Asterix - Super Nintendo SNES

Astérix for Super Nintendo SNES

Astérix for Super Nintendo SNES is an action platform game in which you search for the missing Obelix. His wild boar hunt has ended in abduction by the Romans. Playing Astérix, you leave the Gaulish village and travel through forests, army camps and other parts of the Roman Empire. Enemy soldiers, animals and traps block the way. You combine jumps with punches and use objects from the surroundings to advance. In this adventure, Obelix is the person you must rescue.

You can run, duck, climb and hang from ledges, among other actions. A quick punch hits a nearby enemy; by preparing the attack for longer, Astérix delivers a more powerful blow. Objects can be picked up and thrown. Magic potion temporarily gives extra strength, while food replenishes lost energy. Along the way you meet familiar characters from the comics. The bard's singing can briefly freeze opponents, helping you cross a dangerous section more easily.

This is an adventure for one player using a standard controller, not a shared game with a second controllable Gaul. The bar at the top of the screen shows information including energy, lives and remaining time. Looking carefully helps you plan a jump or attack before the Romans strike. You work with lives and continues during the same play session. The original cartridge has no battery-backed saving and no normal password system for starting a later session at a level already reached.

Region and language

Our Super Nintendo SNES games are PAL editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.

Manual

With Astérix for Super Nintendo SNES, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.

The history of Astérix

Infogrames developed and published Astérix for Super Nintendo in 1993. The game uses the comic-book world created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Their Gaul first appeared on 29 October 1959 in the first issue of Pilote; the first album followed in 1961. The contrast between the small village and the Roman occupiers also provided this game's starting point, with Obelix's disappearance giving a reason to investigate beyond the village.

Astérix games also appeared on NES and Game Boy that year, but the SNES release has a separate development team and its own visual design. Infogrames made this sixteen-bit version; Bit Managers created the NES and Game Boy releases. The SNES credits name programmers Yannick Turbé and Vincent Pourieux, among others, and composer Frédéric Mentzen. Music or technical details from a handheld game with the same name therefore do not automatically apply here, even though the games share their comic-book hero and rescue story.

The original SNES release reached the European market. An announced American release under Electro Brain was never published. This adventure also appeared before Astérix & Obélix, which later came to SNES as well. Here you control only Astérix while searching for his friend; the later game builds a different structure around the duo. Meanwhile, the drawn backgrounds, familiar villagers and exaggerated fights translate recognisable elements of the albums into a two-dimensional obstacle course.

Similar games for Super Nintendo SNES

Super Mario World for Super Nintendo SNES, like Astérix, calls for precise jumping and recognising enemy patterns. Mario can travel with Yoshi and fly with a cape, while Astérix mainly punches, uses objects and gains temporary strength from magic potion. Mario's world map branches through secret exits. Astérix follows the search for Obelix through a series of areas, where fighting Romans plays a larger role than Mario's changing forms.

Donkey Kong Country on Super Nintendo SNES likewise connects a rescue journey and collectibles with jumps through dangerous landscapes. Donkey and Diddy can take over from each other while playing, whereas in Astérix you keep controlling the same hero. The Kongs attack by rolling and use barrels as projectiles. Astérix throws punches and reaches for objects from his comic-book world. Both demand timing, but the tag-team switch changes how you approach a difficult passage in Donkey Kong Country.

Disney's Aladdin for Super Nintendo SNES, like Astérix, puts a familiar drawn hero into a platform adventure. Aladdin uses apples, jumps and ledge grabbing to cross the film's environments. Astérix has punches, magic potion and Roman soldiers instead of palace guards. Both translate a recognisable drawing style into moving characters, but Aladdin's route follows the Disney film, while Astérix tells a search story within the world of the comic albums.

The Smurfs for Super Nintendo SNES is another Infogrames platform game about European comic characters and kidnapped friends. You jump through natural environments and dodge animals on the way to Gargamel. Astérix searches for Obelix in the Roman Empire and can take on enemies with his fists. The Smurfs use actions including jumps and thrown objects. The rescue journey is the shared element, but the heroes' different sizes change how woodland plants, animals and other obstacles are presented on screen.

Aero the Acro-Bat on Super Nintendo SNES likewise combines jumping with attacks and environmental objects. The bat moves through circus equipment using a diagonal drill attack and often has to complete a specific task before the exit opens. Astérix mainly uses punches and travels through the comic-book world towards the missing Obelix. Both have you learn dangerous routes, but Aero more often sends you looking for remaining hoops or platforms within a single level.