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Let's face some simple facts here- the Saturn was MADE for platformers, okay? The Playstation can try and try and try again, but only one made the grade for that system and it was Castlevania (a game us Saturn importers can now savor, with bonuses intact- hehehe). However, the Saturn has quite a few good ones to its credit, the best one being a little sleeper of a title released the same year the Saturn found its way to store shelves- Astal.

I recently ran into this game again and thought I'd sit down and enjoy the beauty of it all over again. The result? I went and bought the damn thing to keep. Here's why...

The story goes like this. A demon by the name of Jerado is looking to take over a land of the gems, called Quartilia. With his demonic powers (what bad guy doesn't have them, honestly?), it looks to be a hopeless situation, most notably for a goddess by the name of Antowas and poor, innocent Leda. But, fortunately, leave it to Astal and his pet bird to come forth and save the day with their gem powers- any way that they can.

One thing to Astal's credit are the beautiful hand-drawn visuals. I mean, let's face it, ANYONE can render these days, even those boys and girls over at Acclaim (well, maybe not- I faintly remember Batman Forever), but Sega's team went and hand-drew the whole thing, from the character animation (which is great) to the lush, gorgeous backgrounds. It may look a little unfinished at times (particularly when the screen is zoomed out), but overall it's a unique quality we hardly see in games anymore, now that this is the age of the almighty polygon. Wonderful work here.

The music is also very astounding, with tunes in particular that I play over and over again in stereo just to savor to the maximum (and to drive my neighbors nuts, of course). Take, for instance, Into the Darkness, the music from the game's second stage. AWESOME, isn't it? Maybe it's just me (and J.M. Vargas will probably say it is, won't you J.M.?), but it's put together so well and is worth listening to just in the game's music mode. It has a fantasy-based element, but still has some slight contemporary overtones to it that come from today's sort (and not the rap tunes, mind you). Again, awesome.

The control's kind of a mixed batch. I mean, the game plays very well, with Astal containing throwing powers and calling upon his bird for several different tasks, but there's so much limited gameplay that I'm afraid that it'll throw off some of the platform players, the ones to which this game is beckoning to. I wish Sega had thrown in a little more variety, like maybe some spell weapons or more opportunities to play as the bird. As is, it's about average, but at least it's far from Acclaim's below-ground standards.

Overall, The Falcon's word on Astal is that it's a great platform/adventure title that any fantasy game lover shouldn't miss. The graphics and the music draw you into a unique world, and the gameplay, while shallow, is decent enough to keep you involved. A great sleeper title from Sega, I score Astal an 8 out of 10 and still question why Sega didn't print the game's title on the side of the box. Laziness?