Asterix and the
Great Rescue
1993
Sega Genesis
**********
Pros: Music, Graphics, Sound Effects, Some Clever Map
Designs, Simple Passwords
Cons: Flawed Gameplay Physics, Inconsistent Difficulty, Stringent
Time Limits
Although it doesn’t have much of a mainstream
following in America, I was pretty familiar with Asterix the Gaul growing up.
This was probably because my mom was a Classics teacher, and Asterix was known for having been
translated well into many languages, including Latin. Naturally, she decided to get this game for
me and my brothers. It has some
nostalgic value for me, but it’s generally seen as a needlessly difficult game
in many of the wrong ways.
The game’s
story involves the kidnapping of the Gaulish druid Getafix by the Romans. He makes a potion that can temporarily grant
people super strength. This is the
reason why his village is still not conquered, and it also makes one wonder why
he has not taught this potion to anyone else.
The franchise’s hero, Asterix, is tasked with rescuing Getafix with the
help of his fat, dim-witted sidekick Obelix.
Fortunately for these two, the Romans were somehow dumb enough to allow
Getafix to leave potions along their circuitous path back to Rome which they
can use to keep their strength up. And
thus Asterix and Obelix forge of path of destruction through Western Europe to
rescue their friend.
You got lucky, Spain. |
The game is
divided into six worlds which are made up of multiple levels and one boss at
the end. At the beginning of each level,
the player can choose between Asterix and Obelix. While Obelix, with his nonchalant pacing,
overheaded throwing of items and celebratory butt-bouncing, is more amusing to watch than Asterix, there is usually no practical reason to pick him. Asterix seems far more balanced and doesn’t
need to duck to get into some areas. I
also think Obelix may have even worse
hit detection than Asterix, but that’s something to get to later. There are many enemies in the game, but the
most common ones are thin legionaries (who take one hit), fat legionaries (who
take two) and centurions (who take three).
Other enemies can be pretty random and nonsensical, and the game has
been criticized for absurd and inconsistent settings. Hazards also include squirrels, small birds
and plants with some guy/monkey behind them that goes apeshit when you pass them, showering you with harmful dandelion seeds. However, since I believe
such nonsense is endearing in platform games, I don’t really count that as a
flaw. I admit that I’m not the best gamer
and I haven’t fully beaten every part of this game.
Vital to
beating many levels are a few items that you pick up. The three main items are thrown bombs, clouds
which act as temporary platforms and temporary levitation. They are used on boards that require them for
passage and there’s often just enough to get through. This has invited comparisons to puzzle games
by people who have a very liberal definition of what constitutes a puzzle game (My favorite puzzle game is GoldenEye). Other items include various point items, a
one-up heart, an invincibility sickle and a turbo invincibility bomb.
One of the
first things to notice about the game is that the graphics are quite
appealing. While the bold, black
outlines of the cartoon characters might look too pixellated, the backgrounds
are colorful and detailed. The scenery
is creative and diverse, and the maps are well-designed. One exception would be a couple underwater
stages, which feature a grotesque and impairing net of blue pixels as well as
intentionally sluggish game physics. As
with most Genesis games, animation is fluid, but I got some lag when
confronting multiple enemies. I’m not
sure if that’s the fault of my RetroN 3 or not.
I love the
sound effects, which fit the cartoonish look of the source material. Punching enemies results in rich sounds that
are very satisfying to listen to. Some
items make a nice jingle when you pick them up.
There’s also something therapeutic about listening to the coin
collecting sound effect in quick succession.
Come to think of it, for all the advances in gaming technology, I tend to
prefer the crisp sound effects of older games to that of newer ones. Case in point: the satisfying cracks and
bangs of the original Super Smash Bros.
being replaced by the gentle thumping in Melee.
The best part
of the game is its soundtrack. The tunes
are memorable, and the songs go on for a substantial length with satisfying
variety before they loop. While the
16-Bit sound effects can often sound odd, it’s clear that effort was put in to
simulate various sound effects and instrumentation. Most of the worlds have a song that fits the
setting well. The first world, GaulishVillage, has a cheerful song that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Mario game. The Roman Encampment’s theme is a badass
military march. The Forest has a distinctive
and atmospheric theme. Germany is set to
a neat and vaguely industrial tune, and the Roman Galley is straight-up metal. After imagining what song would represent the might of Rome, it was a bit disappointing to hear this. Music should represent the feelings
associated with certain settings or situations, and I’ve never heard a song
that so perfectly captures the feeling of constipation as this one. Still, it develops into a good song, and I’m
sure that strange sound effect was the fault of the system’s limitations. The pause music is pretty decent, too. Overall, the score is above average by
industry standards, and composer Nathan McCree deserves credit for his work on
the music and sound effects for this game.
