The Battle of Olympus (1988)

Beat with help from maps online at 30 fps. This game was like a mix between Zelda 2 and Faxanadu, with frustrating combat, slippery platforming with death pits, enemies positioned to knock you into pits, and damn annoying Castlevania stairs. The story and Greek aesthetic were cool though, and the lady to rescue was gorgeous for NES graphics. The game got off to a great start with the 1st enemies being slimes that could not be hurt unless they were in the air. What genius decided to make crouch attack not affect those low enemies? Instead I had to try and hit them while they fell from trees or smack them mid hop. Only problem with that was their hopping was random and I often had to fall back as they oozed towards me. The 2nd enemy type was a midget that chucked a spear then ran away. Jump too soon and get hit, jump too far and take contact damage from the enemy. I did not like the navigation due to the lack of maps and how the doors leading to important places and little homes looked the same. The world was a little less linear than Fax.

I beat the Lamia before getting the shield by simply jumping over her arrows. This got me the staff weapon, which could later shoot fire. These fireballs went a short distance before falling to the ground and burning for a second, making it the weapon for killing those low to the ground enemies. It was also safer to snipe most enemies. The next weapon was a sword that had the same piddly range and horizontal poke, and the ultimate weapon was the same though with a mid ranged bolt that cost hp to shoot (until grinding enough money to buy Ares' bracelet). The enemies were all annoying with their speed and movements; lots of hopping around, god damn flying little shits, projectiles, and tall enemies that could only be hurt in the head. It was incredibly frustrating to fight most enemies because of the extremely limited range and angles on my attack, which led to taking lots of contact damage. Can't hit down, can't hit up, can't hit diagonal, wtf. Jesus fuck, my soul for an actual good weapon. And the game had mandatory grinding. A collect X quest with less than 100% drop rates. What am I playing an MMO? And that quest required a nearly full purse of money, which was randomly dropped by enemies, and that was not the only time I had to grind money for progress as I had to grind 2 near full purses back to back near the end. I noticed that enemies stopped dropping money after getting about half the purse until I completely left the area. Are you serious game? Making me grind and putting in anti grinding code? I was tempted to quit then. There was not even useful non mandatory stuff to buy.

I was grinding on the amazons in the labyrinth of Crete, who were unmanageable in pairs. The little one was easy to kill by crouch hitting but if I was not fast she would block low and I would have to try and trick her to stay low so I could blast her face. The bigger was also vulnerable to crouch hits but had more hp and also did crouch attacks. The other bosses were not too bad and were no more complicated than hit them in the head. The centaur was not even a boss and was tougher than many bosses because of his constant hopping and shooting. Cerberus was bad too with his charges and how difficult it was to smack his head without getting hit first. Worse, he turned so quickly after taking a hit that it was impossible to get out of the way, and regenerated hp, because that was fair. Then I finally made it to Hades only to realize I forgot an entire area where Artemis would give the item to reveal Hades. God damnit I don't want to back track all the way out of Tartarus, figure out how to get to the new area, then do Tartarus again. So I used hardcore save state scumming to beat him while invisible, and even then only survived with 2 pips of hp and empty flask.

The coolest thing in the game was the Hermes sandals that let you walk on ceilings. I had to check a walkthrough to understand how to reliably switch back and forth; it was holding jump while running (which was automatic after moving a certain distance. This mechanic was under utilized though. There was some good design in this game but the combat (and thus grinding) was not fun with the extremely tiny and limited angle weapons. Overall it was a slightly worse Zelda 2.

6.0/10

Preliminary: Welp, I beat the Bull and have talked to Zeus. So far I haven't been impressed, but I can't deny the hook of a Zelda II esque action-adventure with tight controls a la Castlevania. Kinda silly to start with ground Slime enemies if the crouch attack can't hit them, but I quickly figured out the mechanic. The Bull's mechanics reminded me of that great feeling I got from Castlevania tho, so hopefully that keeps me hooked throughout! The Look and Sound both are quite nice too, nothing spectacular, but I'm vibing so far. Compared to DQ3!

