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Dodgy cover artwork is always a bad sign. I get the feeling that when a company knows that the product they are working on isn't all that special, they intentionally stick unusual artwork on the cover to disguise it. Does it work? Never.

Now, I'm no expert in this field of mythology, but as far as I can make out, Astaroth is some sort of supreme evil being that has to be destroyed. There is only one thing in the universe that can kill it, and that's a normal mortal who is carrying the nine mystical talismans (talismen?) of Zargue. Astaroth knows this, and so has taken the nine talismen and hidden them deep within her caverns. Lucky you have been chosen to get in, find the nine talismen and utilise their powers to kill Astaroth.

Sounds a bit likt a bad deal to me. You know what the worst thing is? You are totally unarmed> the only thing you are able to do is dodge. Unfair or what? Still, as you travel through the flip screen maze, you find the nine talismen, each with its own special power. One allows you to fly upward, another bestows upon you the ability to breathe fire and so on. Believe me, without these, you are not going anywhere.

Graphically, it's not much. The backdrops and enemy sprites are nicely drawn, but very very repetitive. The main sprite is a bit strange, and the animation is poor. He glitches when he walks, and something tells me that the animation cycle is about five frames short. The worst thing of all is the fact that after all this time, Hewson are still bringing out flip screen games. After seeing how well Stormlord worked, you'd have thought they might at least have tried it out on this.

Astaroth is a very dull game to play. The element of exploration is there, but because of the very limited nature of the backdrops, you never really feel that you're getting anywhere. The challenge rapidly becomes very boring too, being limited to only four things: skulls and bats that swoop about, and raindrops and rocks that fall from the roof. I can't see anybody wanting to get all the way through this.

Not the best game Hewson have ever released. Short on gameplay, short on graphics and short on variety. I'd say this game is lacking a little, wouldn't you?