Less endearing
are the game physics. While the controls
are straightforward enough, Asterix and Obelix (who from this point will simply
be referred as Asterix, politically incorrect as it may be) move disappointingly
slow and their jumps are a bit awkward and short. The inability to run faster without powerups
is also an annoyance. Most noticeable to
many gamers is the terrible hit detection.
Asterix has terrible reach with his attacks, and the enemies can often
harm him before he can land a blow.
Often the best thing to do is to just stand there punching as fast as
you can while a Legionary walks up to you, since walking up to one risks taking
damage. A game I would contrast Asterix with is Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures, which features great controls
generous hit detection but is hard because of clever and challenging board
design. Many hazards have hitboxes that
are larger than their sprites, resulting in Asterix’s taking damage from things
he clearly did not touch. Damage is also very inconsistent. Asterix is harmed by seemingly benign
animals, but doesn’t mind being right next to explosives that he himself has
thrown. One of the most frustrating
elements of the game is identical platforms that can move, drop or do nothing. They can only be overcome by blind luck or
trial and error. The worst part of this
is that when a platform drops Asterix loses his footing and cannot jump from
it, demanding that the player jump the instant before fall. Moving platforms are even worse because they
often drop at the end of their path without warning at a spot that’s hard to
gauge even with trial and error. This
may be physically realistic, but it violates an unwritten rule of gaming
physics. It’s not very justifiable to
turn around and throw real-world physics into a fever dream of exploding women,bodiless Germans, sneezing owls, pensive rabbits, sausage mazes and small
animals. There are also multiple Leaps of Faith, as well. This game is, for lack of a
better term, unfair.
Making the
game remarkably more difficult is the time limit for each level, which is
usually around three minutes regardless of the stage’s length or difficulty. It can turn otherwise simple stages into
desperate races against time. However,
because of the other difficulties of the game, this can result in death. You have to find that perfect balance of
speed and caution to make it through many stages. What’s worse is that there are many levels
that require time for exploration, and the only way to beat them is through
extensive trial and error. Levels do not
have checkpoints, which doesn’t help.
The game gives you three lives in three continues, which you can go
through pretty fast. When that happens, you're treated to a Game Over jingle that makes the laughing dog from Duck Hunt seem respectful in comparison. Playing this on an
emulator makes save state abuse very tempting.
A real boon is that once you beat a world, you will be given a 6-letter
password to access the next one. These
passwords are easy to remember and can be entered any time you play the
game. Getting through the stages in
these worlds is a different story.
Another major
problem with the game is its inconsistent difficulty. A basic unwritten rule of video games is that
they should start out easy and get progressively harder as you get through
them. Asterix and the Great Rescue, however, is all over the place. Most of the stages are easy enough, but many
worlds will have at least one disproportionately difficult level. The relative difficulty of each world is
completely random, and the last one is actually the easiest.
The first
world is the Gaulish Village. It is
overrun with Roman soldiers, and Asterix must secure it. The first stage is fairly straightforward and
is an accurate depiction of the village as a bunch of simple, thatched
huts. However, we soon see immense structures
that rival what the Romans could build, especially The Purple Palace of Pain
(or Pink Palace depending on how your TV is adjusted). This is one of the most infamous examples of
the time limitation in the game. The
level is complex, indirect and full of hazards, and the locations of the keys
and passages are not readily apparent.
Despite this, you’re expected to beat the board in 3 minutes. How my brothers eventually figured it out is
beyond me, but it took a while. When I
revisited the game, I thankfully remembered the layout, but it took a few
deaths to get through it. Afterwards,
there are a few more levels including one featuring a giant sculpture of a man’slower and upper jaw in two pieces apparently made by two artists who weren’t communicating with each other that shoots boogers at you. Finally,
you get to the boss: the village bard Cacofonix. Apparently, Cacofonix is such a bad musician that his
musical notes have assumed physical form and hurt anyone they hit. Of course, this is only a problem if you get
near his treehouse as Asterix and one random guy running past with a shield
over his head insist on doing. In order
to defeat him, you must jump on the guy’s shield at the right moment and press
C to throw fish at him until he retreats back into his house, because Asterix
can punch a Roman soldier into the stratosphere but he can’t throw a fish ten
feet into the air. You throw the fish
with the item button, but there’s no indication you have these fish to throw
unless you think to press it. You’d
think that Asterix has better things to do than put Cacofonix in his place…like,
you know, rescuing Getafix. Cacofonix's theme is pretty well executed, having a memorable tune while clearly sounding
that it’s being played by someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing.
