Review : "Son of Hektor and Andromache. His name means 'Lord of the City' and is said in the Iliad to reflect his father's role as protector of Troy. Book 6 of the Iliad shows Hektor's tenderness for his son and his hopes for his glorious future. But Astyanax was killed during the sack of Troy by Neoptolemos."

The Astyanax (also known in Japan as The Lord of King) is a beautiful side scrolling hack'n'slash very similar in concept and pace to Legendary Axe on Pc Engine but the similarities end here. Graphically outstanding for the time, it still impresses today because of the great use of colors and the smooth parallax scrolling. The attention to detail is out of the ordinary. At one point in the 1st level, you'll be passing by the ruins of ancient Greek-like temples covered by crawling plants. Details like these manage to create a magical atmospehere of decadence in a time where the rule of steel and magic replaced advanced thriving civilizations!

Occasionally, there will be some platforming sections to bring in some variety to the gameplay. There is even one level where you will be running over a collapsing bridge and green "fishy" enemies equipped with tridents will be jumping in and out of the water...Did anybody say Castlevania??

The music and sound-effects are also excellent and it is surprising to see the high production value of Jaleco's game.

Personally, only now I had the chance to get the actual board eventhough I played the emulated version before. Jaleco really created an excellent game that can probably be beaten on 1 coin with a bit of practice and this should tell you enough about the exquisite balance of gameplay!

I wish I had played this game in the arcades back in 1989, as it probably would have had an even greater impact on me.

Astyanax has been ported both on Nes and Famicom, but Nintendo's 8bit console isn't really up to the task...

Bottom line: a must play if you like Rastan, Rygar and Castlevania. 9/10