Asteka

Overview

Asteka (アステカ) is an early graphical adventure game that was published by Nihon Falcom. The title was initially released for the NEC PC-88 and was later ported to other Japanese computers. While exploring the Palenque ruins in southern Mexico, the player takes the role of an archeologist where they use the game's katakana text parser to interact with the world and solve puzzles. Development of the game was lead by Tsuneyuki Miyamoto along with Susumu Taguchi and Takaharu Matsushima, who had previously worked on Falcom's Demons Ring in 1984. Asteka, like Demons Ring, was technically impressive for its time due to how quickly it could load new images and for its use of digitized photographs for some of its graphics.

Asteka was most likely released on April 13, 1985 according to early advertisements [5]. However, even Falcom contradicts itself on the title's exact publication date. Falcom's official corporate timeline on their website says Asteka was released in February 1985 while their 2017 pop-up museum, along with the Falcom Chronicle anniversary book, claims it was released on April 10, 1984.

A direct sequel to Asteka was released in 1986 called Temple of the Sun: Asteka II, also known as Tombs & Treasure in North America.

References

1. Falcom Museum: Asteka (Project EGG, 2010).
2. Falcom Official Corporate Timeline - Mentions that Asteka was released in February 1985.
3. Falcom Package Exhibition by the Game Preservation Society (@tk_nz, 2017) - Says the game was released in 1985.
4. The Falcom Museum, Asteka - Japanese fan site that mentions Asteka was released in April 1985.
5. I/O Magazine May 1985 Advertisement - Mentions that the game is coming in April 13, 1985.
6. Falcom Chronicle 30th Anniversary Book (Page: 3) - Says that the game initially released on April 10, 1984 (Transcription on Kiseki Fandom Wiki).
7. Timeline from Falcom's Pop-up Museum in 2017 (Image Source) - Also says Asteka was published on April 10, 1984.