The first was 2D
Asterix’s adventure in the gaming world begins in 1983, on the 2600’s. A simple video game, where we control a rooster icon to make magic food and potion away, avoiding Roman legionaries. For all the 1980s, there have been a series of adventure
genres, created by the dead Coktel Vision . More than a captivating gameplay , there is a need (even moral) to recreate Uderzo’s styled style, ma
de of soft lines and glittering colors. An ambition that the French studio pursues with, but it just does not. It is only in the early nineties that this becomes entirely possible. In 1991 SEGA developed and published its version of Gallo on the Master System. Simply called Asterix , the title is a well-grounded platform vide
o game, clearly inspired by the immortal Super Mario. Imitating Asterix or Obelix calibrating jumps, collecting coins and food (the inevitable boar thistles) and defeating the enemies by leaping them to the head. Obelis can also break through rock walls by taking adva
ntage of its superhuman strength. If the design of the game does not contain great surprises, it is finally aesthetics to color yourself genuinely. In spartan environments, the drawing and animation of the spritesare finally recognizable and colorful, as well as excellently animated. That road is then traversed to Asterixof Konami. Released the next year for
the arcade market, the video game completely abandons the platforms for a pure beat’em up to sliding, obviously consumable even in two. The Japanese aesthetic traces up to Uderzo’s stretch: the proverbial couple’s beeps are accompanied by onomatopoeia
all the same to those of the cartoons. The screen is cluttered with enemies and the colors are lit, lush like a tropical forest. It goes without saying that gameplay remains at a simplistic level, obviously pointing to the “amazement” effect of moving comics.
The second was 2D and Infogrames
The change comes after 1992. Abandoned arched excesses, the territorial target of the series of video games narrows more and more. The reason
is trivial: Having achieved the goal of recreating hand-made screen designs, we realize that the brand is just not out of the European sphere. Konami’s coin-op does not go beyond the underground, which leads to the disinterest of the Japanese house. Asterix’s fate is back in French hands: this time the Editions Albert-René give the v
ideogame exploitation rights to a small publisher called Infogrames . The study by Christophe Sabet and Bruno Bonnell is in fact purchasing French-Belgian comics (from Puffs to Lucky Luke) to capitalize on success outside the paper. Asterix wants to create a “European” adventure, and the ambitious project is entrusted to the barcelonian Bit M
anager project. It was born in Asterix & Obelix , released on PC and Super Nintendo in 1995. Gradually avant-garde, the title enshrines the return to a more straightforward and clean style. Abandoned the excesses of arched, the setting becomes more sober an
d evocative, and citazionism from the comic booklets less confusing. Also remember the soundtrack of Alberto José Gonzalez , still recognized as one of the best Spanish chiptunes composers .
The success is very good, and the game is still remembered today to be the milestone in the 2D series. Lots of productions in the coming years will re-use animations, environments and concepts that were originally created for this game. The game itself will later be rewritten on Game Boy and then brought in full on Game Boy Advance in 2002 (part of the Bash Them All compilation ).
The 3D era
Bruno Bonnell’s patronage continues throughout the 1990s. The businessman bakes up the Asterix franchise while firmly anchored to the two dimensions. In this sense, the best opportunity is represented by the release of the Game Boy Color, which u
ntil 2000 hosts the Galli pair in several smaller or smaller tie-ups. They are passable works, but they nevertheless came to terms with the sprite of the “golden age of the 2D”. On this console, in addition to remake of Super Nintendo titles, there is space for some original creation such as Asterix: on the tracks of Idefix , released in 2000 and developed by Re
bellion (future authors of the Sniper Elite ).
But the PlayStation is now dominating, and the 3D is almost imposing on the drawn universe of irreducible cocks. Infogrames is, in spite of her, forced to support it. The result came in 1998 with Asterix: The Gallic War on PlayStation and PC. For the Gallo franchise, a completely new road is being attempted, that of the shift strategist. Faced with the
usual plot (little more than an excuse) we find ourselves on a strategic map of Gaul. Starting from the village in Armorica you have to recapture the territories occupied by the Romans, who also respond to each turn end. Scattered on the m
ap there are six Key Territories , each of which hides an ingredient of the Magic Potionwhich makes it invincible. These territories must be conquered by directly controlling one of the two Gallic warriors, crossing a level in sau
ce action. Despite the boldness of wanting to combine two kinds so far away, the game fails to convince. The 3D proposed by Infogrames is in fact very rough (sometimes the buildings look like plasterboard) and the controls are not comfortable out of the 2D. T
he rigidity of the game is so many and so that a year later it is distributed a second edition, called Asterix: Favorite Heroes . It has upgraded graphics and controls, based on the most optimized PC version. Already more or less in 1999 comes also Asterix & Obelix Against Caesar, a video adaptation of the same name film reminded i
n Italy for the presence of Roberto Benigni as antagonist. Although this time the graphics are of slightly better quality (with places and actors of the film well-recreated and also dubbed in Italian) the game has a poor gameplay and is far from comparabl
e to the Infogrames work.
The latest spin on the PlayStation’s irreducible Gauls is Asterix and the Banquet Party, a positive but unpretentious party game.