After you’ve
secured your home, you advance to the Roman Encampment. It’s mostly a straightforward world until you
get to a board that’s infamous for a case of some of the worst hit detection in
game history. At one point you encounter
two horses. One of them is bucking full
tilt, but isn’t too tricky to jump over.
However, the second one is barely moving his feet back one at a time,
and yet you will get thrown halfway across the stage just by bouncing off his
ass without coming anywhere near his hooves.
Later I was defeated by another stage that was far too long and
hazardous for its time limit. The boss
is a simple punch-the-projectile-back-at-the-boss deal.
Next is The
Forest. I already mentioned the randomized
difficulty, and nowhere is this problem more apparent than here. It’s just before halfway through the game,
and it is by far the most consistently hard world. The worst board is one that features giant
killer spiders, and those spiders are the least of your problems. This level is a great example of every
complaint I made about the unpredictable platforms. In addition to all the standard legionaries
running around, this board has a lot of natural enemies allied with them. To paraphrase The Chronicles of Narnia, “Even some of the trees are on their side.” Asterix must have also been hit by a shrink
ray, because the plants and animals in this world are enormous. As if to complete a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reference, there’s also a board with
anachronistic LEGOs. This world also has
an infamous boss. Apparently you have to
just press the D-Pad really fast to win this log game with a fat legionary. In other words, it’s impossible to do until
you somehow stumble upon the answer, and when you do there’s no challenge to
it. It’s a perfect example of how not to
design gameplay.
Then you go
to Germany. It’s one thing to fight your
Roman aggressors, but it seems a bit inappropriate to attack every German you
see just because you’re looking for someone who passed through the area. I think the same thing happened in Star Trek into Darkness. Reflecting the game’s odd sense of humor, Germany
has one of the more absurd hazards: fat opera singers who explode when you walk past them. If I saw a woman so fat that
simply walking past her would cause her to reach critical mass and blow up, I
would think twice before doing so. Fortunately for Getafix, Asterix clearly does not have time for
such ethical trifles. Then again, there’s
also a board later in the game that requires you to murder old women to get
through it. This world has what may be
one of the worst ones in the game (the spider board is pretty stiff competition). It‘s a labyrinth of sausage links populated
by turbopacers and guys in bathrobes who throw axes or sausages at you (Asterix
can punch away the axes, but not the sausages).
I had no idea where to go, and the board certainly doesn’t give you the
time to figure it out in one try. The
Sausage Stage is also the least visually appealing board in the game (it’s just
sausages against a generic sky background).
I could not get past it. The
world is over once you successfully outrun a beer flood.
After this
comes the Roman Galley, which for some reason starts off in a snow mountain
that would be more appropriate in Germany.
This stage is relatively easy, but it features annoyingly oversized snowflakes. The rest of the
world is pretty straightforward, and I managed to get to the boss, a big fat
alligator. It was an easy boss made
challenging by terrible hit detection, while sneaking up behind him, I was more
likely to stub my toe against his back than land a blow.
Finally, you
get to Rome, which is arguably the easiest world in the game. The hardest level in it was the aqueduct
stage, and that was average despite some pesky Roman archers that pop up out of
nowhere.
Wtf, how are those guys even fitting over those arches? |
A few boards later, you’ll be running across a Roman
banquet table while Sylvester Stallone throws food at you. Eventually you’ll get to the boss, where you
find yourself fighting two tigers while a static background graphic of Julius
Caesar looks on grimly. Because the
tigers don’t actually attack you, they’re pretty easy to defeat.
Asterix and the Great Rescue has its
clever moments, but it also possesses too many objective flaws to truly give a
pass. When it’s hard it’s hard for all
the wrong reasons. Still, most of the
time it’s just playable enough to be fun.
I would love to see James Rolfe do an episode of The Angry Video Game Nerd and/or James & Mike Gaming Mondays of this game.
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