Asterix and the Great Rescue

Asterix and the Great Rescue
European Mega Drive cover art
Developer(s)	Core Design
Publisher(s)	Sega
Platform(s)	Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Gear, Sega Master System
Release date(s)	Mega Drive/Genesis:‹See Tfd› NA: 1994 EU: November 1993 Game Gear:‹See Tfd› NA: 1995 EU: September 1994 Master System: EU: September 1994 BR: 1994
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Asterix and the Great Rescue is a video game released by Sega for the Genesis/Mega Drive in 1993 and for the Game Gear and Master System in 1994.

Plot

This game is based on the long-running, French comic book series Asterix the Gaul. The characters Asterix and Obelix must rescue Getafix (Panoramix) and Dogmatix (Idéfix) from the Romans, who are in the process of taking over Gaul.

Gameplay

It is a side-scrolling platform game. The startup screen offers a choice of difficulty level, as well as the ability to turn off the music and/or sound effects. The Master System version allows changing characters during a level, whereas the Megadrive port removes this feature in favour of allowing choosing characters at the start of a level.

Reception

Reviewing the Genesis version, GamePro criticized the steep difficulty slope and poor controls, elaborating that "it's annoyingly easy to mix up the button for swapping special weapons with the button for using the special weapons. Even worse, the hard-to-control jumps become ... a big frustration when you need to jump precisely, but can't."[emphases in original] They nonetheless recommended the game to players who like tough puzzles.^[1]

Mean Machines gave a positive review of the Master System version which was described as "particularly entertaining" and "compulsive". The graphics were praised including the characters' resemblance to the original comic versions. The game was found to be lacking originality as it was so similar to previous titles featuring Disney characters, and sometimes frustrating but was judged to be "a great game".^[2]

The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Game Gear version a 5 out of 10, remarking that the graphics are well done the sounds are "a nuisance", and that the controls make the game excessively frustrating.^[3] GamePro similarly wrote that the Game Gear version's graphics and animation are good but that controlling the character is extremely difficult.^[4]

References