# SEGA After Burner for $500, but was it worth it?

**Source:** RetroRalph  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2022-12-08  
**Duration:** 6m 41s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZfAwa8ue3c

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## Analysis

RetroRalph documents the acquisition and initial troubleshooting of a SEGA After Burner arcade cabinet purchased for $550. The machine had multiple issues including non-functional rumble motor, relay problems affecting lock-on and warning lights, disabled thrust feature, broken audio amplifier right channel, and degraded speakers. Most issues are identified as simple fixes (blown fuse, disabled dip switch, failed relay, blown speaker), with plans for upgrades including modern amplifier replacement, speaker replacement, and a novel bass shaker modification to replace the overly loud rumble motor.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The rumble motor fuse was blown and required replacement — _Identified during initial troubleshooting; confirmed as simple fix_
- [HIGH] The After Burner cabinet uses an After Burner 2 board — _Directly stated when discussing thrust feature exclusive to AB2_
- [HIGH] The thrust feature dip switch was set to off despite using AB2 board — _Confirmed through dip switch inspection and adjustment_
- [HIGH] The right channel audio amplifier is non-functional, not the speaker — _Determined through troubleshooting process; initially thought speaker was blown_
- [HIGH] The rumble motor is too loud and aggressive for home use — _Direct observation from speaker; described as 'really really rough' in arcade but problematic at home_
- [HIGH] A failed relay is causing the warning lights to stay constantly on — _Isolated through cable testing; problem followed cable from working to non-working relay_
- [MEDIUM] Incandescent light bulbs for indicator lights may be difficult to source in 2022 — _Speaker expresses uncertainty about current availability of standard incandescent bulbs_
- [MEDIUM] The cabinet has screen graphical issues possibly requiring ROM replacement — _Identified issue; speaker indicates possible solution but wants to verify with ROM burning_

### Notable Quotes

> "The rumble motor for Afterburner is really really rough and definitely cool in an arcade setting but almost overly loud and aggressive for an at-home setting."
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~1:00
> _Key design challenge identified; sets up motivation for bass shaker modification_

> "I'm going to replace that relay component with a new modern component and see if that solves that issue."
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~2:15
> _Documents repair strategy for relay failure affecting multiple light systems_

> "What if I took the rumble motor and left it there, right? but took the fuse out so it was no longer working and tried to achieve a similar effect with a bass shaker?"
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~4:30
> _Proposes novel modification approach to address rumble motor volume issue while preserving feedback_

> "The right channel on the amplifier not working... I'm going to replace that amplifier with a modern amplifier for now and then I work on potentially rebuilding that amplifier."
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~5:45
> _Outlines strategy for audio repair: immediate modern solution with potential original restoration later_

> "I'm not altering anything about the cabinet. I'm going to keep everything in place."
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~9:15
> _Establishes restoration philosophy: repairs/upgrades but preservation of original components where possible_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| RetroRalph | person | YouTube content creator specializing in arcade machine restoration and acquisition; channel name and primary speaker |
| SEGA After Burner | game | Classic arcade flight combat game; subject of this restoration video |
| SEGA | company | Manufacturer of After Burner arcade machine |
| After Burner 2 | game | Updated version of After Burner; board version present in acquired cabinet; introduced thrust feature |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Arcade cabinet restoration and repair, Electrical troubleshooting and component repair, Audio system upgrades and amplifier repair, Arcade hardware modification and customization
- **Secondary:** Rumble/feedback system optimization for home use, ROM issues and screen graphical problems

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Speaker expresses genuine excitement about acquisition (childhood nostalgia), optimism about repair feasibility, and enthusiasm for creative modifications. Issues are framed as solvable challenges rather than dealbreakers. Some minor frustration with design limitations (rumble loudness) but overall constructive tone.

### Signals

- **[design_philosophy]** Restoration approach balances functional upgrades with historical preservation; plans modifications (bass shaker) while committing to keep cabinet externally unaltered and maintain original component placement (confidence: high) — Explicit statement: 'I'm not altering anything about the cabinet. I'm going to keep everything in place.'
- **[product_concern]** Multiple component failures on acquired machine: blown fuse, failed relay, non-functional amplifier channel, degraded speakers, possible ROM corruption (confidence: high) — Systematic documentation of failures found during initial inspection and testing
- **[technology_signal]** Consideration of modern replacements for aging arcade hardware: modern audio amplifier to replace original, LED bulbs to replace incandescent (though LED dimming issue noted), potential ROM reprogramming for graphics fix (confidence: high) — Multiple explicit references to modern component substitution strategy while preserving cabinet appearance

