Retro fans may be interested to know that HAMSTER is bringing Jaleco's 1989 side-scrolling action game The Astyanax to the Switch eShop tomorrow as part of its Arcade Archives range. Known as The Lord of King in Japan, this game appears to take inspiration from other fantasy brawlers of the time such as Rastan and Black Tiger.
The arcade game used an eight-way joystick (similar to Midnight Resistance) and three buttons for attacking, so it will be interesting to see how the Switch version translates the controls. There was a version of the game for the NES also, which was quite different in scope.
Check out the gameplay capture above and let us know if you plan to check out this retro delight with a comment below.
[source game.watch.impress.co.jp]
Comments 27
I have some high hopes that Black Tiger in on the next Capcom Arcade Stadium DLC packs.
I heard Astyanax causes blood clots
the NES version had an outstanding music score!
@Peteykins That makes two of us. They keep pushing other releases ahead of the upcoming queue... Which isn't bad because surprises can be really good, but c'mon, I want Liquid Kids and Trio the Punch!
I like the look of this! I have the NES version, on my Evercade (which I also enjoy), so if the original one is markedly different, I think I can justify a ‘double dip’.
I know it's just a pipe dream, but I'd LOVE to see a Sega Arcade compilation similar to Capcom Arcade Stadium. One that covers everything from their early coin-ops like Zaxxon, Congo Bongo, and Pengo all the way through Afterburner, Super Monaco GP, and into the later ones like Daytona USA, Daytona USA 2, Super Star Wars Arcade, Virtua Fighter, Sega Rally Championship, etc.
Of course we'd ALL love that, and heck, we'd all readily say "take my money NOW". And of course Sega will respond with yet another Sonic promo of some sort. Corporate executives are often why we can't have nice things.
My ears are bleeding, but it looks fun!
I'm aware of the licensing issues, but it would bring down the house if the additional games for Capcom Arcade Stadium included not only some of the games mentioned above, but also the likes of Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and 2, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, X-Men, and so on. So far most compilations have held out on including any coin-ops from beyond the late 1980s. It would be awesome to see that change.
@Shiryu I'm positive it will be, it was such a big glaring hole in the lineup.
This looks pretty similar to the very fun Legendary Axe on PC Engine/TurboGrafx. Some identical enemies (pill bugs) and pickups. Def will be getting this.
@Jimgamer8 aaand a quick visit to Wikipedia later, same designer: Tokuhiro Takemori, behind both games. Astyanax seemingly the arcade follow up/refinement.
I played Astyanax once. It was nothing special, and nothing awful. I found it mediocre and a little boring.
@Shiryu Odd that game was omitted, considering it was even the free sample game in its PS3 predecessor (which despite having downloaded the Switch version, I went to the trouble of setting up my PS3 to get stuff downloaded before the closure announcement).
Oh, now this is interesting. I remember this game from back in the day. Never expected to see this one added.
C'mooon, Taito/Squenix, give Hamster permission to port Cadash!
@MrGlubGlub just 1 in a million.
I hope this doesn't mean Hamster is done porting Konami games. There's still a few I really want, although I'm not sure I should care since they probably won't port those anyway. 😡 I guess there's always pirate emulation.
You know Jaleco... good, but never great!
Never played it, or heard of it, back in the day. Looks repetitive and tedious right out of the gate.
In terms of 'Arcade Archives'...
Konami needs to bring or make new entries to their arcade classics on Switch with local & online multiplayer support...
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, X-Men, Bucky O'Hare etc... all classic fun arcade multiplayer brawlers.
I understand there are some licensing hurdles, but they've already kinda sorted through some of that before in the past bringing some of these to PS3 before, so it's not impossible. A collection like Capcom and others have done already on Switch or cheap separate listings would be great!
Such a great developer in ye olden times now gone sour smh.
Why not release the original Taito Rastan that the publisher Jaleco's is trying to copy??? Or just go for it!!! Release Taito Rastan next week and following week release Taito Cadash??? If tired of that genre release some Taito Operation Wolf and Operation Thunderbolt.
I remember just 'Astyanax' on the NES. Hard game with cool music. We had that game and never beat it. LoL!
IGN ranks "Astyanax" in their Top 100 NES Games. But, it seems, as with games like "Rygar", the NES port is superior to the original arcade version.
Looks kind of nice, almost Amiga-ish. I'll be picking this up. Now hurry with Liquid Kids, Raiden, The Newzealand Story, Rastan and Rainbow Islands please!
It's actually a competent little side-scrolling action-game, that lacks in presentation and music, but not in gameplay. A game in the vein of Castlevania, but ALOT better than the Arcade-Castlevania.
Developed by Aicom(they did Pulsar on the NeoGeo), it's one of the few games published by Jaleco that weren't mediocre but actually good.
I don’t remember Raiden looking like this.
@Diogmites
I have both versions on my NES Mini. The arcade game plays better, while the NES version has better music. Both versions are great! They're different games, by the way. The NES game is really a sequel, not a port.
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