The Astyanax
Encyclopedia
The Astyanax, known in Japan
as , is a side-scrolling platform
arcade game
released by Jaleco
in 1989
. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System
was also released in Japan on December 21, and in North America in March 1990.
The NES version of the story revolves around a sixteen-year old high school
student at Greenview High known as Astyanax. He has dreams every night about a princess calling for help. One day while walking to school he is summoned to the mythical realm of Remlia by a pixie
named Cutie. He is directed to rescue Princess Rosebud from the evil wizard Blackhorn, but first he must fight off hordes of monsters set loose by the evil wizard Blackhorn. He must rescue the princess in order to return to the real world. In the course of the game Cutie sacrifices herself to save Astyanax from a trap, and he fights on to defeat Blackhorn alone. After being returned to Earth, he wonders if he dreamed it all until he meets Cutie, who was resurrected as a human by Princess Rosebud.
. The controls are fairly simple: the A Button makes Astyanax jump, the B Button will attack with an axe called Bash, and a combination of up and attack will perform a special magic attack. The game also contains a few role-playing elements, such as weapons upgrades. It had a unique feature (for the time) of a bar that grows between attacks; the length of the bar determines how much damage Astyanax will do with his next attack. If one attacks rapidly, one's hits will do little damage, much unlike most games where a rapid succession of hits would all be equally damaging.
Most of the sprites are unusually large and detailed for a mid-generation NES game, although this results in slowdown, flicker, and some questionable hit detection. The hit detection, object size and game physics make falling in pits a particularly high risk if hit when jumping.
The levels are both vertically and horizontally scrolling (but never a combination). Their structures are simple 16x16 blocks, which allowed an editor called "AstyEd" to be used with emulation
to make mods
of the game.
The same general gameplay was used for the arcade version, though without the weapons upgrades.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as , is a side-scrolling platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
released by Jaleco
Jaleco
is a Japanese video game publisher and developer established in 2006.The original Jaleco Ltd was founded in 1974. In 2006, it decided to become a pure holding company by renaming itself Jaleco Holding and splitting its video game operations into a newly created subsdiary that took its former name...
in 1989
1989 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* October 3, Brøderbund releases the Prince of Persia game, the first in a series of games, noted for its advancements in animation....
. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
was also released in Japan on December 21, and in North America in March 1990.
Plot
The arcade version centers around a warrior named "Roche" who pulls the mystical "Fire Axe" from a stone and fights his way to Castle Algerine to fight the evil wizard "Algos". After he is defeated, the hero enters the alien realm of the wizard's dark god, who also must be destroyed.The NES version of the story revolves around a sixteen-year old high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
student at Greenview High known as Astyanax. He has dreams every night about a princess calling for help. One day while walking to school he is summoned to the mythical realm of Remlia by a pixie
Pixie
Pixies are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name.They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed...
named Cutie. He is directed to rescue Princess Rosebud from the evil wizard Blackhorn, but first he must fight off hordes of monsters set loose by the evil wizard Blackhorn. He must rescue the princess in order to return to the real world. In the course of the game Cutie sacrifices herself to save Astyanax from a trap, and he fights on to defeat Blackhorn alone. After being returned to Earth, he wonders if he dreamed it all until he meets Cutie, who was resurrected as a human by Princess Rosebud.
Gameplay
Astyanax is a side-scrolling platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. The controls are fairly simple: the A Button makes Astyanax jump, the B Button will attack with an axe called Bash, and a combination of up and attack will perform a special magic attack. The game also contains a few role-playing elements, such as weapons upgrades. It had a unique feature (for the time) of a bar that grows between attacks; the length of the bar determines how much damage Astyanax will do with his next attack. If one attacks rapidly, one's hits will do little damage, much unlike most games where a rapid succession of hits would all be equally damaging.
Most of the sprites are unusually large and detailed for a mid-generation NES game, although this results in slowdown, flicker, and some questionable hit detection. The hit detection, object size and game physics make falling in pits a particularly high risk if hit when jumping.
The levels are both vertically and horizontally scrolling (but never a combination). Their structures are simple 16x16 blocks, which allowed an editor called "AstyEd" to be used with emulation
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
to make mods
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
of the game.
The same general gameplay was used for the arcade version, though without the weapons upgrades.