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

Let me know what you think about my reviews.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

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

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 21st, 2017, 7:04 pm

I'd like to present two new NES reviews for your reading enjoyment. Comments are encouraged.

User avatar
scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

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

Postby scotland » February 21st, 2017, 8:12 pm

Check the spelling of 'amoeba' in Astyanax.

This is a game I have had a long time, but never got far. Which is kinda fitting since in Greek Mythology Astyanax is killed as a child by being tossed off the walls of Troy. Why anyone would name either their son or a video game after this character is something to ponder.

Ever thought of an icon for 'arcade port'? This is another one.

User avatar
Stalvern
Posts: 1952
Joined: June 18th, 2016, 7:15 pm

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

Postby Stalvern » February 22nd, 2017, 1:45 am

scotland wrote:Check the spelling of 'ameoba' in Astyanax.

Check the spelling of "amoeba" in your post!

User avatar
scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

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

Postby scotland » February 22nd, 2017, 5:55 am

Stalvern wrote:
scotland wrote:Check the spelling of 'ameoba' in Astyanax.

Check the spelling of "amoeba" in your post!


Curses....foiled by those mobile virtual keyboards. That's one bit of innovation that went the wrong direction.

Rod
Posts: 7
Joined: February 22nd, 2017, 9:58 am

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

Postby Rod » February 22nd, 2017, 10:05 am

I remember playing Astyanax on the NES as a kid, and, although the game was tough, I was able to find an invincibility code to play it through - I believe it spoils the fun, but as a kid, I just didn't mind. I found the game very attractive graphics-wise, and as I grew older and had the chance to play arcade games on MAME, I discovered an arcade version of this game. I just didn't like it, the NES version is much cooler IMHO. 8-)

mbd36
Posts: 558
Joined: April 18th, 2015, 10:32 am

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

Postby mbd36 » February 22nd, 2017, 12:10 pm

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.

mbd36
Posts: 558
Joined: April 18th, 2015, 10:32 am

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

Postby mbd36 » February 22nd, 2017, 12:54 pm

Rod wrote: I discovered an arcade version of this game. I just didn't like it



Because it lacked the invincibility code? :mrgreen:

Rod
Posts: 7
Joined: February 22nd, 2017, 9:58 am

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

Postby Rod » February 22nd, 2017, 2:13 pm

mbd36 wrote:
Rod wrote: I discovered an arcade version of this game. I just didn't like it



Because it lacked the invincibility code? :mrgreen:


Maybe. LOL :D

Just kidding. Nah, it's just not as cool. The same happens to Section Z - I owned a copy as a teen, and played it quite well, being able to beat it. I later discovered there was an arcade version too, and it just sucked... everything that had drawn me to the NES game was just gone, the only things the versions had in common were their names, their softwarehouse - CAPCOM, and the fact that you played with a dude on a jetpack. The rest was all different!

Paul Campbell
Posts: 259
Joined: August 12th, 2015, 10:52 pm

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

Postby Paul Campbell » February 23rd, 2017, 1:29 am

This is an interesting set of reviews that you have paired up for me.

I have very specific love/hate relationships with both of these games, and in both cases a significant part of the "love" side comes from where and when I played them as a kid. In both situations they were the only game I had at a family function where there was nothing else to do, and even a solid port of Pong would have felt like the greatest game of all time.

I liked the graphics and music of POW, but the repetitive feeling of the gameplay, as well as some of the strange sound effects (killing a bad guy sounds like you kicked a puppy in the nose) really annoyed me. it felt like they were putting too much emphasis in the wrong place. SO MANY of those bad guys look exactly the same. Oh that this game had a way to add more moves to your arsenal like the original NES Double Dragon. That would have made all the difference in the world.

I worshipped Ninja Gaiden as a kid, and I felt like Astyanax was a half-hearted attempt to recreate the theatrics of Ninja Gaiden. Those cut scenes where the text crawls SO slowly, and the dialog is SO plain and boring, made me angry that they even bothered. The in-game graphics are above average but they also had a strange, unfinished look to them. Sprites were large but poorly animated, and the colors of the sprites have a "washed out" look that the rest of the game doesn't have. But worst of all, the collision detection and graphics didn't give you a real sense that you were hitting anything. It felt like you were swinging past everything, which never felt solid.

There. That's my rant on these games.

ESauce
Posts: 449
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 12:20 pm

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

Postby ESauce » February 23rd, 2017, 9:54 am

I think I have both of these games and I've never played either of them (I bought a big lot of NES games a while back). I guess I should give them a try.


Return to “Review Feedback”