Line #6 VideoGame/Astyanax


1	[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/_-Astyanax-NES-__6574.jpg]]
2	''Astyanax'' ([[MarketBasedTitle released]] as ''The Lord of King'' in Japan) is a side-scrolling action game released by Creator/{{Jaleco}} for the arcades and the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It is not a game about Greek mythology.
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4	High school freshman Astyanax (named after the hero of Greek mythology, "he thinks", although otherwise [[SadlyMythtaken not related to his namesake]][[note]]who died at a very young age[[/note]]) keeps having visions of a girl. Walking to school one day, he finds himself teleported to another world by a fairy named Cutie. Cutie is the advisor of Princess Rosebud, ruler of the kingdom of Remlia. Unfortunately, Rosebud has been [[DamselInDistress kidnapped]] by the evil wizard Blackhorn. It seems Astyanax is TheChosenOne, as he possesses "The miracle power within him", and so it becomes his job, with the help of Cutie and a magic ax called "Bash", to save Rosebud and restore peace to Remlia.
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6	While the arcade version was released on an unspecified date in 1989, the NES version was released on December 21, 1989 in Japan, March 8, 1990 in North America, and July 13, 1990 in Europe.
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10	!!Tropes exclusive to the arcade game:
11	* BarbieDollAnatomy: Anytime one of the female mooks gets her top hacked off, her bare breasts lack visible genetallia.
12	* DefeatByModesty: Whenever Astyanax strips a female mook with his ax, she covers her breasts and runs away squealing.
13	* ExcusePlot: The arcade game scrapes by with the barest minimum of a story: evil demons terrorize the land until a hero named Roche decides to stand against them. That's basically it.
14	* [[FlamingSword Flaming Axe]]: In the arcade version, the axe's blade catches fire when it's at full charge.
15	* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Almost literally! After battling through a fantasy world inspired largely by Greek mythology, the last level of the arcade game puts you into a XenomorphXerox setting where you kill wave after wave of Facehugger-like creatures, and take on the Alien Queen herself. It does ''not'' fit in with the rest of the game at all.
16	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Should a female mook be rendered topless, she will use her arms to cover her breasts and scream as she escapes.
17	* ToplessnessFromTheBack: Not only would a female mook cover her exposed breasts in the event they do, she would turn away from the screen as she scurries off.
18	* WombLevel: The final stage inexplicably drops you in a Giger-esque alien hive, complete with facehugger-type creatures, and the HiveQueen as a {{final boss}}.
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20	!!Tropes exclusive to the NES game:
21	* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Inverted; Astyanax looks less manly in the NES version's cover illustration than in its Famicom counterpart (which used the same artwork as the arcade version's brochure).
22	* ArmorPiercingAttack: The invincibility cheat does not protect Astyanax from enemy spells Astyanax has access to: Bind (he won't take damage but he will still freeze), Blast, and Bolt.
23	* AttackItsWeakPoint: Defeating each main boss requires striking the one weak point on their body multiple times.
24	* BigBad: Blackhorn, who kidnaps Princess Rosebud to kick off the game's plot.
25	* BossRush: Well, actually a Sub-Boss Rush. The final stage, Blackhorn's Tower, makes you fight a handful of sub-bosses from earlier levels (without healing) before you get to fight him yourself.
26	* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler: Astyanax is sent back to Earth after rescuing Rosebud.]]
27	* ClassicalAntiHero: Astaynax. He's only doing this because he was essentially kidnapped into heroism by Rosebud and Cutie, and it's only when [[spoiler:Cutie dies to save him]] that he truly gets into the spirit of the quest.
28	* DamselInDistress: Princess Rosebud, a princess kidnapped by an evil wizard who needs rescuing.
29	* DemBones: Blackhorn ''really'' loves his skeleton minions... There are very few levels in the game that don't have skeletons lying in wait for our hero. Thorndog, his ''Dragon'', is a skeleton.
30	* DetachmentCombat: Caesar, the first boss, fights by throwing its head at you.
31	* TheDragon: Thorndog. He is most often seen speaking with Blackhorn in cutscenes, and is the last boss you face before the final levels.
32	* ExcusePlot: Averted; while it is a bog-standard SaveThePrincess plot, it does at least boast a simple narrative with story cutscenes, and its characters were written to have some semblance of a personality in them.
33	* FairyCompanion: Cutie. She speaks to you in cutscenes, and if you break a statue when you run low on magic, she'll appear and offer to refill your ManaMeter or alter your weapon.
