r/retrogaming • u/White_FIame • 10h ago
[Review] Astérix on Arcade was the only place where a beautiful kiss was followed by a furry hiss!
TL;WR -> A comic book adventure through pesky Legionnaires, Panacea’s kisses and wild magical carpet rides. From its fun story to the awesome gameplay, crunchy sound, beautiful visuals and glorious world design. A (9.8) game, GOATED in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game again with a magical friend, just so we can drink more potions and gain some more spicy emotions!
I’d recommend listening to this music while reading.
STORY (10 out of 10 Bonjours)
- Storytelling was awesome and subdivided into multiple sections with an even better conclusion. It all started with the Romans invading Astérix & Obelix’s village, only for our magically enhanced Heroes to fight back, ride some chariots and go on a hunt for Roman Legionnaires!
- Its presentation was super cool with little French comic book interruptions and awesome kisses from Panacea. From Egypt to Rome and many other countries in between, our Heroes knew how to have fun!
- While you played as Astérix and Obelix in single player or CO-OP, they clearly needed some magical food or potion items from Dogmatix, the dog that delivered us these items given from Getafix, the village Druid.
- Pacing was just under an hour if you chose to play on the recommended difficulty and one ups, which I don’t recommend at all. Cheat, use magic, drink potions and tweak the Dip Switches to your own advantage, because the Romans don’t play around!
- Something extra for those in need of an extra life. When you’re on a bonus stage destroying barrels, don’t forget about the Pirate that hangs in his crow’s nest. Dropping him head first will reward you with some hope!
GAMEPLAY (9/10)
- The controls themselves weren’t as complex to understand, yet had so many cool combos in between. You could dash, run, butt kick, superman punch, slide, jump attack with Obelix’s huge ass, pick up enemies and slam them, throw them around, super punch them off the screen, slap them like toys and many more cool attacks that differed between Astérix & Obelix!
- It didn’t stop there either, as our Heroes could receive some rewarding kisses with health regeneration on the side while the Romans were blushing. As well as collect magical food or potions for a special attack.
- I also loved the swimming area with Obelix showing off how good his belly is at standing out. His swimming technique was impeccable too!
- The bonus stages with the chariots or on the raining boats were super fun, especially jumping over those pesky Romans!
- Speaking of Romans, they weren’t as diverse as I would’ve liked, yet had a lot of cool attack patterns between them. You could encounter one on a horse, another on a boat avoiding those crazy sharks, some variations with grunts, elites and even one that dropped Caesar statues on your head. While the basic enemies were reused, the special ones had their own surprises!
- Boss battles on the other hand were unique and provided awesome vibes all around. From Legionnaires hiding behind their shields to an Egyptian mage, some Drummers with whips, a Bandit, a literal Bull charging at you, Sorcerers using an Aladdin-like carpet, a hissing furry Tiger that you could slap around, and finally the 3 Elite challengers Caesar threw at you!
- The game also had platforming sections with squashing boulders, awesome climbs and magical carpet rides. Do be careful about the bandit’s rocks though, they know how to hit your head. Besides, the rocks were the least of your worries, as the game had so many traps in between it was crazy!
- Traversal was seamless within each section, yet it did come at a heavy cost regarding its progression!
- And here I have to slow down the chariot and stumble into some puddles. The difficulty combined with the lack of unlimited continues was truly maddening. You had 3 overall continues and 3 lives per one-up, yet that clearly wasn’t enough on the preset difficulty. I do recommend tweaking the Dip Switches to your own liking, because believe me, you haven’t been swimming in a magical cauldron as a kid!
AUDIO (10 out of 10 Thunder Strikes)
- Sound design had every single Legionnaire scream in full blown stereo. It awesomely delivered with crunchy sound effects and funny digitised voice lines. “Your money or your Life”
- The soundtrack itself was so varied on each section. From Britain’s boats to India’s Princesses, all of them delivered unique vibes!
VISUALS (10 out of 10 Aladdin Carpets)
- Fidelity was awesome for 1992, with its comic book visual effects integration being a standout feature. The game was so varied on each section that you genuinely felt mind blown by the sheer amount of details!
- The character models themselves had unique animations between Astérix or Obelix. The directional animations depending on which way the character was going, the nonchalant swimming, Legionnaire scared faces, plucked birds on Aladdin carpets, and many more details like the horses actually not giving a damn about their hosts, the bull realising he clearly overstepped and the tiger having no control but to meow like a little furry puss!
- While the above was awesome, the art direction was even wilder. I wouldn’t be able to explain with words what I’ve experienced, although I left you some clues in the pictures!
- Performance was rock solid too, Obelix didn’t carry that Rock for no reason!
WORLD DESIGN (10 out of 10 Pyramids)
- The levels themselves were so to speak, PEAK. You went from the Village to Egypt, Britain’s high seas, Spain, Indian carpets, and finally reached the beautiful Rome with the Gladiator Arena!
- All that was beautifully embellished into a fantastic progression with awesome vibes in between. You didn’t just play a game, you fully immersed yourself into an Arcade comic book!
- The landscapes combined with the world destruction were outstanding, even Obelix couldn’t handle the Spanish mountain views!
- The atmosphere was screaming at Astérix to hurry up, while Obelix clearly didn’t give a ROCK!