and you are given an reticule to lock on to enemies. You are also given a limited supply of missiles to use, which refill at certain stages. Pressing the A or B buttons speed up or slow down your F-14 respectively.
Even though After Burner is similar to it's original counterpart, the genesis version (the original appeared on the master system), gives you a great feeling of speed that was present in the arcade version. After Burner is easy to pick up and play with it's arcade style controls and premise, but it takes lots of time to master. As you get later in levels, dodging missiles, enemies firing in front of you and back of you, and avoiding environmental obstacles, the game can become a challenge, but loads of fun to play. The music fits the action onscreen, it's quick, fun and engaging.
Overall, After Burner is a game that while simple in idea, it's a fun game and a blast to play.