Game Club 2017 (January) - Asterix and the Secret Mission

[ian]

So I've played this game any times before, but thought I'd give it another bash in the spirit of game club.
It's still a great game, with fantastic graphics, good control and playability. There are some fairly tricky puzzles too (Ice Palace darkness section, final flower) and some tough platforming sections but overall I found the game fairly easy. I breezed through it and seem to remember the original game being a lot longer.

The one major issue with the game is the horrendous slow-down. It was almost unplayable in parts when too many sprites were on screen. But it was still fun and I hope some of you have enjoyed it.

[playgeneration]

Played this a bit today, for some reason I've not played it for very long before, always played the first game more. Its a quality sequel, adding more features yet keeping the same feel of the first game. The graphics as with the first game perfectly capture the style of the books, and the animated film which I watched a lot as a kid. I love how the levels change depending on which character you play as, and that Asterix and Obelix have different moves, adding to the replay value. The obelix sprite in particular is impressively big too. Its really nice mix of platforming and some puzzles to solve, and that surfing level is really cool.

It's another one of those games that had it been released on the Nes would be regarded as a classic and would be far better known about.

[Centrale]

(Sorry, I accidentally posted this in the main thread at first.) I finally got a little time to play it today. My first impression is that the character animation is fantastic! Asterix is a comic that I've always been aware of but haven't read yet... I think its availability has been kind of spotty in the states. But I'm familiar with the design of the characters and it seems you couldn't really ask for better character artwork from an 8-bit perspective!

Playing through the first few levels, I found a way up into the clouds at one point. A little later on I realized you can double-jump, which I wasn't aware of at first. I've only just begun, but so far so good! This game is really cool... looking forward to getting further with it!

[Transatlantic Foe]

It looks amazing but it does have crippling slowdown - a roman tried to do something and I have no idea what it was, but the whole thing ground to a halt until I could get him off screen. There is a special place reserved in hell for whoever made the music.

The control is terrible though, Asterix feels so sluggish to start moving - but it's not a proper inertia thing, because you don't gain speed or anything. There isn't a feeling that your punch is actually punching something either, it just seems to kill what you touch while the animation is playing. I assume the puzzles and potions make sense if you have the manual? For one bit I was stuck with a rock on an edge and you have to dash into the wall to knock the rock down, I accidentally worked out there is a dash in confusion at where to go. Right before it was a jump that doesn't seem possible (maybe it is with the dash though?) and an annoying water pool (that for some reason insta-kills you) off screen under it. So drop straight down and you're fine but fail the jump and instant death.

I died repeatedly at the pirate ship, trying to jump between water fountains with those laggy, sluggish controls and do you get a boost if you jump just before you bounce? Exactly where does the bit of the fountain you can bounce on end? It seems very finnicky. This is probably I hate platform games - most of the learning curve is getting used to where the edges of platforms really are and dealing with dumb memorise-or-die design such as "leap of faith or leap of faith with specific timing you only get after dying first time", and "is this an actual bottomless pit or an area transition".

[barney]

I finally got round to starting this. I've only played a couple of levels so far, but it seems like a reasonable platformer. The slowdown is pretty bad and I'd agree with the sluggish controls, but I'll keep plugging away at a few more levels before making any real judgement.

[Rastanfarian]

Still anxiously awaiting the arrival of my copy. Hope it arrives soon so I can get in on the discussion.

[soup]

Due to being a 'cheap a child conceived out of wedlock' I still haven't managed to get my hands on a copy, I am still trying though. (Very trying I'm told.)

[Centrale]

Had some time to play this evening and I got through the pirates level with Asterix (Obelix perished somewhere in the underwater level). Asterix surfing was a blast! What a cool effect. I could imagine an entire game being built around that play mechanic. I had a hard time getting through the bouncy geisers of water inside the pirate ship. I guess that's why they thoughtfully included an extra life in the clay pot right before you go through there! The boss battle was cool... a little tricky with the falling objects due to the momentum/physics of starting to run and stopping, but nothing too frustrating.

I did get stuck for a while in the caves in an earlier level and had to look up a walkthrough to get to one of the levers you have to pull.

[ShadowAngel]

Somehow i had more positive memories of the game. The slowdowns are downright annoying and they affect the controls badly. The "music" is also annoying and just horrendous.
The level design though is quite good with some diversity and secrets to explore. Altough i wonder why they added soe many items that ultimately do nothing really, the yellow potion just makes asterix break blocks which could be added as is without that animation and i don't even know what the bones actually do...

The first Asterix, in my oppinion, is miles ahead of this one.

[Kaunisto]

Jan 19, 2017 4:59:52 GMT Centrale said:

I did get stuck for a while in the caves in an earlier level and had to look up a walkthrough to get to one of the levers you have to pull.

Not having given really serious try (busy January), I still haven't gotten past that...

[Centrale]

I wonder if the slowdown when a block is breaking is intended to be an effect? I can't imagine moving four sprites of block fragments is really that taxing on the SMS CPU.

[Centrale]

Finished it! It's got a nice, satisfying ending sequence.

There are a couple of interesting maze-like sections late in the game. In one level everything could go dark. In another, there is a maze of passageways through blocks and platforms. (Edit: To clarify - blocks and platforms that normally would be solid can be walked through. You have to find your way through an 'invisible' maze in which the entire screen seems to be filled with solid blocks.)

There are a number of interesting tricky areas where things are not what they appear to be. The problem is, the game doesn't really teach you how to approach these. I'm thinking of a game like Monster World IV, which I thought for the most part had a really nice, smooth progression of introducing a new technique or characteristic and then following that with a level that allows you to utilize that technique and infer variations on it. Of course that was from a few years after this game. If anything I'd like for Asterix and the Secret Mission to have gone on longer and include more variations of the play mechanics it introduces along the way. Another example is an upside-down level where the controls are reversed. It's fun but it only occurs once, briefly, and I imagine a number of interesting variations could have been done with this mechanic.

Overall, I like it a lot. It does have a slightly unfinished, or perhaps it's best just to say unpolished, feeling with the slowdown and the way music can hang for a bit as you exit a level. But it's still pretty cool and I'm glad I've played it!

[nearbythiscafe]

First chance ive got to play this tonight and first impressions are:

Great graphics
Annoying music

And a very irritating slow down, BUT its still very playable and ill look forward to playing it in more depth.

[Retrobob]

I got a bit further last night as I'd been stuck on the whirlwind boss. Think I got to the level where it goes dark - how far am I through the game?

[Deleted]

First time I have played an Asterix game, was only a quick session but the graphics are great. Definitely a game I am going to spend longer on when I have more time, I got stuck on one of the bosses and really want to see what else the game offers in later levels.
As others have mentioned the slow down when punching is abit annoying but I suppose something has to suffer for the brilliant graphics.
Overall my sort of game, I like platform games with a puzzle element. I will definitely have to give the first one a go after others have mentioned preferring that one.
Great choice of game to kick off the game club