After Burner Climax

After Burner Climax is to gaming, what giant piles of random bits of candy are to desert; they both provide a short burst of joy and can be ever so sweet, but without more structure it quickly loses its flavor.

If you're a big fan of score attack arcade games with big colourful graphics then Afterburner is your game. If you're looking for something a little deeper then look elsewhere.

After Burner Climax delivers intense aerial action with tons of planes to battle at once, all at great speeds. The game is worth the price of admission for some classic fun, which feels right at home on iOS.

It may be a brief thrill, but high speed and explosions make After Burner Climax a lot of fun while it lasts.

The controls can be rather twitchy, as aiming feels far too fast at times, but that is actually fairly accurate to the original feel of the game.

After Burner Climax is not a bad game in itself, but the iOS port is severely lacking, and a blemish on the series' name.

Looks handsome like Top Gun-era Cruise, but After Burner's fast-paced dog-fighting doesn't really work with iPad's touch-screen.

After Burner Climax is a short intense arcade shooter that suffers from a lot of technical limitations and pacing issues. Loading times, no save system to resume current game and jagged graphics at less intense moments are letting the game down. I would have liked to get to know After Burner a bit better, and at least had some time to get to know each other before reaching the Climax.

There's fun to be had, no question, but we doubt After Burner Climax will remain in your must-play list for long unless your goal is to master Score Attack and dominate the leaderboard. Sadly, this port doesn't meet the high standards of its console counterpart.

Despite the nice graphics, After Burner Climax doesn't have the depth of other iOS flight sims, and it's too short and mindless to be a quality shooter.

After Burner Climax is appropriately named. It's an excitement that just doesn't last long.