Designed by Sega veteran Yu Suzuki and the Sega AM2 division, "After Burner" was intended as being Sega's first "true blockbuster" video game. Development began shortly after the completion of "Out Run", and was kept as a closely guarded secret within the company. Suzuki was inspired by the films "Top Gun" and ""; he originally planned for the game to have a steampunk aesthetic similar to "Laputa", but instead went with a "Top Gun" look to make the game approachable for worldwide audiences. It was designed outside the company in a building named "Studio 128", due to Sega adopting a flextime schedule to allow for games to be worked outside company headquarters.