Asterix (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
234A playthrough of Konami's 1992 license-based arcade beat 'em up game, Asterix.
Played through on the machine's default difficulty setting.
With the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1989, Konami unleashed the first of what would quickly become a huge stable of high quality, license-based arcade action games. From G.I. Joe to The Simpsons, Aliens to Bucky O'Hare - and beyond - no matter what it was, they had the golden touch.
But with so many titles being released within the span of a few short years, some were bound to fall through cracks and go unnoticed, no matter how good they might've been. While games based on the better known licenses (like TMNT and X-Men) regularly drew huge crowds and are still popular today, those based on lesser recognized franchises have never been able to attract the same level of attention or fandom.
Asterix, for those of you who aren't familiar, is the starring hero of the French comic "Astérix le Gaulois," or Asterix the Gaul. Asterix and his flamboyant friend Obelix generally busy themselves with protecting Gaul from invading Roman forces, and their adventures are chronicled across several volumes, many of which have been adapted into feature films.
But as popular as Asterix is in French, he has always been a fairly obscure character America, and this probably contributed to it being among the least known in Konami's celebrated line of quarter-munching games.
All that aside, Asterix plays a great deal like the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Mechanically, most of the moves and controls are similar between them: you get the expected selection of punches, jump kicks, and dash attacks, though Asterix gives you a wider selection of grappling moves and a few special team-up moves if you're in two-player mode. Those boosts in the repertoire are a real God-send, because let me tell you - Asterix is not an easy game. The enemies like to box you in and take advantage when you're distracted by thrashing you from behind, and they hit hard. The boss fights also tend to be merciless affairs if don't have some sort of strategy going in, but though it's difficult, Asterix plays so smoothly that you probably won't mind the practice it requires to master. It's fun, even when it's gleefully curb-stomping your ego.
And finally, those graphics! Konami games always looked good, but with this one they managed to nail the look and feel of the property's characters better than just about any other license-based game they made at the time. The animation for the main characters is liquid smooth, and the attention to detail is just ridiculous - check out everyone's facial expressions at random moments, or at the sheer amount of stuff packed into the backdrops. My favorite flourish had to be the way the enemies react when they see Asterix getting a kiss Falbala, the blonde hottie - some of them look so dejected.
The soundtrack is no slouch either. It's not as memorable as what you'll hear in Sunset Riders or Lethal Enforcers, but it has a fun bit of FM-synthesized symphonic flair, and it's plenty upbeat and dramatic enough to keep pace with the action. I especially loved the ending credits theme.
Asterix has never been ported to any other platform, so unless you have access to an original machine, MAME is the only viable way of playing it these days, but if you haven't yet had the pleasure, I'd highly recommend spending a few hours with this classic.
And if you're interested in seeing more arcade games in action, feel free to peruse this playlist of the ones I've recorded: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gSj_kh1fHu7aKq_2CnZkxm8Y1ecuO3W
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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