Well, i remember this game when i was a kid, it's one of my personal favorite games on the arcade, but i always had this question: is this game a shmup or a flight simulator?
The game is part of the After Burner series, so this game is promising and it will not disappoint you.
Gameplay: 9/10
First, the game starts with a selection of three Skill Levels designed for the different player skills
Beginner: 8 Stages, No speed controls allowed, jet turns 45°
This skill level is very very easy, i think the game designers wanted to make this mode for truly first time players who doesn't know this type of games, even a 5 year old kid can beat this mode
, Your only problem in the game is the black F-14 that appears on Mission 3.Medium: 12 Stages, Speed control available, jet turns 90°
You can control the thrust speed, and the game is more challenging, not only the F-14 appears, now you'll had to deal with a Missile.
Expert: 16 Stages, Speed control available, full 360° roll
You're controlling the plane at 100%, so this game fits perfectly on Expert players, you'll have to deal with the black jet and the missile a several times.
Well, the game starts with a cockpit view and shoot a required number of enemies for pass the next level, use your missiles wisely, they'll give you extra time after the mission.
Sometimes you'll change to chase view (like in After Burner II) for face a "Problem in your back", it can be a black F-14 or a Missile, for get rid of the missile, accelerate and move to the left or right until you return to the cockpit view.
Before you finish the game you'll have to land your jet in an Aircraft Carrier (like in Top Gun on the NES), but in G-LOC this is much easier, you only have to turn right until you get the message "Keep Horizontal Position", this is a bonus mission in Expert Mode, you'll get a 20 second bonus.
The game has a timer limit like in the Hang-On games, but here you can continue when the time runs out.
The ship can take "Damage" showed by a image of the jet with a part in red (for example, a wing damage), and cracks in the cockpit glass.
Graphics: 10/10
For a 1990 game, it has great graphics, it looked like a PC game, but very improved, because the PC games were in the DOS era (games like Strike Eagle II or Falcon 3.0 for example), the game has day & night transitions (for example, Expert Mission 1 is night, and it turns into day in Mission 2)
Music & Sound: 8/10
The game has nice music, but the problem is that the music is for the first seconds of the mission, the rest of the mission is abscent of music, about sounds you can hear sight aiming, thrusting etc., There's the classic "FIRE!" voice like in After Burner.
Overall
Well, as i said before, this game is a good recommendation if you're looking for a "Pseudo-3D After Burner", for conclusion i think this game is a merging of Shmup and Flight Simulator, and the mix was good.
Trivia
G-LOC was also released for the R360 Arcade System as G-LOC R360, the game has two selectable modes: Experience Course (it's a 2 minutes demo) and Fighting Course (you can control your aircraft and shot down all the jets that you can destroy within a time limit)
The game was also re-made and turned into a game called Strike Fighter
The graphics and controls are similar to G-LOC Air Battle, but the cockpit view was redesigned and the gameplay is more similar to After Burner, here you have a lives stock, hit counter and score, this game is only 14 stages long.
Strike Fighter was reprogrammed and released for Sega CD as After Burner III, and they used arranged songs of After Burner II
G-LOC Air Battle & Strike Fighter Final Score: 9/10