After Burner II was released in October 1987.
After Burner II was originally planned to have a World War II theme and be a realistic flight sim, but the idea was dropped because Yu Suzuki stated that 'it would not have fit the arcade scene.' A pure dogfighter was not his intention.
ABII is essentially the same game as "After Burner", but there are a few differences, mainly the fact that it is possible to control your plane speed.
In the cut-scenes that show your jet fighter landing on a landing strip in order to reload the missile supply, there are some special vehicles that will make a cameo appearance. In the first landing, you'll see a man riding the motorcycle from "Hang-On". and in the second landing, you'll see the famous Ferrari Testarossa-like car from "Out Run".
David Hernly holds the record for this game with 2,215,620 points on June 1, 2008.
Soundtrack album releases :
After Burner II (MJCAX-00007) (Marvelous Entertainment)
SEGA AGES SOUND TRACK THE BEST PLUS [PS2 SEGA AGES 2500 Series] (KDSD-00051~2)
After Burner 20th Anniversary Box (29/11/2007)
An ABII unit appears in the 1991 movie 'Terminator 2 - Judgment Day'.