Sky Target
Developer(s)Sega
Publisher(s)Sega
Platform(s)Arcade, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: October 1995
  • NA: February 1996[1]
Sega Saturn
  • JP: April 25, 1997
  • EU: June 5, 1997
  • NA: July 1997[2]
PC
  • JP: August 14, 1997
Genre(s)Flight simulator/Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)Single player
Arcade systemSega Model 2[3]

Sky Target (スカイターゲット, Sukai Tāgetto) is a 1995 arcade game by Sega. A rail shooter featuring a number of planes including the default F-14D Super Tomcat, it is best remembered for its semi-official connection to Sega's earlier hit After Burner. Although never billed as a sequel, its overt similarities to the 1987 classic were nonetheless referenced in official promotional materials[4] and recognized by the media.[3][5][6][7] Plus, it features a revised version of the "After Burner" music theme within its soundtrack.

In 1997, Sky Target was ported to Sega Saturn by external developer Appaloosa Interactive.[8] The port retains the gameplay of the original but has completely redone cutscenes, a difficulty select option, and a new Ranking Mode. This version was also later released for Microsoft Windows exclusively in Japan.

Gameplay

Like After Burner, Sky Target places players in control of a modern fighter jet. Players can select from four planes: the F-14D Super Tomcat, Rafale M, F-16C, and F-15S/MTD.[9] The camera follows in chase view (with two selectable follow distances), and players control movement with an analog flight stick. As in After Burner, moving the reticule over a target allows the player to lock on (denoted by a voice shouting "Fire!") and fire homing missiles.[8]

Unlike After Burner II, there is no throttle to control speed,[9][10] nor an ability to barrel roll.[11] After certain stages, players may have a choice of two different stages, an element later revisited in After Burner Climax. Also unlike After Burner, Sky Target has large, sci-fi-inspired bosses that need to be destroyed in a set amount of time in order to receive a score bonus.[12]

In the Saturn version's Ranking Mode, each level is played individually, and players are graded on their performance. Sufficiently strong performances are rewarded with promotions, which unlock additional levels in the Ranking Mode, though there are no levels beyond those included in the regular game.[11]

Reception

Sky Target was negatively received by critics. Reviewing the arcade version, Next Generation called the game "a fancy-shmantzy remake of After Burner, and a lot less fun". The reviewer praised the visuals for their cutting edge level of detail, lack of draw in, and strong design, but said the gameplay is so simplistic and repetitive that the average player will have mastered it by the end of the first two levels. He noted that the game was even simpler than its predecessor After Burner, since it lacks a means of controlling acceleration.[19] In spite of the negative reception, Japan's Game Machine listed the game on their December 1, 1995 issue as the fourth most-successful dedicated arcade game of the month.[21]

The Saturn version was also primarily criticized for its generally shallow gameplay,[15][20][12][22] and limited controls,[15][20][12] which a Next Generation critic summed up by saying that the player's plane "acts more like a targeting icon than a pilotable craft."[20] GamePro concluded, "Sky Target might have made a decent arcade game a decade ago, but it certainly won't do anything to calm all those Saturn owners worrying about the system's future."[22][lower-alpha 3] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40.[16]

Most critics also disapproved of the Saturn version's graphics.[15][20][22] GamePro described them as "only marginally better" than After Burner (which was by then a decade old),[22] and Ken "Sushi-X" Williams of Electronic Gaming Monthly said they "are fast and furious, but look rough and blocky in spots. Although it isn't a big distraction, it gives the game an unpolished feel."[15] Sushi-X's co-reviewer Crispin Boyer and Lee Nutter of Sega Saturn Magazine both said the huge bosses are impressive.[12][15] The music was derided; Nutter described it as "standard soft-rock tunes occasionally interrupted by a deranged keyboard player on speed"[12] and EGM's Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer called it "corny" and "ridiculous".[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sushi-X and Dan Hsu each gave a score of 4/10, Shawn Smith gave a score of 6/10, and Crispin Boyer gave a score of 5/10.
  2. ↑ Three critics of GameFan gave the Saturn version each a score of 65, 68, and 77.
  3. ↑ GamePro gave the Saturn version 3.0/5 for graphics, 3.0/5 for fun factor, 3.5/5 for sound, and 4.0/5 for control.

References

  1. ↑ "Video Game Flyers: Sky Target, Sega". The Arcade Flyer Archive.
  2. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff (May 7, 1997). "Sky Target Takes Aim in Japan". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 24, 1999. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Coin-op Giants Reveal Latest at JAMMA". Next Generation. No. 12. Imagine Media. December 1995. pp. 16–17. Retrieved January 2, 2021. Sky Target, another Model 2 game from Sega, is a shooter in the style of Afterburner.
  4. ↑ "Video Game Flyers: Sky Target, Sega". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Archived from the original on July 9, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Afterburner: The Return?". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 22. EMAP. August 1997. p. 75. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  6. ↑ "1995 JAMMA Show Report". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine. No. 2. EMAP. November 1995. pp. 112–14. Retrieved January 2, 2021. Despite some utterly brilliant graphics, the game is little more than a 1995 enhanced version of the classic Afterburner ...
  7. ↑ "TGS 1997 Spring". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 95. Ziff Davis. June 1997. p. 58. ... Sky Target ... is an indirect chapter of the Afterburner series ...
  8. 1 2 "Preview: Sky Target". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 18. EMAP. April 1997. pp. 22–23. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "NG Alphas: Sky Target". Next Generation. No. 14. Imagine Media. February 1996. p. 108. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  10. ↑ Ogasawara, Nob (May 1996). "Sky Target (Preview)". GamePro. No. 92. IDG. p. 54. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  11. 1 2 "Sky Target: Fly the Unfriendly Skies". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 97. Ziff Davis. August 1997. p. 96.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nutter, Lee (August 1997). "Review: Sky Target". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 22. EMAP. pp. 74–75.
  13. ↑ Williamson, Colin. "Sky Target - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Sky Target (Arcade)". Computer and Video Games. No. 169. EMAP. December 1995. p. 75. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Williams, Ken "Sushi-X"; Smith, Shawn; Hsu, Dan; Boyer, Crispin (September 1997). "Review Crew: Sky Target". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 98. Ziff Davis. p. 50. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  16. 1 2 "スカイターゲット [セガサターン]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Sky Target - Saturn". Game Informer. No. 53. FuncoLand. September 1997. Archived from the original on August 24, 1999. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  18. ↑ Halverson, Dave "E. Storm"; Griffin, Mike "Griffin"; Hobbs, Michael "Substance D" (August 1998). "Sky Target (Saturn)". GameFan. Vol. 5, no. 8. Metropolis Media. p. 18. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  19. 1 2 "Sky Target (Arcade)". Next Generation. No. 17. Imagine Media. May 1996. pp. 104, 107. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sky Target (Saturn)". Next Generation. No. 34. Imagine Media. October 1997. p. 175. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - 完成品夕イプのTVゲーム機 (Dedicated Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 508. Amusement Press, Inc. December 1, 1995. p. 21.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Special K (November 1997). "Saturn ProReview: Sky Target". GamePro. No. 110. IDG. p. 153.
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