Sky Target

Sky Target is an AfterBurner type game where you mindlessly fly the sky blasting away at whatever enemy comes your way.

In this game, you have an assortment of planes to choose from (4). The planes aren't worth mentioning here because all fly pretty much exactly alike. They even seem to shoot alike despite having slightly different payloads (in respect to the basic firepower). All have a secondary weapon, which is a guided missle.

I wasn't the worlds biggest Afterburner fan, because I felt the graphics were far too amaturish. I'm certain this was due to the technology at the time, but to me the graphics looked rushed, and had far too little variety. This was true with all the versions that became available (Arcade, Sega CD, 32X, ect..). What I did like about Afterburner was the speed, and the control you had over the fighter. In Afterburner you had a throttle, and the ability to jet away in tight situations. It made for a pretty fun game once you actually played it.

Sky Target is nothing like Afterburner. There is no throttle, no afterburner, and no ability to do other evasive manuvers (like barrel rolls, ect....). It is basically just a game of flying, and shooting with no variety whatsoever. It does have some pretty graphics, and it is fast, but everything else just plain sucks!!

Targeting your enemies is a no-brainer in this game. The missles are lock-on type, which is cool, but they are unlimited. You have absolutely no need to use your standard guns, because the missles are far more powerful, and just as quick. They should've at leased limited the missles, to give us a little variety.

The graphics are far better then Afterburner, and the scenery is far more varied. Problem is that it comes off looking more like a first generation Saturn game then the Arcade conversion that it boasts. This game has a major problem with pop-up and the collision detection definetely isn't what it should be.

This may not be the Arcade-Perfect conversion that the box says, but it does feel like an arcade port.  Sky Target completely lacks any options to give longevity in the home. There is a Saturn ranking mode, but this does nothing ot increase the time you will spend playing of the game. So, in this respect, it feels like an arcade game.

Unless your the type of person who likes pressing the fire button (no aiming required) and dodging missles with absolutely no other challenge required. You will not like this game. There is just nothing else to do. I admit, I had a little fun for about 5 minutes, but that was it. There just isn't any depth to the game. It's far too easy too. The 12 levels were over before I knew what happened.

I'm very disappointed with Sega over this one. It could've been pretty cool, but they just didn't spend the time to make it right. Sorry, but this one isn't even worth a rental.
 
RATINGS
GRAPHICS 75%
SOUND 60%
GAMEPLAY 40%
ORIGINALITY 70%
REPLAY VALUE 35%
OVERALL 56%