While Astal does not bring much new to the table, it is still a very well crafted and enjoyable platformer.
Story - The story in Astal begins when the goddess Antowas creates a new world and 2 humans to live in it, Leda and Astal . Leda had the power to create life , and Astal , had the power to protect her. Sadly, the evil demon Jerado attempts to take over the world. While Astal battles the demon , he causes untold damage to the oceans. Antowas awakens , banishing Jerado and punishing Astal by casting him into exile. Yet Jerado still schemes to take over the world, and Astal equally determined to stop him and save Leda.
Astal features a surprisingly decent story for a 2D platformer , and while it does fall into the old cliche of "save the princess" , it does well enough to carry the gameplay.
Gameplay - Astal is a traditional 2D platformer and plays as such . Astal has various abilities with which to fight his enemies with. Astal can throw enemies away, or stomp on the ground to stun them . When fighting groups of enemies, Astal can blow his enemies away with a gust of air. controls are generally good and responsive.
What does set Astal apart is Astal's sidekick, a bird. The bird can be used in several ways, from finding healing items for Astal, to using level specific special attacks , the bird can be a useful ally, though to use the bird, one must defeat certain enemies (usually highlighted by glowing orbs) to gather enough power.
The game even features a 2 player mode where the 2nd player controls the bird, and while Astal isnt a particularly long game , much of its replayability comes from its difficulty, which like many old platformers , can be challenging.
Overall, the gameplay in Astal is not particularly innovative, but it is well done and the game is fun to play.
Graphics and Sound - From a visual standpont, Astal is a fantastic looking game . While the gameplay can be likened to an old 2D platformer found on the Mega Drive or SNES , the visuals certainly aren't. The Saturn's was considerd the best 2D console of its generation , and Astal uses that capability to create a world that looks truly great. The game is rich in colour and the overall look of the game is much like a painting in motion. Astal is quite possibly the best looking 2D platformer of its generation , even beating the mighty Rayman . Astal features more layers of scrolling in both the foreground and background , many of which are animated as well as better animation and more characters on the screen , many of which are rather large (one level has at least 15 characters on the screen at once , covering the top of the screen) . Astal even features various effects such as lighting aand shadows , as well as a number of 3D effects, outclassing Rayman and every other platformer released at the time.
Astal also does well in the sound department, while the voice acting in the short cutscenes inbetween some levels can be rather annoying , The important part of the sound , the music, is done well. Music can range to being fairly relaxed on some levels, to being tense on other levels ,boss fights in particular. various sound effects such as enemies and even Astal's footsteps, are all well done.
In general , Astal features superb production values.
In conclusion Astal is a great platformer , that while being very traditional in gameplay, is set apart from many other 2D platformers due to its fantastic visuals and sound, as well as fun and overall solid gameplay. While Astal never got a European PAL release, the US version is quite affordable, and the Japanese version is even cheaper , making Astal a must play for anyone who enjoys 2D platformers and is willing to overlook its somewhat traditional gameplay.