AWESOME!!!
AFTERBURNER II:
Afterburner II is a flight combat game that has you going through varied stages destroying enemy planes. The gameplay is fast and very tense and will take a lot of skill to complete. Between some stages you get a chance to refuel and refill your weapons - Machine gun and rockets - either by landing or with the help of a refueling plane.
The controls work great and are simple to get used to, plus you can change the control style to find one you like.
The graphics are pretty decent considering the time this was first released. Like the other games in this compilation, Afterburner II uses a technique known as "Super Scaler Technology" which gave the illusion of a 3d view in a time before truly 3d games existed. All of the game's stages have a unique look and feel to them as well as the fighter planes themselves and despite all of the action on screen, the game always manages to keep a steady frame rate and provide fast action.
After Burner II is full of great music and sound effects. The soundtrack is quite simple but up beat and will help put you right in to game. The sound is also a big plus. The plane sounds are very detailed as well as gun fire, rockets and explosions. Overall, the audio really adds a lot to the game.
SPACE HARRIER:
In this game you play as a guy going through multiple stages, destroying enemies with a laser canon and dodging various obstacles. At the end of each stage there is a boss. These range from dragon type creatures to a bunch of giant, stone heads. Despie being bosses, they are the easiest part of the stage. The real challenge is surviving the rest of it.
The controls are very basic and quite similar to Afterburner. The D-pad is used to move up, down, left and right, and the face buttons are used to shoot.
Space Harrier has a trippy look and atmosphere, quite literally on the 3rd stage where you are speeding through a multicoloured Mushroom field. From your character to the enemies to the environments, all aspects of the game have great detail and a unique style. The only downside is the brightly coloured backgrouns can sometimes distract you and cost you a life.
While the audio could have been better, it fits in with the rest of the game quite nicely. There are some good sounds for the enemies and your character but they tend to repeat quite a lot. The music is decent and really adds to the game but is alot more repetitive than the music on the 2 other games.
OUTRUN:
Outrun is a driving game where you have to get to the end of each stage before the time runs out. At the end of each stage there is a split in the road where you can go left or right. The decision you make will ultimately affect the game's outcome as well as the setting and difficulty of the next stage. The controls are easy to learn and are customisable to suit your style. The face buttons are used for accelerating, braking and shifting and the d-pad is used to steer.
Outrun is a great looking game as far as the look and style of the stages. While the cars, and other foreground objects could've used a bit more detail, the backgrounds look awesome and really get you in to each stage.
The sound is another high point to Outrun. there are great sound effects throughout the game with crashes, screeching tires and passing vehicles as well as other sounds. All of these sound great and add alot to the game. The music is absolutely brilliant despite being pretty simple and really goes with the game.
Outrun and Afterburner are really the high points of this collection but Space Harrier is still fun and provides a good challenge. Overall, Sega Ages is an awesome compilation and should be in everyone's collection. It's worth getting a Sega Saturn just for this!