After Burner 3D brings back almost the same gameplay (well, not as fast as the original), this time in a real 3D environment. Enemy planes coming from behind are mostly cannon fodder, while red ones are far more dangerous, since they manouver and fire missiles at you. In some stages, you fly low and must negotiate with tanks and helicopters, not counting collisions with the terrain. Every fourth stage there's a boss fight against some big and menacing military vehicle. And then... Well, there's not much more. An addition to the original game are some situations where an enemy plane chases you behind, and all you can do is dodging its fire. On the other hand, there aren't the fast, 360 degrees rotations that could save the plane sometimes. I almost forgot a fun easter egg: at times, something special that could give you an extra life appears, see with your eyes. After every boss, there's a bonus level where you try to avoid collision with high buildings.
Before the game starts, you can choose between a "realistic" control, where pressing the down arrow raises the plane's nose up and vice versa, or a totally arcade control. I sincerely prefer the second.

The 3D models of the vehicles are OK - nothing very detailed, but they do their job. The scenery changes at each stage, but I found it always very dull. The smoke and some other effects (like the bullets hitting ground or water) are good. There are serious polygon clipping problems: when the plane is shot down, it doesn't crash on the ground, it enters it. Seeing a wing of the first boss "melting" in a hill, or the final boss going through a mountain like a ghost, isn't exactly cool. I really don't like that spherical explosions - even if more pixelated, a big 2D sprite to depict them would have looked better. The various indicators on screen (score, missiles, lives...) are taken directly from some version of the original; same for the music. I think that, despite the fake and pixelated 3D, the classic game looked better overall - this one feels "empty". Thumbs down for the first ten seconds of introduction every time you start the game, you can never skip that boring sequence.

After Burner 3D is frantic at times, and difficult: you will be lucky to pass the second boss with still a life available. Well, maybe it's too difficult at times, and frustrating: the collision system doesn't seem to work always perfectly, and shots of tanks popping out suddendly because of a hill blocking the view could be very difficult to dodge. There are 12 regular levels and 4 boss levels: the game is shorter than you could think, and even with the scenario change, it shares a characteristic of the original After Burner: it proves to be quite limited and repetitive after not so much time.
Even with all these weaknesses, After Burner 3D is still fun, due to a simple, back-to-roots gameplay. A good remake and an honest game overall - just do not expect it to hold your interest for a very long time.

The authors furnished some cheat codes, two of which are actually very fun to use - but your score can't be entered if you use them.

The first three levels are so easy, you begin to wonder if the game is a waste of your time. But play on and you will find it addictively puzzling.

The game features good graphics, decent sound and a soundtrack that builds the mood without distracting you. There appears to be a minor glitch that makes the music choppy at times (most notably when you first start the game), but there is supposedly a patch to fix this.

Unfortunately, the game is a little slow. (Maybe it should be called Arena Walker?) I would like to see this be a more fast-paced game, which would create a level of excitement that I feel it lacks.