2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

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Gentlegamer
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Re: 2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

Postby Gentlegamer » February 23rd, 2017, 11:32 am

I remember Astyanax advertised has having '16-bit like graphics.'

mbd36
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Re: 2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

Postby mbd36 » February 23rd, 2017, 3:17 pm

Gentlegamer wrote:I remember Astyanax advertised has having '16-bit like graphics.'


It does have one of the largest and most detailed main character sprites in a NES game.

It's sort of like a NES version of the Legendary Axe. Gameplay is very similar.

Paul Campbell
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Re: 2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

Postby Paul Campbell » February 27th, 2017, 12:39 am

If those are 16 bit graphics, Batman:Return of the Joker is PSX level graphics. Far superior.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: 2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » March 3rd, 2017, 9:58 am

All I know is that kid me liked cartoons and kid me liked giant cel-shaded sprites. What are these bits you speak of? Sure, you wouldn't see half the characters when the giant cel-shaded sprites started flickering, and the enemy placement is best described as "a valiant attempt to turn the NES's cpu into a remotely detonated explosive device", but damn, if it didn't look good when you were just jumping around in an empty cave. B+ 7/10.

It's a good thing I couldn't afford Dragon's Lair.

cicbcw
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Re: 2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

Postby cicbcw » March 9th, 2017, 9:57 am

mbd36 wrote:I've completed POW twice. It's no Double Dragon, but it's decent.The stages are long and get repetitive, especially the fourth stage. I love the huge final boss.


Astyanax has nice graphics with the large sprites but the slowness of your character plus lots of enemies to bump you into pits can result in frustration. But it's not too bad to complete because it has infinite continues.


I thought POW was a better beat em up than Double Dragon on the NES since it didn't resort to adding platforming elements.

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Retro STrife
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Re: 2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

Postby Retro STrife » March 13th, 2017, 3:14 pm

I've had POW in my collection for a few months, but just got around to playing it this weekend based on the Critic's review. I wanted to like it but couldn't get into it..it was around a C- for me. I like the sound and graphics, but the fighting is stiff and repetitive. But the worst part was the difficulty. I couldn't make any progress in the game. I don't know how anyone could get out of the first level without cheat codes. The game did keep me coming back for more, but it was demoralizing to die so early over and over. Fortunately, there is a cheat for "21 Lives" and I eventually used that, which made the game more bearable... That was until the boss in the 2nd level.... He has this attack where he spreads grenades over the ground. It's very hard to avoid and each hit kills you instantly. And once you revive, you are often immediately hit and killed with another grenade before you can even move. Literally, once I got hit the first time by his grenade, I lost 15 straight lives and got Game Over. I couldn't recover and move or do anything...instead, just killed instantly by a new grenade each time I revived. And that also killed any desire I had to ever play this game again.

mbd36
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Re: 2017/2/21: NES: P.O.W., Astyanax

Postby mbd36 » March 13th, 2017, 4:05 pm

Retro STrife wrote:I've had POW in my collection for a few months, but just got around to playing it this weekend based on the Critic's review. I wanted to like it but couldn't get into it..it was around a C- for me. I like the sound and graphics, but the fighting is stiff and repetitive. But the worst part was the difficulty. I couldn't make any progress in the game. I don't know how anyone could get out of the first level without cheat codes. The game did keep me coming back for more, but it was demoralizing to die so early over and over. Fortunately, there is a cheat for "21 Lives" and I eventually used that, which made the game more bearable... That was until the boss in the 2nd level.... He has this attack where he spreads grenades over the ground. It's very hard to avoid and each hit kills you instantly. And once you revive, you are often immediately hit and killed with another grenade before you can even move. Literally, once I got hit the first time by his grenade, I lost 15 straight lives and got Game Over. I couldn't recover and move or do anything...instead, just killed instantly by a new grenade each time I revived. And that also killed any desire I had to ever play this game again.



I've completed the game without cheats on an actual NES, but not without using continues. The trick is don't get trapped between enemies.

For the first boss just keep moving around and jump kicking him.


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