Quick notes:
Here we go! The first review that I'm letting out that will appear on my Saturn page due out sometime in '05! First, the reason I decided to review this game first is because I am currently without a digital camera, and this is one game where I didn't feel pictures were neccessary. Had I had a digital camera, you can bet your ass Taroumaru would have been the first review out as I would love to showcase some of the awesome bosses in that game! But thats beside the point. I feel I should probably describe how my weirded out scoring system works before you lazy people jump down and just look at the score real quick(all while ignoring the actual review), so here goes!
Most games will be scored on 5 main categories: Presentation/Design (Do the menus look good? Title screen? Overall look? Are the characters/enemies well designed and interesting? How about the levels?), Graphics (Is it sexy enough?), Sound/Music (Sound good? Is the soundtrack memorable? Are the sound effects clear and crisp or extra muddy?), Replay (Much reason to play it again? Or if its a quickie like a 2D fighter or a shmup, is there much more to do/unlock other than just the main game?), and of course the most important, Gameplay (Is it fun?). Each one of those 5 are scored on a 1.0-10.0 basis.
Now, there will typically be "Bonus" points as well. I can't really go into what they will be for every genre, but lets take shmups and 2D fighters for example:
In a shmup, the scoring system is typically important to most serious players, right? Therefore, I'll award a +1-+5 pending on how deep or enjoyable the scoring system is. So for instance, Radiant Silvergun would get a +5 since it has a really neat chain thing going, whereas Blast Wind would probably get a +1 since its pretty much "shoot everything and collect powerups".
In a 2D fighter, it seems most players are concerned with how "deep" the gameplay is. So like, a typical King of Fighters title would probably get a +5 since those tend to have very deep gameplay, whereas Astra Superstars is only getting a +1 (awww, I spoiled it) since its more... button mashy.
So, for the "Average score" I add the 5 core scores, then put a decimal in front of the bonus points (so +1 is .1, +5 is .5), add that into the sum of the core scores, and divide by 5. Then there's a "My Score" which is just what I give it out of a 1-10 system offhand. Just a way for me to say "Hey, this game got some low scores, but damn I still love it!" really.
So, thats about all I feel I need to explain. Feedback and constructive criticism are both more than welcome and will definitely help me with future reviews!!! So, on with the review bitches.
*Note: Sorry for the weird spacing, I did the review in notepad, so now the forums are bastardizing it! I tried to fix it as best I could, but some stuff just isn't working right.
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Title: Astra Superstars
Genre: 2D Fighter
Players: 1-2
Developed by: Santa Claus
Published by: Sunsoft
Platform: Saturn
Peripherals: 4MB Cart
Save Space: 4 Blocks
Released: 08/06/98
Back in December of '96, SunSoft released a wacky and insane 2D fighter for the Neo Geo titled "Waku Waku 7"(which is supposedly the sequel to their '95 title, "Galaxy Fight"). From what little I've read of it, it is a "Vampire Hunter"esque 2D fighter with wacky characters and over-the-top super moves. Now, fast forward roughly 2 years and meet the "supposed" ST-V based sequel to Waku Waku 7, Astra Superstars. I say "supposed" because, as far as I can tell, Astra Superstars has very little to do with Waku Waku 7, character wise or gameplay wise.
At first glance, Astra Superstars seems like your typical 2D fighter from SunSoft with its nicely animated colorful anime-esque characters. And yes, at
its base Astra Superstars is just a 2D fighter. But, its a 2D fighter that takes place in the air. Thats right, both characters are floating for the
entire match. Which basically equates to "Hey, you know how in fighting games pushing up makes you jump? Well in this one, you can do that, AND YOU CAN PUSH DOWN!" Indeed, Astra Superstars does present one of the most unique concepts I have ever witnessed in a 2D fighter, as the ability to jump either up or down does present an interesting twist to the genre. But of course, as most fighting game fanatics would be quick to questions, if you move down if you push down, doesn't that limit your special moves? Well... read on.
