Asterix review - Sega Master System
It's the year 55 BC and the Roman empire is in complete control of all Europe, save for one tiny Gaulish village. Despite all Roman attempts to capture this area, it still remains free and independent under the leadership of Chief Vitalstatistix.
The reason for this extraordinary record of hardness is the magic strength-giving potion brewed up by the venerable druid Getafix. When the Gauls swig this elixir, it allows them to dust anyone who gets in their way!
Being wise to this, top Roman geezer Julius Caeser has decreed that the druid be captured and transported to the Italian capital to make the potion for the Roman forces, making them unstoppable in their quest for total world domination.
So it came to pass one fateful day as Getafix was gathering herbs alone in the forest that he was indeed captured and taken to Rome with the express intention of transforming even the most pathetic example of legionaryhood into a human killing machine.
This is where you come in. As Asterix and Obelix, the village's hardest men, you must undertake a quest of many platform levels, dodging hazards, negotiating underwater sections and besting Romans senseless with your comabt skills and special items which can be picked up along the way. Should the pair fail to reach Rome and rescue the druid, slavery is assured for our French boar-loving chums.
What the Mean Machines staff thought
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Asterix is yet another example of an excellent Master System platform game, just like Mickey Mouse, Sonic and Donald Duck. In fact, it's perhaps just a little too much like these games for my liking. There's the usual bottom bounce manoeuvre used to dispose of the meanies, and chucking your bombs/menhirs/potions about is just like throwing a rock in Mickey Mouse. Even some of the ideas behind the levels are taxed directly from the Disney classics. However, originality gripes apart I found Asterix a particularly entertaining piece of software. The character switching for each level is quite good and I like the way that each stage is subtly altered for each character to complete it. There is also plenty of variety between each level, making it a very compulsive game. What I don't really like about the game is the infinite amount of continues available. I reckon that experienced platform gamers could probably finish the game in one sitting. If it's a fab platform game you want, I'd recommend Donald Duck over this, but if you've got that, take a peek at this.
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