A gorgeous demonstration of the Saturn's superior 2D capabilities, Astal offers an intricately ornate experience.
A stunning platformer saturated in sheer beauty, from the start, Astal is bound to impress. Nearly everything you'll encounter represents a hand-drawn work of art, coated in a pastel color scheme, and vital to the game's heavy emphasis on its jewel-like atmosphere. Every character is professionally animated, and even with several on-screen, slowdown is rare. (The oft-gigantic bosses in particular are nothing short of breathtaking, and cleverly utilize 3D rippling to enhance the spectacle.) Astal also features an insane wealth of dazzling special effects in addition to all of this, including superb lighting, real-time reflections, transparency implementation, and a whole lot more that you'll discover either instantly or during a future play-through. So much intricacy is involved to such a beautifully high extent.
Complementing the visual aura almost flawlessly, the game's soundtrack is also quite amazing. Burgeoning with an early-'90s flare, some stages are host to awesomely exaggerated guitar scores, while others serve to accentuate the prevalent crystalline theme via chimes, synth, and other styling. Meanwhile, Astal (himself chock full of character) might annoy with his persistent yelling, and some of the sound effects and voice acting could've been improved upon, but the game's background music never hesitates to steal the spotlight from those mishaps nevertheless.
In reality, Astal is so laden with sensory details that they have a proclivity to glaze what's offered from a gameplay standpoint. In addition to Astal's close-range attacks, he's also able to smash the ground (producing a small earthquake), and literally blow enemies away with a handy breath technique. He can also summon his bird sidekick to execute powerful, screen-clearing attacks of its own, fetch fruit to refill his health gauge, or perform other unique actions to assist him through a level. But perhaps the most satisfying (yet terribly under-used) concept is Astal's ability to lift a stalk of vegetation ten times his size, transforming it into a mammoth projectile when thrown. One stage even sees him utilizing a massive boulder as a shield from falling magmatic debris, until he tosses it upwards and into the background to plug up the volcano that's causing all of the chaos. Awesome!
All in all, Astal's a spectacular package, but one of its most detrimental distinctions is its length. Granted, thanks to its difficulty, only three hit points, and limited supply of lives, this is one platformer that's sure to demand multiple attempts to reach its terminus, but even still, you're forced to rely on your own creativity and love for the game to elongate its value further. For instance, you can grab a friend and join in on some two-player co-op, or toy with the few settings available in the options menu. Otherwise, it's a pretentious showcase of the Saturn's 2D muscle with limited playability. In this vain, once you've enjoyed the game to its fullest, you'll begin to wish that Astal had more to offer beyond its drop-dead gorgeous presentation.