Gameplay:
Like I said above, the game plays like most 2D fighters do, except it takes place in the air and pushing down actually makes you "jump down". So
pretty much the entire screen is game for the fight, and if you don't want your ass handed to you, me thinks it should be used. Each character is
given 6 basic attacks, obviously keyed to each of the 6 face buttons on the Saturn pad. TYPICALLY (but not always) the bottom buttons (A,B,C) are used for the punch based attacks and the top buttons (X,Y,Z) are used for the... other... attacks. It seems each character has their own style of fighting, in the sense that not everyone has the regular "punches and kicks". For instance, for Stella the top row is used for three different magic based attacks (beam, whirlwind, and star), whereas for Lettuce they are used for the straight forward power punches. I could probably spend the rest of this review going over what each character's set of attacks is, but lets just say none of them really share the same types of attacks,
and the only common attack is the A button's "rapid punch", which you will be using a lot as its the main way into combos. Ah yes, combos, the pride and joy of many the 2D fighting fan. Nothing quite like stringing along a bunch of complex moves and manuevers to really dish out the damage is there? Well, out are the complex moves and maneuvers and in is the tapping of A and finishing it off with any one of the other attacks. Oh sure, you can "link" attacks, go into a rapid punch combo, knock the player down to the bottom of the screen, pursue, and whip out a special move. But
the fact remains that the combos in this game typically consist of 4 buttons used on average. Speaking of special moves, they are present in AS.
Well, not the QCF+HPs or the 720d+HP+HK-LP+Reset that most 2D fighting fans would be accustomed to, but more the simple B+Y and C+Z that button mashers would love. Yes, every character has two special moves and one power-up move (A+X) that they can use pending on how full their power meter is. The power-meter, obviously, fills up as you dish out or recieve a beating and can fill up to 3 bars. Each "special attack" will use 1 bar. Therefore, if you have 3 bars, and time it right, C+Z, C+Z, C+Z, can turn into one helluva combo. I guess the point I'm going at here is that the "advanced" 2D fighting fans may be a bit turned off with the simplicity of AS. Yes, you can get really good and learn the game and beat the crap out of most people, but regardless button mashers will still be able to make you sweat on their first play (more than likely anyways). Now, no need to panic just yet as the game does have one spiffy little manuever that can come in handy: Dash Behind (well, thats what I call it). Dash Behind works when a character gets close to another characer, you can press forward+C, and your character will dash around the opponent, so you can lay
waste to them from behind. This comes in handy when someone decides to go on a "special move" combo fest and you're blocking: simply dash behind them, and while they continue to hack away at the air in front of them you can unleash hell on their defenseless back (I would say ass but given the circumstances, well, no). Speaking of blocking, blocking is absolute in this game. While you block, no damage will be taken. Of course, block too much and your character will start to blink, and if they get to blinking red and get hit hard enough, they'll flail about in the air giving the opponent an opprotunity to "Pinball" them. Pinballing occurs whenever a block has been broken, the character is rendered stunned for a few seconds, and the opponent knocks the hell out of them. The result? The character that gets hit will turn into a ball and bounce around the screen for a few seconds,
taking damage everytime they hit a wall as well as if the opponent hits them.
And thats the basic premise of the game. Technique comes in in the form of knocking your opponent into the air with an uppercut and flying after them, beating the crap out of them at the top of the screen, then knocking them back down to the bottom of the screen only to pursue and repeat. In fact,
truth be told this game seems to employ more of a "who can dominate the fight the longest" than anything you'll see in Street Fighter or King of Fighters.
To some, this method of gameplay may seem a bit... simple. But I personally find it incredibly fast paced and a fresh breath from the typical "block... block... block... attack... block... block... block... attack" tactics of most 2D fighters. Sure, you can block a lot in AS, and then yo' ass will get pinballed around the screen a lot too. Overall, Astra Superstars provides a simple, yet fun, alternative to the typical 2D fighting genre that proves to be a lot of fun if you
can get into it.
Characters/Design:
One of the great things about SunSoft's fighting games is that they typically seem to come correct with really neat characters. Astra Superstars is
no different. For story mode, there are 8 playable characters: Lettuce, the weird "main character" who just looks like a main character; Maron, the
angel; Stella, the witch; Sakamoto, the weird samurai-demon guy; Rouge, the token "little girl wearing a Santa Claus outfit"; Coco, the queen of
onions... or something; Cupe, the typical "big guy" who is dressed like the child of a clown; and Fooly, the vampire. Of course, outside of Story Mode you can play as Test-Kun, the great and almighty stick figure of doom. Needless to say, the characters themselves are very colorful and creative. Each comes with their own backgrounds (duh), all of which are impressive. Cupe's has some of the best "water" I've ever seen in a 2D game, and Test-Kun's is... odd. The character attacks are all well animated and creative (such as Coco throwing a giant onion at her opponent,
or Stella turning the opponent into a flower).
Graphics:
What can I say? It supports the 4MB Cart. Therefore, its beautiful. Lovely well animated 2D characters, giant sprites, and incredible special effects.
Of course, most of the special moves could probably induce a seizure, so if you're prone to those... stay far away from this game. Other than that there are the backgrounds, most of which look really damn good, especally Cupe's as I mentioned above.
