When I was a kid, we didn’t have cable, so my only way of entertainment was looking at old cartoons that were on the local TV channels. Thanks to that, I was able to see great classic animes and cartoons like Mazinger Z, or Candy Candy (yep, I saw that), Voltron, Thundercats, etc,. Between that ocean of old cartoons ( since I only saw an episode a week), there was one that I liked a lot, and it was The Adventures of Asterix The Gaul (roughly translated name, since I saw them in my mother’s tongue, Latin American Spanish). Basically, the premise of the cartoon was the war between the Romans and The Gauls. Julius Caesar had conquered almost all of Gaul, except the island where our heroes lived because the inhabitants were able to gain superhuman strength by drinking the potion made by druid Getafix. Basically, the cartoon tells the deeds of Gaul heroes Asterix & Obelix and their dog Dogmatix and how they thwarted Caesar’s plans each time. While I like Asterix & Obelix, I was not following their games. Now that Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 has arrived to the Nintendo Switch, I was to experience the game for the first time.
The history of Asterix & Obelix XXL2 is the following: In the beginning of the game, you see the Gaul’s druid Getafix in a secret meeting with other driuds from other tribes. As they are discussing what to do in the war against Julius Caesar, they are ambushed and taken away by roman soldiers. Here we find out about the Getafix betrayal thanks to the help of Roman spy Sam Shieffer (that looks familiar put can’t quite put my finger on it). Vitalstatistix sends our heroes to the Roman amusement park “Las Vegum” to find what is happening and save Getafix from the Romans. Sam Shieffer helps you infiltrate the park in the beginning (kind of like a small tutorial), and you learn the different mechanics the game has to offer.
Game play wise, the game is not that hard. You just need to punch to oblivion the hordes of roman soldiers you meet on your way, while solving puzzles and collecting their helmets ( the game’s currency) needed to purchase upgrades and techniques. Since you have two characters to use, they have their play style differences. Asterix is nimble with average attack power, and Obelix is slow but with powerful attacks. However, they share the same health bar and while four hearts don’t seem like much, there are several “food stations”( gonna call them that way) that you can find and eat a drumstick to regain lost hearts. There are also shields you can purchase (three max) that can help you endure more hits.
When you are fighting the Roman army, there are several ways you can defeat them. You can opt to just use your punches like a man. Doing so activates a “fury” state. The more successful hits you have a gauge starts to fill (a fire like icon). Once it is filled, your attack power and attack speed increases. It is a cool mechanic and really useful when you are surrounded by enemies. I really like the animations the enemies have when defeated. I remember in the cartoon that when Asterix and Obelix defeated them with an uppercut, they were sent flying but their sandals were stuck in the ground (typical cartoon humor). In the game, it happens the same when you defeat them they are sent flying and only their sandals are left. It’s so satisfying.
There are also other normal techniques to defeat them. If you press A, your character does a kick attack that leaves the enemy in a stunned state. Here, you can press X to grab the stunned enemy, and if you press the attack button, it uses the enemy like a whip! It’s so funny, and it’s an effective weapon for crow control. However, after a few hits the “whip” gets defeated, so you need to get a new one. Luckily, there are a lot of “whips” to use.
Another technique is to press the jump button, and your character does a air grab attack that sends them flying. They can do a more advanced technique pressing B to jump, then swap characters mid air to do a devastating combo attack. There are a lot of movements to experiment with, and while defeating so much enemies can be repetitive, at least you can do it with style.
Speaking of style, those romans sure are stylish, stylish enough to look and fight like certain video game characters (like Mario using the F.L.U.D.D from Super Mario Sunshine or one that looks just like Ryu even going as far as doing a Hadouken, a guy that looks like Sonic The Hedgehog!). These little nods here and there of many video games are really cool and goes well with the overall humor and references the Asterix series is known for.
Graphically, the game looks and plays well. I like how detailed each area is, and even with many enemies on screen, I did not experienced any slowdowns during the action. One thing worth mentioning is that sometimes the camera is not your best friend, and especially when a lot of enemies are attacking you, you can move it with the right stick. However, I feel that the camera needed a little more polish.
The music is really good in fights. It kept me pumped up. In the platforming parts without enemies, it feels like you are in a normal theme park.
For completionists, there are tons of things to unlock like figures of characters and enemies and also postal cards with cool images on it (like one that looks just like Street Fighter). Honestly, I give a commendation to Microids for bringing this game to Switch. Some might say that there are a lot of ports or remasters, but for players like me, that didn’t have the change to play the original release of many games, these games are a welcome addition.
Bottom Line: Asterix & Obelix XXL2 is a remaster well done. I genuinely enjoyed the game. The animations, all the enemies to defeat, and the story made me feel that I was watching a cartoon of Asterix like when I was little, but nostalgia apart, it is a good game that many will enjoy if given a chance.
A Review Code was Provided for this Review.