Crash


Asterix And The Magic Cauldron
By Melbourne House
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #34

Asterix And The Magic Cauldron

Back in 50 BC much of Gaul is under Roman rule except one village where Asterix and Obelix live. Asterix, made famous in cartoon strips and books, is the cunning tighter always confronting impossible situations, helped by his eternally hungry and rotund friend, Obelix.

The people of Asterix's village are not fighters but they do have magic on their side. Getafix, the wise village Druid, developed a mystical herbal recipe which, when drunk, gives the drinker powerful super-human strengths.

When Obelix was a baby he fell into Getafix 's cauldron and virtually overdosed on the elixir. The effects never worked off and sometimes he forgets his mighty strength. Naughty Obelix tries to get a top up during a brewing session, but Getafix sternly turns him away. Obelix is not amused and aims a gentle kick at the cauldron it shatters into seven pieces that scatter throughout Gaul. Vitalstatistix, the chief of the tribe, is not amused. Asterix and Obelix offer to hunt for the pieces so the elixir can be brewed again to save the village from the marauding Romans.

Asterix & The Magic Cauldron

There are fifty screens in the game depicting scenes from the village, the surrounding countryside, and the Roman encampments. Obelix will follow Asterix anywhere but there are limits and he has to be bribed with his favourite food: wild boar hams. Asterix starts his journey with five of these hams and one disappears each time Asterix and Obelix feel a little peckish. If the stock gets too low then Asterix has to fight a boar the fight sequences in the game take place in windows that zoom out of the main playscreen. Stamina bars for each combatant appear on the side of the window and the winner is the one who bill the other into submission first. Defeating the boar turns it into a baked ham that is added to the scoff chart. If Asterix loses a fight, the boar kicks him out of the window and he loses a life. The window system is also used when fighting with the Roman soldiers and when Asterix picks up useful objects along the way.

Asterix starts with five lives and a phial of the elixir which was salvaged from the broken cauldron. This can only be used once in the game in time of extreme trouble. The pieces of the cauldron are shown at the top of the screen when they have been pocketed. Keys can also be picked up to get Asterix and Obelix into previously unexplored areas of the game.

Comments

Control keys: Q up, Z down, I left, P right, SPACE fire
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: responsive
Use of colour: very bold and pretty, without clashes
Graphics: nice and large, attractive scenery
Sound: none
Skill levels: one
Screens: fifty

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