Air Buster
System: Genesis
Release Date: February 1991
Developer: Inter State
Publisher: Kaneko
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Save the Earth from a tremendous crisis in Air Buster! The Mega Load Masters have staged a sudden attack in an attempt to wipe out organic life on the planet. This MLM has found a way to fortify themselves with inorganic mechanisms. Piloting a super machine with the power to transcend reality and destroy space, it’s up to you to liberate Earth from terror.
It’s deja vu in the form of a side scrolling shoot ‘em up. This is the same game as Aero Blasters on the TurboGrafx-16. You could copy and paste that review and I wouldn’t change much of anything at all. The powerups all work the same and they still suck. It’s still a huge pain in the butt to get the powerup you want. The Buster Flash is still only marginally useful.
I can say that the graphics are smoother. The frame rate is much better on the Genesis. The actual sprites and backgrounds are quite similar if not identical, but smooth animation does make a difference. The bosses seemed to be easier to time properly more frames per second. I still relied on time travel to get through this one, but much less than I did on the TG-16.
Graphics: 3.0
The frame rate increase makes a significant difference.
Sound: 3.0
The music is still good.
Gameplay: 1.5
Weapons are weak, secondary weapons aren’t that helpful, and the Buster Flash is less useful than you’d think.
Difficulty: 1.0
Slightly more playable than the TG-16 version, which is nice.
Fun Factor: 1.5
I don’t know if I enjoyed this more because I had played the lesser version first, or if it is a bit better of a port.
Overall Rating: 2.0
Air Buster earns a C. I’m still not recommending this game, but it’s better than its counterpart, so if you want to play Aeor Blasters or Air Buster, play Air Buster.