Top gun It was an influence, but before seeing Top gunI already had the idea of a fighter jet game in mind. At first I was thinking of something more similar. Laputa: Castle in the skysomething with that sci-fi anime feel. But Sega's taikan games would be sold not only in Japan, but also in the United States, Europe, and around the world. So we ended up changing things to an F-14 fighter jet, something that would be recognizable and accessible to anyone, no matter what country they were from. Americans, especially, tend to prefer realistic worlds over the anime-like fantasy worlds that Japan likes. Although I think by now Americans also largely understand the appeal of those fantasy worlds.
—Yu Suzuki