PixlBit

I don’t know whether or not people consider Battle of Olympus (by Broderbund) a NES classic.  I feel like if there is any consensus at all, it’s that the game is fondly remembered, but never really ranked up there with the likes of Zelda, Crystalis, or Metroid in public estimation, and maybe doesn’t even merit the cult status bestowed upon Zelda II, Guardian Legend or Clash at Demonhead.  I’ve named seven games (including Battle of Olympus) and I wonder if you can put them in order from Dave’s favorite to Dave’s least favorite.  I’ll save you the trouble:  Crystalis, Zelda II, Battle of Olympus, Zelda, Clash at Demonhead, Guardian Legend, Metroid.  Was that the order you’d have put them in?  Math lesson for you- there are 7!, or 7*6*5*4*3*2 ways to order a list of seven games, so you probably didn’t order them in the exact same way.

Fairly unrealistic box-art.

I think Battle of Olympus is a damn good game- one of the best action/adventure/role-playing games on the entire NES system.  I’m thinking now, thinking….. and maybe it’s one of the best action/adventure/role-playing games on any system.  It has some problems that I’ll touch upon briefly, but this one is going to be almost uniformly positive.  The distilled essence of the game is pure exploratory action goodness.  There are items to collect and maze-like environments to carefully comb.  There are power-ups that extend health and weapon modifications to make you stronger.  There is a bit of grinding due to an elementary money system, and there are enemies taken straight out of every Greek-mythology story you’ve ever heard.  The game is like a twelve year old’s wet dream.  I’m 36 of course, but an accidental neutering has caused an arrested development at the age of about twelve, and thus my dreams haven’t changed much since adolescence.  Thus, Battle of Olympus is often what passes for a wet dream of mine.

In this game, you control Perseus (I think) on a quest to save your girlfriend from the clutches of the god of the underworld, who resides in Hades.  In order to do this, you must enlist the help of all the major gods of Olympus by traveling to various lands and meeting with them at their designated shrines.  The gods will often ask you for something or give you something, sometimes both.  In one notable case, if you piss him off, Ares can steal your “mobility shoes”, making the game impossible to complete.  Gods also provide passwords for you so that you can pick up the adventure where you left off should you decide that you are a pussy and can’t do it in one sitting.  Just kidding- the game is lengthy, and even when you know exactly where you have to go and what you have to do, it can take from five to ten hours to complete.  Your first time through, however, it should take a bit longer.

Hahaha, sorry to steal this, anonymous internet source.  Quite apropos.....

 There is a lot of exploration to be done in this game.  Like I said, the gods will supply you with a bunch of essential items that will open up the world to further exploration, but there are weapons, shields, ambrosia (to increase your life meter) and all sorts of other shit laying around.  The game world is made up of a bunch of interconnected stages that represent various ancient Greek locations such as Argolis, Peloponnesus, Phrygia, Crete, you get the drill.  Entering a cave in one area might deposit you in another area, but that does not mean that the world is linear.  There are many ways to travel between the zones, and part of the fun is figuring out how to get from point a to point b.  Because you are constantly gaining items that open up new areas, there is going to be an element of backtracking to the quest, but it is mitigated by gaining the ability to ride a dolphin or Pegasus.

Each different area is filled with enemies who pursue you relentlessly and helpful townspeople who offer advice, heal you, or sit there looking pretty.  Some of the stages are maze-like with winding pathways and abrupt roadblocks, but most dead ends contain some sort of item that will help you on your way.  There are all sorts of hidden goodies all over the place, and while some require arcane knowledge of older game mechanics to acquire, most are hinted at by the nice folk you will encounter on your quest.  You might get lost, but there is always somebody standing around who can tell you where you can find particular items.  Battle of Olympus was released back during a time when game designers would think nothing of having you whack every rock with a sword in the vain hope you will find a heart container.  It’s nice to see an older game that successfully straddles the line between outright handholding and cruel masochism. 

And truly, even though you’ll rarely feel like some item is hidden away in an unfair location, (there is one exception that requires a bit of trial and error, but I’ll forgive it) the game is not at all easy.  If you go into a new area under-equipped, you will probably get massacred by the new beasties therein.  There are all sorts of creative mythological enemies, from centaurs to harpies to Cyclopes, and they will all just attack or sit on top of you until your life meter runs to zero.  This is a game that requires planning, management of your lone healing item, and solid twitch reflexes.  There are no easy moments during your quest, and battles of attrition will rarely end in your favor.  In order to beat some of the more difficult bosses, you will have to learn a pattern and then implement a strategy that relies on hand-eye coordination.  Even once you have figured out a boss’ pattern, there is an element of unpredictability in their movement that will find you dead really quickly if you do not keep on your toes.  I don’t know if the slightly spastic enemy movement was intentional of the part of the designers, but it ensures that no fight is ever dull.

So what does that leave?  It’s a NES action game, so the story is pretty much set up at the beginning and then ignored until you rescue your girlfriend at the end.  The graphics aren’t spectacular, but do the job nicely.  Enemies are large and detailed enough that you'll always understand what it is you are fighting.  The sound is much the same- Battle of Olympus doesn’t feature any tunes that’ll go down as one of your all-time favorites, but you won’t be looking to mute the sound either.  If you only like your games looking and sounding like Mega Man 2 or 3, then Olympus probably won’t move you, but if you only play games that look like Mega Man 2 or 3, then you are really only playing Mega Man 2 or 3.  The point is that Mega Man 2 and 3 have really good graphics.  And sound.

Oh, for god’s sake- It looks just fine, enough to score a 3.5-4 on Nintendo Power’s five-point scale.  But the way the game looks is beside the point.  Battle of Olympus is about exploration and action in a setting that resonates with gamers who are into that kind of stuff.  It does those things spectacularly, and even if Broderbund were to strip away the Greek mythology stuff and simply create a game based solely on Olympus’ engine, it would still be amazing.  Battle of Olympus is highly recommended to just about anyone who plays games.  I would love to know how many people out there have played it, and if so, whether they harbor the same warm feelings for it that I do.  For those who have seen the title, but figured it was some middling company’s run of the mill action title, think again.  It’s a game of the highest caliber, and one of the twenty best games on the NES.

OVERALL SCORE: (36/40) The Platonic Ideal for NES Adventure Games