When you play After Burner, you're flying high and fast... in the F-14 Thunder
Cat - the leanest, meanest fighting machine ever made. And the free world
needs you and your set of wings desperately: Naval Intelligence has pin-pointed
the two locations where the enemy has hidden its diabolical two-party plan to
conquer the world! To get to these sites, you're called upon to use every
ounce of your flying and combat skills to survive bogies, missiles and tracers
that are dying to blow you out of the sky!
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Control functions
Control Pad: Moves the plane
Note: To roll, press the left or right button, then immediately press the
opposite button when flying sideways.
Select: Pause game
Start: To start; to activate after burner
B: Shoots air-to-air guided missiles
A: Fires vulcan cannon
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The game
Press Start on the control pad to begin game. You start out with three F-14
Thunder Cats. If one plane is destroyed by an enemy missile or explodes and
falls out of the sky, a new one will replace it. You'll get more jets when
your score reaches 5,000,000 points and 15,000,000 points. If you lost all
your jets, the game's over. To win, you must complete all 23 stages of aerial
combat, get the plans from the trucks at both landing fields and return safe-
ly to the aircraft carrier.
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Head-up display
In flight, the HUD (Head-up Display) screen shows you where the enemy is com-
ing from so you'll know instantly where to aim.
The white radar frame represents the full game screen you see at that time.
Red blips indicate enemy aircraft; the horizontal line shows the position of
your wings relative to the horizon. If you see red blips outside the white
frame, this tells you that enemy aircraft are approaching from the side. If
you turn toward them, you can get them in your sights. When the red blips
come inside the white frame, the enemy is approaching head-on.
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Weapons systems
Enemy fighters attack by flying at you firing air-to-air missiles. Get out of
their way by dodging, flying upside down, using the after burner or rolling.
You can also blast them out of the sky with your Vulcan cannon or air-to-air
guided missiles.
Vulcan Cannon
The Vulcan is a 20mm rapid fire cannon. It can fire an unlimited number of
shells. Use the firing sight on your screen to aim. Line the sight up with the
enemy and, when it is close enough, fire by pressing the A button.
Air-to-Air Guided Missiles
The radar sight is larger than the Vulcan's gunsight. It appears on the HUD
when an enemy approaches, and it automatically locks on to the target. Press
the B button to fire missiles. Although a guided missile will home in on its
target, it's not a sure-fire weapon. Bogies can escape if they're fast enough,
if you let them leave the game screen, or it you take too long to fire. Timing
is everything.
Keep in mind that each jet has a limited number of missiles. You start with 70
missiles. IF you crash with less than 50 missiles, the new jet will start out
with 50.
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The enemy
Interceptor: Supersonic Fighter
Dragonfly: Class 1 Fighter
V/Stoll: Harrier Class Jump Jet
Bearmax: High Altitude Helicopter Gunship
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Bonus stage
Refueling and Getting More Missiles
When you reach a designated refueling site, a Navy fuel tanker will fly over
you or a landing base will appear so you can load up on fuel and missiles.
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The score
Enemy aircraft - 2500 points
Flying missiles - 800 points
Bonus points - (Total number of enemy aircraft show down in the previous three
stages) x 20,000 points
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Hints
- Your chances of surviving aerial combat improve as you master flying the
F-14 Thunder Cat. Learn to roll your jet at the right time and you'll be
able to dodge almost anything.
- Some of the enemy aircraft will start firing before you even see them, so be
extra careful. Be ready do dodge quickly at all times, or you'll pay the
price.