Sound:
The sound effects are all crisp and clear. Mostly punches landing, characters speaking Japanese, etc. The music is good, very upbeat and colorful, just like the rest of the game. Maron in particular has a very nice JPop theme song for her level. Also, Satan Volte's(the boss) level has really good BGM. So overall, the music and sound is top notch for the Saturn.
Replay:
Here is where complaints start to pour in. Astra Superstars features four gameplay modes: Story Mode, in which you choose one of the eight core characters
and play through a series of battles, each one beginning with a conversation in which you can Cool Off, Heat Up, or have no effect on your opponent pending on your response; until you eventually reach My Devil (or, if you're playing as Fooly, My Angel). This fight, regardless of which one it is, is basically
you just fighting the character you picked, and nothing more. After this, you get to fight the "boss", Satan Volte, in a "Bonus Match" that lasts for one
round, and if you lose, you lose period, no continues. If you win though, you get to go on to an "Exhbition Match" where you will fight Test-Kun, the almighty
stick figure. Once you beat him, credits roll, and points are awarded and high scores can be entered. The other modes include 1P vs. 2P, 1P vs. COM, COM vs. COM, and Watch. 1v2 is your standard versus match against a friend, 1vC is just you against a character of your choosing played by the CPU, CvC is the CPU vs. the CPU using characters of your choosing, and Watch is simply random characters controlled by the CPU fighting. So where has this gone wrong? Well, an Arcade Mode (completely oblvious to the whole Cool Down/Heat Up conversations) would have been really nice, especially given that in said mode you would probably have been able to play as Test-Kun (yeah, I don't know why you can't play as him in Story Mode either, its stupid). Second, 1P vs. COM gets really tedious since you have to choose characters
and levels between every match. This means, that learning to play as Test-Kun quickly becomes a pain in the ass. Also, a Survival Mode of some sort would have been really nice. As is, you can unlock Gallery pictures by beating the game, and thats it. Options wise you just have the standard difficulty, number of rounds, time limit, sound options, etc. There are two option categories that I have no idea what they are for (one has columns of "Normal" and "Simple" at the top and "On/Off" at the bottom. The other just has "On/Off". If anyone knows what these are for, lemme know!). The game also sports character profiles, which are probably really cool if you know Japanese.
While Astra Superstars is a fun game, and unlocking gallery pictures will definitely take time, it still could have been a lot better with an Arcade Mode and Survival Mode.
Final words:
Due to word of mouth, I went into Astra Superstars expecting a subpar button mashing fest. Needless to say, while it does have heavy button mashing influences, I still found it to be a very enjoyable over-the-top game that brings the typical Saturn quality uniqueness and originality to the table that one should expect. Its a beautiful game, and while it may not have the deepest fighting system ever, its still fairly solid once you learn it and definitely enjoyable once it has been mastered.
Scores:
Presentation/Design: 9.1
Simple but effective menus. Nothing too spectacular really. The character design is top notch though, as are the seizure inducing special attacks. The levels can sometimes be bland, but most of the time they seem interesting enough.
Graphics: 9.7
Beautiful colorful characters and backgrounds. Cupe's stage in particular impresses the hell out of me even now! A few points docked because it seems a little bit
more animation could have been used, but the game is still damn well animated mind you! Also, the constant blinking and bright flashes could lead to migraines or
seizures, so just a warning there.
Gameplay: 9.2
Fun, very fun. Also mindless. A bit more depth would have been nice, but I think overall the folks at Santa Clause achieved what they set out to do, so props to them. Obviously, I will dock some points for the lack of depth though, because it can get a bit annoying after while.
Sound/Music: 9.6
Crisp clear sound and a nice soundtrack. I have nothing to complain about here really. Also, is it just me or is this what the GGX announcer did before GGX?
Replay: 7.9
Give me something guys!!! Arcade Mode and Survival Mode would have been awesome!! Or how about a tag team thing? I don't know! But the bare bones deal is just
bleh. Art galleries are nice... but a little bit more was desired. AND WHY CAN'T I PLAY AS TEST-KUN IN STORY MODE DAMMIT!!!
Extras: +1
OK, we got an Art Gallery and Character Profiles. Neato.
Technique: +1
Not much technique needed in this one, but if you know how to work the "Dash Around" just right, you can piss of those button mashers well enough.
Average:
9.1
My Score (1-10):
9
Definitely a fun game, and if you can come across it I would recommend it. Its pretty rare and fairly pricey these days though, but hey, if you've got
some cash to kill and want a really unique 2D fighter, I can't think of anything better to buy. Astra Superstars is a very solid game, that focuses
more on just mindless enjoyment than anything else. For this, I give Santa Claus props.
Next review: If I get a hold of a digital camera, Taroumaru. If not, Final Fight Revenge.