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## Transcript

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. I did it. I was able to get an afterburner stand up and for $550. Now it came with a fair share of issues, some I didn't really even know about. For one, the rumble motor in the controller didn't work. So, or at least I thought it didn't work. That turned out to be a really simple fix. It was actually just a fuse. So the fuse was blown for the rumble motor. Now I will say this, the rumble motor for Afterburner is really really rough and definitely cool in an arcade setting but almost overly loud and aggressive for an at-home setting. So we'll get back to that later but I think I'm going to come up with a solution to make it more friendly for the home. The other thing is the lock-on light wasn't working so when you were to find a target in front of you and you ready to shoot your missile it lights up to indicate when it's a good time to do so that was out but that was just a light bulb so no big deal now I did notice the lights above which is a warning light when someone's locked on to you those lights were staying constantly on after some troubleshooting I actually moved one of the cables from one working relay to the non working relay and the problem followed the cable So that's just a non-working relay. So basically what I did is, and I don't know if it's going to fix it, we're going to find out in this video, I'm going to actually replace that relay component with a new modern component and see if that solves that issue. So if it does then that means the lock target light will be working the warning lights will be working and the force feedback for the controls will be working Now the other thing that wasn working when I got it is the thrust Now if you remember in a prior video the thrust actually didn exist in the original Afterburner That came with Afterburner 2. And this is an Afterburner 2 board, but for some reason the dip switch was set to off for the thrust. So that was a simple fix of just turning on the dip switch. Now it doesn't really look like anyone's messed with this, so maybe it's been off this whole time. I'm not really sure, but that's up and running now, so we're all good there. Now, the other problem is the audio amp is actually busted. The right channel of the audio amp is broken. Now, I have this rinky-dink solution for right now. My thought would be to rebuild the audio amp, but remember that rumble motor I was talking about? There's kind of something cool I think I could do there. Now, some may judge me for this, but I was thinking, what if I took the rumble motor and left it there, right? but took the fuse out so it was no longer working and tried to achieve a similar effect with a bass shaker and putting a bass shaker right where that rumble motor would be so that when you crashed or when you get shot out of the sky or when you shoot a missile because all those things trigger the rumble motor it would use the bass shaker or engage the bass shaker instead of the rumble motor it's an idea i have i don't know if it's going to be a good one but it's a way to get my audio working and i am going to replace the two speakers as well the speakers were completely shot but you have to remember these things were probably on full blast in an arcade because even turned up pretty loud in my house it wasn't that loud so you got to think in an arcade setting it probably was cranked up all the way and the speakers will blow out over time so I thought the right channel was just the speaker blown out but actually it the right channel on the amplifier not working So I going to replace that amplifier with a modern amplifier for now and then I work on potentially rebuilding that amplifier It could just be some capacitors, I'm not really sure, but I'm going to look into it and see how difficult that might be to fix. But I'm super excited about it. It looks really good. The right side of the cabinet looks good. The left side of the cabinet looks good. It does have a little bit of dings in the artwork, but really nothing I would consider replacing the artwork for, because it's all original and it looks really good. The lights that control the warning lights and the lock-on lights, they're regular incandescent light bulbs. I was thinking about replacing those with LED light bulbs. The only problem with LED light bulbs, maybe someone out there has a solution for this, is when they're off in a video game, they'll stay dimly lit. So I don't know if that's like there's enough power going to it that it stays lit up. I'm not really sure. It's not that distracting, but I can see going through a lot of incandescent light bulbs. And honestly, I don't know the last time I bought a standard incandescent light bulb. So are those all LEDs now? I don't even know. But anyway, I am really excited about this pickup. It was one I had on the list for 2022. So my list is pretty damn complete in 2022. But you know, I'm not bringing any more. Well, okay, I'm bringing one more in. There'll be one more video before the year is out of a new arcade game and this one I got for a hundred bucks I'm not gonna talk about that one until it comes here I don't know if it's gonna make it here between now and the end of the year but fingers crossed we might be able to make it between now and then but anyways I'm super excited I have a lot of work to do on this afterburner but the good news is is this work is really easy so it should be stuff I can complete in short order and I get an update video out before the end of the year, so you can see, did some of these ideas of possible modifications work in my favor, or, you know, should I just stick with the original configuration? Now, keep in mind, I'm not altering anything about the cabinet. I'm going to keep everything in place. I think the base shaker is a good idea, but we'll see. In part two, I'll see. Was that a bust or is that actually a viable solution? Because honestly, the rumble motor is just too damn loud for the house. Anyways, guys, I hope you enjoyed... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, give me a thumbs up, consider subscribing to the channel if you enjoy content like this, and put your comments below. I want to know what you think about this. I am so excited. Guys, this is Afterburner. This is a childhood game of mine, and while it's not the cockpit, trust me, I would love the deluxe cockpit version, but this is going to make me really happy, and it scratches that itch to play Afterburner. Now, there's some issues I got to fix. There's a screen graphical issue. I think I got to replace some corrupted ROMs. I'm not really sure. If anybody has experience with graphical issues on Afterburners, definitely let me know. I think I found the solution, but I'm not 100% sure, so I'm going to fire up the burner, burn a couple ROMs, and I think that'll fix it. But again, I'll let you know in part two. That's it for now guys. We will see you on the next one. Thanks so much for watching. If you enjoyed this video, why don't you check out another and hopefully I'll see you on the next one.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: e3972f21-8dc8-48cc-bf77-e71e843df112*