Astalon: Tears of the Earth is a new indie game that is a throwback to the NES. It’s clear from the graphics, mechanical choices, and music right from the start. The game can easily be likened most to a Metroidvania with roguelike elements.
Three young heroes are tasked with venturing into a tower filled with monsters in order to vanquish evil and save their village. Arias, Algus, and Kyuli are all playable and can be switched at campfires, which are checkpoints. What games from the NES and SNES era most closely resemble this game? Which titles then should gamers check out if they liked Astalon?
10 Blaster Master
Blaster Master was an NES game that still has some relevance today thanks to the revived series, Blaster Master Zero. Whether one plays this original, or checks out those new games, most play the same. Players can control a tank in a 2D maze as well as jump out to fight monsters in an isometric perspective once they enter doorways. It was a unique twist for the time and still is today.
9 Grand Master
Grand Master was an NES game that was like Final Fantasy Adventure but as a roguelike. The hack and slash RPG gameplay formula is like that game in other words.
As for the roguelike elements, when players die they loose disposable items but retain all experience. Live. Die. Repeat. That’s the motto of most roguelikes and this one is pretty fair in terms of the risk reward system.
8 Kyatto Ninden Teyandee
Kyatto Ninden Teyandee, or Samurai Pizza Cats, is based on an anime of the same name. It was released in 1991 for the NES but in Japan only. It’s a level-based 2D action platformer that still looks, plays, and sounds nice today. How it relates to Astalon is in regard to players being able to switch out party members of their ninja cat team in order to get through obstacles others can’t from lifting heavy rocks to digging.
7 Karakuri Kengou Den Musashi Lord: Karakuri Jin Hashiru
Karakuri Kengou Den Musashi Lord: Karakuri Jin Hashiru, or The Samurai Lord Musashi: Gimmicks on the Run, was an NES game from 1991. It was also based on an anime as well as being a Japanese exclusive. It’s a top-down game similar to The Legend of Zelda if it had RPG leveling up. Some of the sprites look close to Astalon, at least in terms of the vibrant colors.
6 Legacy Of The Wizard
Legacy of the Wizard is about a family of wizards all set to start a new adventure. Players can choose one of five characters to start the game with, each with varying traits. Go into the dungeon and get as far as possible. It’s one of the harder NES games from this era but because of this family dynamic, but it also makes it unique as a premise.
5 Little Samson
Little Samson starts out with players choosing to play as a boy, dragon, mouse, or a rock monster that looks like The Thing. These stages are all prologues before the main game begins and players get to switch off between characters on the fly. Grabbing power-ups in stages will even permanently increase health, as one example. Each character has a unique trait too like the mouse being able to get into tiny crawl spaces.
4 Lost Vikings
Lost Vikings was a SNES game designed by Blizzard. The game starred literal lost Vikings misplaced from their era into one from the future. It’s a puzzle game at its core with each puzzle depending on players dropping off one of the heroes to do one task in order for another to complete another. There was a sequel as well, plus it just got an HD port to most modern consoles.
3 Super Metroid
The original Metroid is seen of as the creator of a new genre that Astalon follows. It was new at the time but is hard to go back to now.
Even though Astalon looks like an NES game like that, it feels like it borrows more from Super Metroid which many fans think is the peak of the series. The map and abilities feel more fluid and immersive than the original.
2 Takahashi Meijin No Boken Jima IV
Takahashi Meijin no Boken Jima IV, or Master Takahashi's Adventure Island IV, released in 1994 on the NES in Japan only. Most games in this series were level-based platformers like Mario’s adventures. While this has similar gameplay mechanics, it takes place on an interconnected island instead of being level-based. For those interested, there is an English fan patch for it.
1 The Maze Of Galious: Knightmare II
The Maze of Galious: Knightmare II released in 1987 on the NES in Japan and Europe only. Even though there wasn’t a North American version, it’s still easy to pick up on the PAL version’s translation. It might be the closest likeness to Astalon as the main knight hero looks like a bigger version of Arias, and the castle tower’s layout is similar to the design in Astalon. If the developers of that never played this, it would be surprising.