Dan Geeks Out: Video Game Review #382: Astal

Astal

Sega Saturn

Nostalgia Factor:

I've been aware of Astal for as long as I've owned my Sega Saturn. I remember the Saturn coming with a demo disc that had brief gameplay clips from Astal on it. I always thought the game looked pretty cool, but I never got the chance to actually play it. None of the local rental stores had it and I never once saw it available out in the wild for purchase. This title faded out of my memory completely. Until now: 2022. 27 years after Astal's initial release.

Mop Up Duty rolls on with my review of 1995's Astal.

Story:

This game's story is kind of a mess. I played through Astal twice and neither time did I come away with a feeling that I really knew what was going on. It focuses around the main character of Astal and his quest to protect Leda, a life form responsible for spreading life on Astal's planet. They were both created by a God, or something. Leda is kidnapped by the forces of evil, who are attempting to violently take over the planet. Astal, with the help of his loyal bird friend, has to defeat this evil and save Leda. There's a lot of other stuff going on here, but I'm not even going to make an attempt to explain it. It's very abstract.

Gameplay:

Just like I said in my last review (which was for Clockwork Knight), there is absolutely nothing special about Astal's gameplay. It's a 2D side-scrolling platformer. You control Astal, who moves at an absolute snail's pace. It's your goal to make it to the end of the level (normally by just going right) and making it to a shining portal, which takes you to the next level. Every once in a while you fight a boss character. A tried and true formula for 2D side-scrollers, if I've ever seen one.

Astal's movements are pretty simple. You can walk, you can double tap in any direction to run, and you can jump. Astal attacks by punching. Using the up and down buttons you can do some special attacks, like punching the ground or sucking in a big breath that you blow at your enemies. You can jump on your enemies too, but you just bounce off of them. This comes in handy when you want to cross long chasms or if you want to bounce into the air to reach hanging items. The pace of the game is very, very slow. As long as you are taking your time and being cautious, the game is quite easy.

Not too long into playing, Astal picks up a bird companion. I'm not exactly sure what buttons you use to control this bird. It seemingly acts at random. But the bird will either attack enemies onscreen or it will go off screen and come back with health items for you to use.

The main challenge of this game comes in its boss battles. None of these bosses are too horribly difficult, just a lot of trial and error and remembering their patterns. You'll probably die more during these boss fights than you will during the actual levels, but that is okay. With a little practice you'll get through them just fine. And this game does have a lot of memorable boss battles. You even play as the bird in one of them. When all is said and done and I look back on Astal a few years down the road, that's probably the only thing I'll remember about the game, besides its visuals. Everything else is very meh.

Graphics:

The graphics are easily the best thing about Astal. Bright colors, mystical landscapes, nice looking sprite artwork and animation. Everything pops off the screen and helps deliver a truly immersive fantasy experience. If I had to compare the look and feel of this game to anything I've seen, it would be to the Dark Crystal series on Netflix.

Sound:

Astal's sound impresses as well, although it doesn't shine as brightly as its graphics. The music in this game helps reinforce the fantasy setting. The in-game sound effects and short voice clips are exactly what they need to be for this type of game. There are narrated cutscenes between some of the stages, and the voice acting is on point.

Overall:

Astal is so mediocre it's almost painful. I really WANT to like the game, due to its unique concept, gorgeous visual effects, and immersive fantasy setting. But the gameplay is so slow, basic, and unintuitive that it just completely drags everything down with it.

There is nothing special about this title as far as gameplay goes. Literally nothing. But then again I can't really say it is bad either. It's just there. It exists. It's fine, I guess, but I see no reason to ever play this again.

My thoughts on this game are going to echo my thoughts on Clockwork Knight - my last game review. There's literally nothing else I can give this game but a C. It's aggressively mediocre, almost as if it takes pride in that accomplishment. It's funny, because if they had combined the visual elements of Astal with the more fluid gameplay features of Clockwork Knight, Sega might have actually come up with a pretty good game. Instead we get two very average ones.

THE GRADE:

40th Birthday Mop Up Duty Celebration Tour:

1982 reviews:

1983:

1984:

Frogger II: Threedeep!