History VideoGame / Astyanax

* 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.

* 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}}.

''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 UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It is not a game about Greek mythology.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Anytime one of the female mooks gets her top hacked off, her bare breasts lack visible genetallia

%% * ClassicalAntiHero: Astaynax.

* 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.

* TheDragon: Thorndog.

* {{Isekai}}: Early example. Astaynax is an OrdinaryHighschoolStudent pulled from the normal world into the game's setting.

* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: [[spoiler:Break]]ing [[spoiler:Thorndog's seal]] means bringing [[spoiler:his curse]] upon yourself as well, [[spoiler:so that you'll die with him. However, this curse is transferable...]]

!!Tropes common to both games:
* 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. Averted with the NES game; 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.

* ClassicalAntiHero: Astaynax.
* DamselInDistress: Princess Rosebud.

* HeroicSacrifice: 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.

* SpiritualSequel: To the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 classic ''VideoGame/TheLegendaryAxe'', which was developed by the same team at Aicom.

''Astyanax'' ([[MarketBasedTitle released]] as ''The Lord of King'' in Japan) was a side-scrolling action game released by Creator/{{Jaleco}} for the arcades and the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It is not a game about Greek mythology.

* {{Isekai}}: Early example. Astaynax is an OrdinaryHighschoolStudent pulled from the normal world into the game's setting.

* AnAxeToGrind: The main weapon in both versions of the game is an axe, though it can be turned into a sword or spear in the NES game.

'''''Astyanax''''' ([[MarketBasedTitle released]] as '''''The Lord of King''''' in Japan) was a side-scrolling action game released by Creator/{{Jaleco}} for the arcades and the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It is not a game about Greek mythology.

* 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.

* [[FlamingSword Flaming Axe]]: In the arcade version the axe's blade catches fire when it's at full charge.
* 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.

* 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.]]

* MagicalMysteryDoors: Those in Thelenea, level 6-1. The secret is to [[spoiler:look for the doors guarded by skeletons]]; those are the ones you want to take.

* DefiniteArticleTitle: The arcade version is named ''The Astyanax''.

!!This game has examples of:
* 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).

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Defeating each main boss requires striking the one weak point on their body multiple times.
* BigBad: Blackhorn in the NES version, who kidnaps Princess Rosebud to kick off the game's plot.
* 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.
* DamselInDistress: Princess Rosebud.
* DefeatByModesty: In the arcade version, whenever Astyanax strips a female mook with his ax, she covers her breasts and runs away squealing.
* DefiniteArticleTitle: The arcade version is named ''The Astyanax''.
* 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.
* DetachmentCombat: Caesar, the first boss, fights by throwing its head at you.
* TheDragon: Thorndog.

* 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.

* 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.]]

* 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 between each time you swing your weapon: the longer you wait, the more powerful your next blow will be.

* WombLevel: The final stage of the arcade game inexplicably drops you in a Giger-esque alien hive, complete with facehugger-type creatures, and the HiveQueen as a {{final boss}}.
* XanatosGambit: Thorndog pulls one off 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.]]

* 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 Giger-esque OrganicTechnology setting straight out of ''Film/{{Alien}}'', 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.

* TheTheTitle: The arcade version is named ''The Astyanax''.

* BigBad: Blackhorn.

* 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's about to cast a spell.

* 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.

* ReformulatedGame: The NES game bears little resemblance to the arcade game of the same name; even their basic premises are totally different.

* AnAxeToGrind: The main weapon in both version of the game is an axe. In the NES game, it can be turned into either a sword or a spear.

* 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. Averted with the NES game; while it is a bog-standard SaveThePrincess plot, it does at least boast a narrative with story cutscenes, and its characters were written to have some semblance of a personality in them.