3D After Burner II and Sega’s last 3DS archive collection to be delisted from the eShop December 21st [UPDATE]

[UPDATE 12/15/22] Sega Japan announced on December 14th that many of the 3D Fukkoku Archives titles and collections will be on sale on the Japanese 3DS eShop until January 9th. Exception noted for Fukkoku Archives 3 and 3D After Burner II which will still be delisted on December 21st. Our original post from December 9th continues below.

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A pair of M2’s especially unique and hard-to-find retro ports will be leaving the Nintendo 3DS eShop soon. 3D After Burner II and Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 3 — which includes After Burner II — will both be delisted on December 21st, M2 announced in a tweet earlier this week. No confirmation was given but like After Burner Climax before it, the delisting is likely tied to licensing of the military aircraft featured in the game.

After Burner II saw a worldwide eShop release but Fukkoku Archives 3 is the Japan-exclusive follow-up to what the Western world received as the Sega 3D Classics Collection back in 2016. That 3D collection is actually Fukkoku Archives 2 from Japan and the only one of the three-part series released in the West. It’s all a little confusing so let’s just skip to the links for where to pick up each of the titles:

Digital
3D After Burner II (EU, JP, NA)
Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 3 (JP)

Physical
Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 3 (Amazon, Play-Asia, eBay)

What sets most of M2’s 3DS releases apart is their attempt to recreate the physical experience of Sega’s arcade games. It goes above and beyond just loading up a ROM in MAME and coupled with the stereoscopic 3DS it makes for an experience you can’t quite recreate anywhere else. Thanks to Skyevlyn for pointing out the news that Time Extension posted this morning. I’ve added the date to the Watch List calendar for now.