34	* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: [[spoiler: After Cutie sacrifices herself to save Astyanax from a trap in a late-game cutscene, the item representing her won't show up from statues anymore.]]
35	* HeartsAreHealth: The LifeMeter has hearts to measure how much Life you have left.
36	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Cutie sacrifices herself to destroy Thorndog's seal and allow Astyanax to get to the Tower. In return for rescuing her, Princess Rosebud resurrects Cutie as a human in Astyanax's world.]]
37	* HornsOfVillainy: True to his name, the evil Blackhorn has horns.
38	* HumanityEnsues: [[spoiler: Cutie, Astyanax's fairy friend, sacrifices her life to save him near the end of the game. After Astyanax defeats Blackhorn and is sent back to Earth, he realizes it all really happened when he meets Cutie, resurrected as a human girl.]]
39	* {{Isekai}}: Early example. Astaynax is an OrdinaryHighschoolStudent pulled from the normal world into the game's setting. Unlike most examples, he's still alive when this happens, and goes home after it's over.
40	* LifeMeter: Represented by a LF meter that where HeartsAreHealth is in play.
41	* MagicalMysteryDoors: Those in Thelenea, level 6-1. The only way out is to [[PathOfMostResistance enter the doors guarded by skeletons]].
42	* MagicKnight: Astyanax supplements his up-close melee fighting abilities with spells.
43	* ManaMeter: Represented by an SP gauge with yellow bead-like objects that have red dots in the center, as seen in this [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YzC2d0YMz7c/UdGJs_DPBAI/AAAAAAAAALU/FiPMmT7zoEg/s256/Astyanaxgameplay.png screenshot]].
44	* MorphWeapon: Your player's weapon can assume the forms of an axe, a short spear, or a sword. The axe has average stats all around; the spear is weak but consumes less MP when casting spells; and the sword is strong but consumes more MP.
45	* NintendoHard: Marshy in particular with all of its tough Lovecraftian fish folk and inconveniently-placed enemies just waiting to knock you into any of its many pitfalls. Once you get past that, even that BossRush near the end doesn't seem so difficult by comparison.
46	* NothingButSkulls: Level 4-1 (Marshy) has a bunch of them. It's also the only level with a non-{{unique\|Enemy}} ([[PaletteSwap relatively speaking]]) sub-boss; you fight a golden skeleton at the end.
47	** Even more so in the following Level 4-2 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Grave]]) which evidently takes you right through a crypt, as the background is full of coffins and shelves with skulls on them and many more of those skeletons emerge to attack you along the way.
48	* OneWordTitle: Also a ProtagonistTitle, as ''Astyanax'' is the name of the character you play as.
49	* ProtagonistTitle: Also a OneWordTitle, as ''Astyanax'' is the name of the character you play as.
50	* PsychicLink: Rosebud can speak telepathically with Astyanax.
51	* ReformulatedGame: The NES game bears little resemblance to the arcade game of the same name; even their basic premises are totally different. They do both have the central mechanic of an energy bar filling up after you swing your weapon: the longer you wait, the more powerful your next blow will be.
52	* SaveThePrincess: The story of the NES game is to rescue Princess Rosebud.
53	* ScaledUp: After defeating Blackhorn in humanoid form, you then fight him as a dragon on the next screen.
54	* StaminaMeter: Of a sort. You can attack as often as you want, but waiting a moment between attacks for your PW meter to fill increases the damage you do.
55	* SummonEverymanHero: Astyanax is a regular high school freshman, summoned to rescue Princess Rosebud.
56	* TeleportSpam: Blackhorn employs this tactic. If he appears [[RightBehindMe right behind you]] or [[RightInFrontOfMe in front of you]], he'll attack with his sword. If he spawns further away, then he'll cast a spell on you after a short channeling period.
57	* TimeStandsStill: The Bind spell freezes everything on the screen for a few seconds. You can use it on the first two bosses, but every boss after that will simply [[NoSell ignore it]] and keep attacking you anyway. A few of the later bosses use it on ''you''.
58	* WarmUpBoss: Caesar at the end of the opening stage. His attacks are predictable and his head is a very easy-to-hit weak spot. Once his head is chopped off, you face off against his rider, who goes down even more quickly.
59	* XanatosGambit: Thorndog pulls off one in the battle against Astyanax. [[spoiler:If he wins, then Astyanax dies and all is well. If he loses, then his curse ensures they both die together. It's only thwarted because he didn't take into account Cutie's HeroicSacrifice.]]

Context VideoGame / Astyanax