Astal

About Astal

Astal (1995) is Sega's hand-drawn Saturn platformer in which a boy made from a red jewel escapes his prison on the moon to rescue the girl he was created to protect, a largely ignored early Saturn game later remembered as a beautiful one.

Astal in Depth

Astal is a 2D side-scrolling platformer in which the hero runs and jumps through each level while avoiding or defeating obstacles and enemies. Different button combinations let him punch or throw enemies, punch the ground to stun those nearby, and inhale and exhale to charge a blowing attack that sweeps enemies or obstacles away. Parts of the scenery, such as trees and rocks, can be picked up and thrown. Defeating special glowing enemies fills a meter that calls in a bird to help, and in a limited asymmetrical co-op mode a second player controls the bird's wing attacks and dive-bombs. The graphics are hand-drawn, and Tokyo Movie Shinsha provided the animation for the cut-scenes.

The goddess Antowas created the world of Quartalia from a single jewel, then made two humans: from a green jewel, Leda, who has the power to make things live, and from a red jewel, Astal, made to protect her. While Antowas slept, the evil Jerado created the warrior Geist, who kidnapped Leda and held her beneath the ocean. Astal tore Quartalia apart to get her back, waking Antowas, who banished him to the moon, though Leda took pity and gave him her jewel. When Geist kidnaps Leda again, Astal breaks free and returns to a Quartalia transformed by Jerado, followed by a strange bird that will not leave him alone.

Making Astal

Sega developed and published Astal early in the Saturn's life. It sold 23,919 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu, and reviews were average. GamePro's Lawrence Neves found it charming but too frustrating for children and too short, calling it "a good rental", and Next Generation said it was "a fine, side-scrolling action game" for Saturn owners but not a reason to buy a 32-bit machine. A contemporary IGN review dismissed it as "crappy" and "derivative", but in 2008 IGN listed it among the top Saturn games, writing that it had been largely ignored, "no thanks to the garish box art", but cherished by those who took it home as "this beautiful example of a fading genre". Reviewer Jennifer Diane Reitz called it "a rare, but slightly flawed gem", too short but "one hell of a ride while it lasts".