horizontally scrolling shooter
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character mo ...
arcade video game
An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...
Namco
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...
in Japan and Sharp Image Electronics in North America (licensed from Namco). Two players control the "Blaster Fighter" star ships in their efforts to destroy a mysterious mechanical fortress orbiting Earth, with plans to take control of the planet. The Blaster Fighters can equip one of seven available weapons, which will change the ship's firepower and abilities, such as diagonal shots, homing missiles and small drones that follow the player's ship.
''Air Buster'' received a favorable reception for its visuals, sound effects and gameplay, although complaints were directed at the difficulty, which was deemed "too easy" by numerous publications. Ports of the game were released for both the
TurboGrafx-16
The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...
and
Sega Genesis
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...
, the former being renamed to ''Aero Blasters'' for international releases. The Sega Genesis release was ported over to the "Project EGG" digital storefront in 2014, which remained exclusive to Japan. A version for the
X68000
The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan.
The initial model has a 10 Megahertz, MHz Motorola 68000 Central processing unit, CPU, 1 Megabytes, MB of Random Access Memory, ...
was in development but never released.
Gameplay
''Air Buster'' is a horizontal-scrolling shoot-em-up game. Players choose between one of the two Blaster fighters through six scrolling stages. The Blaster fighters can equip one of seven weapons. The weapons include the Striker weapon which adds additional firepower through vertically aligned Options, the Reverse shot which fires two diagonal shots from the rear of the ship, the Six Way Shot which fires semi-automatic shots in six directions and the Homing Shot which tracks enemies all around the screen.
The other three weapons are
Missile
A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor.
Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...
-based which vary from Red straight-firing
Rocket
A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
s and Green Homing Missiles. There is also the Border item which surrounds the front of the ship, keeping it from crashing into foreground objects. The only other Items include Power-Ups which increase the ship's standard shot power and Bonus Points that appear in the sign of Dollar signs.
Development and release
The Mega Drive/Genesis port runs fullscreen, features more detailed graphics, keeps most of the Arcade version's parallax effects and has better sound effects. The PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 port features a slightly expanded ending and has a unique track on stage 2.
Reception
In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Air Buster'' in their March 1, 1990 issue as being the third most popular arcade game of the month.
''
MegaTech
''MegaTech'' (sometimes styled with the katakana メガテケ) was a publication from EMAP aimed specifically at the Sega Mega Drive gaming market. The magazine was started in 1991. The launch editorial consisted of a small team including Pa ...
'' magazine gave the game 78%, commenting on the "excellent graphics, sound and playability", but criticizing the low challenge factor.MegaTech rating,
EMAP
Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was ac ...
, issue 5, page 78, May 1992 '' Mega'' placed the game at #13 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time. ''
Mean Machines
''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game journalism, video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom.
History
In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generatio ...
'' gave the game 80%, but said that it could not compete with '' Hellfire''.