SEGA AGES G-LOC: Air Battle Reviews
An action-packed arcade title with a greater focus on offensive play than the likes of After Burner. G-LOC's first-ever home release is a welcome one. It's got a couple of frustrating stages and, as is the case with most arcade games, it has longevity issues, but as long as you don't mind playing the same short series of stages over and over again to edge yourself up the online rankings, it's a good way to pass 10 minutes at a time.
I can’t say G-LOC Air Battle is a game I will play very often at all, but I am really glad that it got the M2 treatment and finally has arrived in a home release, decades after its original arcade debut.
While the Switch version inherits the original game's unvaried, repetitive gameplay and short-lived sessions, it mitigates those issues thanks to online leaderboards, a brand new AGES mode, and a moving arcade cabinet display—no quarters required.
G-LOC is by no means the best game of this type Sega’s released, but it's serviceable and fun. The Sega Ages port is, as usual, excellent. However, morso than many of Sega’s games from this era, G-LOC certainly shows its age.
While it falls a bit short in terms of content and variation of gameplay, EGA Ages: G-LOC Air Battle is still pleasant enough to play today, albeit in short bursts - just like in the arcades.
Some classic arcade games haven't quite held up and although G-LOC: Air Battle is one such game; it still offers some short-lived fun.
Pretty well immediately loading this one up its familiar sounds drew me in, in terms of games that I used to hear amidst the chaos of sound in an arcade G-LOC was one of the most effective at getting your attention...
At the $7.99 price tag G-LOC: Air Battle is pretty easy to recommend to anyone that loves arcade shooters. The action here is as fast paced as it every was, and this is an amazing port from top to bottom. The extra bells and whistles like Cockpit mode and the scanned manual are just icing on the cake. Now I must crank up “Danger Zone” as loudly as I can and shoot down many more bogeys!
Of course, brevity is par for the course when it comes to ports of classic coin-op titles. But even so, many other games in the SEGA AGES lineup will keep you busy for considerably longer than this release. Still, if the game’s brief runtime and relative lack of replayability don’t bother you, SEGA AGES G-LOC: Air Battle is a great way to experience one of SEGA’s more overlooked gems from the glory days of arcade gaming.
Overall, I had a good time playing SEGA AGES: G-LOC: Air Battle. It was an enjoyable experience from start to finish. The game is easy to understand and great to just spend a few minutes at a time with. G-LOC feels more like an upgrade to some of Sega’s previous flight games, and thus not feeling like a fully original game.
SEGA AGES: G-LOC Air Battle is a great version of the funny Yu Suzuki's G-LOC Air Battle arcade, and a great addition to the Nintendo Switch Sega Ages collection since this arcade had never been released on the domestic market beyond from lower versions on some of the retro platforms. Fun but short, and a little uncontrollable in extreme difficulties, but with an exceptional treatment of M2, as usual.
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Overall, I felt that G-Loc was a very impressive port. It’s still a very fun, seldom-ported scorechaser at the end of the day, and while some may not like the cockpit perspective or dated visuals, it’s still a solid way to kill time and go for new scores. The AGES mode didn’t really add much else besides some QOL improvements, but to be blunt, I couldn’t think of much else to add, since none of the missing stuff from the Game Gear port is worth getting upset over, as the pacing of this arcade version is far better.. All in all, a very solid port of a fun gem, and I’m glad I imported it! With only two AGES releases to go, the twilight days for the line seem to be upon us… Here’s hoping this is the start of a great finale.