Customer Reviews

The Battle of Olympus (Nes, Nintendo)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a fan of Greek mythology, I found The Battle of Olympus to be a fantastically fun game. The format and game play are very, very similar to Zelda II. The main character, although presumably a grown man, is even a little squirt, just like Link. This is a very involved game, however, incorporating the old NES "remember this code to pick up at this point again" save technique. Otherwise, I find it difficult to judge by today's standard-- games were simpler back then-- only very basic combat moves were available. The two-dimensional world was actually quite pretty and varied by NES standards. Plus, there were quirky items that you could collect and keep in your inventory. (Need to get to Athens in a hurry? No problem, just play your harp, and Pegasus will come and pick you up.) And the game was chock-full of mythological Greek icons, threading elements of numerous Greek myths, such as the Herculean labors, throughout the core story of Orpheus and Eurydice.

I feel a lot of nostalgia for this game (the first time I beat it back in the 80s, I was so proud of my achievement that I took a picture of the television screen), and despite its apparent lack of popularity, I hope very much to see it available in the Wii Marketplace soon.

Definitly worth buying. You gain a variety of weapons, sheilds and items which help you through your quest and unlike your typical RPG/Quest game you actually fight your enemies instead of just entering comands. This game also has really great graphics for NES.

This one often gets overlooked or misclassified. It has elements of console RPG, action-platformer, & adventure. The nearest analogy is Zelda II (with which BoO shares its game engine), though I like this one much better. You play Orpheus (though you can name him whatever you like), who must journey to Tartarus to save his beloved Eurydice (you may name her whatever you like, too). The classical greek setting provides wonderful atmosphere. You'll be fighting mythological beasts such as Rocs, Sirens, Salamanders, the Lamia, the Minotaur, and good ol' Hades himself. There are some nice touches, too; such as the Salamanders being immune to your fire attacks (they were supposedly born in fire, after all), and the Gods will not address you unless you kneel when you speak to them.

You must seek the aid of the Gods to proceed. Some favor your quest from the beginning, but others will not assist you without some manner of palm greasing. You may find them in their respective temples (usually. Hermes, the messenger, tends to flit about). Some of the puzzles are a bit tricky, but the game gives you enough hints that a clever gamer can make it through without FAQs.

I had a lot of fun with this game. There's a treasure-hunt aspect in collecting all of the items you need, and there's plenty of challenge to go around, without ever reaching the point of being unfairly cheap. Phrygia may make you pull your hair out the first couple times, though. Stick with it. There's a lot to love. I'd recommend it highly to fans of Zelda II, Simon's Quest, or Metroid.

I had this game as a kid and loved it but lost it. Found it for sale here and had to get it.

This game is a nice spin on Greek mythology and the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Like in so many movies and modern retellings of Greek myths, Hades is the bad guy (he's woefully typecast) although in the original myth he agreed to give Orpheus a chance to take Eurydice back to life.

This is a fairly challenging game - a combination of action, side-scrolling, with a few RPG elements tossed in. Like the Legend of Zelda, you has to find items to help you on your quest (some of them gained from various Olympian gods) and you had to find certain power-ups that would increase your strength, defense, and life-meter (just like Legend of Zelda and certain other RPGs) along with a few puzzles you need to solve.

The graphics are fairly smooth for a NES game, and the worlds/areas are varied and interesting enough to keep the game fun. Overall, this was a pretty good NES title for its day.

The game did not work as received. I took it to Play'n'Trade to have it inspected and cleaned and it still did not work.