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Picture a once great Empire in decay. At one time rich, now its capital's streets are filled with beggars and the impoverished. At one time proud of its order and efficiency, now its roads crumble and collapse. Once stern and feared, its northern peoples are in open revolt. And its government - oh woe! The slap of firm government has been replaced by limp-wristed appeals for popularity and cheap publicity stunts.

But enough of the current situation in Britain. Let's look back to the quirky classical world of Asterix and his imperial nemesis Caesar. Rome has had its fill of Caesar, and in desperation he organises a festival to celebrate his past victories over the continent's unfortunate tribes ('Victory in Europe Day', perhaps?). Except one vital trophy has been lost - the shield of Gallic warlord Vercingetorix.

The relic found its way back to Gaul, and ended up in Asterix's village. Roman legionnaires were dispatched to bring it back to Rome, which they did under cover of darkness. Outraged, Asterix and best mate Obelix set out to restore Gaul's dignity and humiliate Caesar.

Licensed from the continental comic book characters. Core's second Asterix platformer for the Megadrive.

Recover the shield of Vercingetorix from Rome, the heart of Caesar's power. Solve many puzzles along the way.

Asterix books have always been a delight for their off-the-wall ideas and non-conformist approach, as well as genuine humour. The short introductory strip for Asterix: The Power Of The Gods is excellent in capturing the spirit and the quality of artwork found in the printed form.

In choosing music for the game, the programmers have plundered the repertoire of Classic music. It's quite an unusual path to take, but isn't as much of a turn off as it sounds. The 20-odd tunes come from the likes of Rimsky Korsakov, Prokofiev and Boccherini. Eh? But, worry ye not, most are well-known classics you'll recognise instantly from TV ads.

Nobody needs to be told that the French enjoy a bit of a rumble - eh, Eric? And Asterix gets stuck into those pasta-scoffing Roman soldiers before you can say "it's an early bath for you, Cantona me laddo".

Asterix and Obelix have special fighting moves, though both share a technique of grabbing their opponents and performing acts of extreme comic violence.

Ropes, levers, pulleys - the state of the art in hi-tech for the year 40BC - play a recurrent part in the puzzle-based gameplay. The effects of switch-pulling are manifold; from opening doors to dropping balls!

Pulleys operate restart points and ropes do all sorts of other things. The puzzles link the stages together, releasing a flaming boulder in the Gaulish forest has a devastating effect in the Roman encampments miles away.

Just how is for you to discover.

Asterix's world is connected by a series of linking roads. The characters have freedom to an extent to explore areas as they wish.

Leaving a level by the marked exits brings them to the main map. The map is split into sections, meaning some areas are blocked until much later in the game. In the earliest example, the heroes are trapped in France until a Fakir offers to fly them to find tea in India.

This could so easily have been overlooked considering its snooze-worthy predecessor, but this second Asterix game is really a little gem. Hiding behind some drawn out early levels is a feast of puzzle platforming, hundreds of lovely locations to seek out and more than enough action provided by the duo's latin bashing antics.

The graphics are fab throughou, crucially capturing the essence of the cartoon, as does the short cartoon demo.

But Asterix: The Power Of The Gods is more than cosmetically attractive. It's well thought out, it's challenging and it's clever. Puzzles in one place affect the outcome in other locations, and cunning little arrangements like the blocks in the Rajah's palace test the mind as well as the fingers, unlike so many platform games.

Resist the impulse to pass over Asterix: The Power Of The Gods for something flashier, as it is one to really get into.

Asterix fans can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief, that finally justice has been served in his latest console escapade. Whereas before the previous offerings were nothing to write home about, Asterix: The Power Of The Gods proves to be a highly successful mixture of game styles and technical knowledge.

The character sprites are faithful to the original comic strips, being both bright, bold, and colourful. But above all, the combination of carefully constructed levels full of platform action and RPG search to succeed investigation, sets this title apart from all others.

A word of warning though, Asterix: The Power Of The Gods is only for those tough enough to face a real challenge. Are you ready?

Graphics 90%
P. Classic renderings of the cartoon. All manner of varied palettes, objects and funny animations. Visually engaging at every point.

Sound 81%
P. The idea of classical music is a novel one. Some tunes suit their locations well.
N. Many of the arrangements use unconvincing instrument sounds.

Playability 91%
P. The game is one of the least linear you will encounter. Plenty of fights.
N. Maybe a little slow compared Sonic-style capers.

Lastability 88%
P. One continue, no passwords, tons of levels, unforgiving gameplay. This is the way we like 'em. Plenty of longevity.

Value For Money 89%
P. You feel the 16MEG of memory has been spent on gameplay, and Asterix weighs in as a substantial game at a reasonable price.

Overall 90%
Meaty as a roasted wild boar, gorge yourself on the platform decadence that is Asterix: Power Of The Gods: Ave Core! Ave Sega!