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アストロロボ ササ
©1983 Mass Tael Ltd.
©1985 Ascii Corporation
Release: 1985-08-09 (¥5500)
Cartdridge HSP-01
Action/Platform
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Astro Robo Sasa is a platform/shooter game by Ascii and port of
a game originally released for the MSX in 1983. In the Diāni
galaxy, two fearless robots go on a training mission to explore the strange and mysterious
M808 black hole. But before flying into space, their training must take them through various
areas such as green fields, warehouses or deadly underwater scenes.
Sasa and Nana, equipped with an heavy armored suit and a large gun,
must explore sixteen locations and collect all the energy pods they can carry. Some
capsules are held aloft by balloons whereas others are carried around by robots,
or concealed behind heavy walls that
need to be destroyed. But there is a twist - although our
heroes are heavily armed, their suits don't come equipped with any propulsion system.
Instead, they must use their gun's recoil to move around the screen and defy gravity.
Interestingly, the gun also consumes energy, and the whole objective of the game is to walk
a thin line between collecting energy and running out of it. Various flying and crawling
enemies are also scattered around each level, and colliding with them consumes some of the
precious energy as well. The energy level is kept from one stage to the next, and avoiding
wasting energy in early stages is critical to complete the game.
Astro Robo Sasa also features a two simultaneous player option that can be enjoyed
in cooperative, or in a more intense versus form (depending on how the players want to
play the game).
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Sasa was originally released for the MSX (picture on the right) and for
the obscure SVI Spectravideo computer in 1983. The gameplay from the MSX version is however
very different. There is no energy capsules to collect and the player
must touch electric arcs to recharge his gun. These arcs can be found on
wandering robots, or left behind by defeated enemies. Levels must also
be cleared by fulfilling certain conditions - for instance, the first screen requires the
player to destroy an exit door. The game is overall
much more difficult and the levels have a different structure than the Famicom
version tested here.
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Add your Pov here !
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Astro Robo Sasa is another one of those unique early-games that
bring new gameplay ideas to the table in imaginative and equally fun ways.
The controls are easy to explain in a nutshell, but mastering them is a different
matter. When you think your skills are finally up to par, then the game proves you
otherwise and throws a new and unexpected challenge your way. Each level is very
different from the next (they do repeat a few times though) and new ideas constantly
turn the gameplay on its head. For instance, the first screens feature standard
gravity, whereas others lie submerged under water or in space and behave completely
differently. Astro Robo Sasa looks aged, but the gameplay
is still very much intact, extremely solid, fun and challenging !
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