Day 1

I love just using a map and calling it a day. Hopefully it sticks. I have a general guideline of what to do from the overview of the walkthrough on the StrategyWiki, but hoping not to have to consult the actual walkthrough itself too much. Like the original Zelda II, you have to press down to pick things up. And lots of little quirks that wound up making me reference the walkthrough more often than I had hoped. And oh god! Castlevania stairs! Luckily the enemy mechanics (so far) have been workable. This game definitely wears its influences on its sleeve: I'm pretty sure that is the exact damaged-Link sprite from Zelda II when you get hit in this game :-p But I'm vibing to the music and swiftly smacking enemies and moving along.

Ok, so I'm enjoying the game so far but then... this Lamia vampire boss.... like why... why is Nintendo so obsessed with hard games, and late 80s in general seeming more and more obsessed with that. Yes I have the projectile shield from Athena... and it's still hell. Would be nice if there were some other upgrades we could've gotten before this, like in Castlevania where a certain special weapon helps a lot. Instead I have this incredibly short-range club... And the collision mask is so rigged against me... I was going to give up but I finally beat her.. with only 2 health left. Hopefully I will get more invested in this game, cuz the Sound is quite appealing but the concept and play aren't original enough to warrant many headaches like that was...

That did get me my first upgrade, I know have a staff that is twice as strong as the club but unfortunately it has the same short range. I would've taken range over strength! Welp the next boss, the Lion, was much more enjoyable if a bit too easy ha. But I am enjoying the regular bad guys so far, the music, and the action-adventure/Metroidvania gameplay. I just hope the bosses don't bog it down and the gameplay get too hard for me.

Welp, despite the frustrating bosses, I am hooked into the Metroidvania/Goonievania ( :) ) upgrade mechanics. Just got Hermes' Sandals. Should stop now and watch some of a movie but... Well, I was going to take on Peloponnesus, but I'm so lost now lol. I will tackle that a different day. Good first session tho, despite some frustration!

Day 2

The Hydra was frustrating at first, how fast/high it jumps out is randomized according to all reports I've found, and I prefer mechanics that are predictable or avoidable with fast enough reaction times. However, I manipulated how it works (it jumps out when you're close enough to where it is) to at least be manageable tho I still took a lot of damage. With that I have the next weapon upgrade.... and still no increase to my range. Boo! Wow, and so soon after that, before I even healed off of regular enemies, another boss fight! Another manageable one tho.

The Pitcher idea is a neat idea, filling up at the Springs so you can heal out in the battlefield. Can't always rely on those enemy drops for heals! I like the colors of Poseidon's Temple

More and more I'm seeing this is a robust, complex Metroidvania that does set itself apart from Zelda, even if it does wear its influences on its sleeve. Inventory management is doable and very later Zelda esque, as I switched to my Sword for the Cyclops then back to the Staff to light up a dark area etc. Now, some of the hidden passages and whatnot are ridiculous, with some Hints available but still, it's that classic NES era thing where for someone like me, I just need a guide to have fun with it. I don't find fun in figuring out illogical puzzles heh, but I do love doing them with a guide! Lol.

Yessss now I'm over here riding a dolphin

The grinds all felt reasonable and not too long. The "Olives" (red orbs) are pretty frequent and now I'm grinding for Salamander Skins. Very RPG-y! And also RPG-y and cool that they have basically a teleport system (using Harp at Sun Monuments spawns a Pegasus). The Fragments of Love are a nice touch as you can see below

Some annoying unavoidable damage when climbing into screens with the jumping monkeys, very much alike some unavoidable damage parts in Castlevanias, but it is what it is. I'm near the end of the game! I'm wanting to finish it tonight I should stop at a healthy time. Hm. Okay okay I'm stopping at the start of Crete, cuz that looks to be another very complex maze area. But then I'm at endgame after that it seems! There was another dolphin segment and it was somehow even more beautiful (I also liked the idyllic garden area but didn't screenshot it)

Day 3/4

Welp, after that tough Minotaur boss, I have the last heart/Fragment of Love. Time to take on the final section! Debating whether to do it tonight tho cuz I did OSRS bossing and now it's technically movie time. Hmmmm. End game is starting to drag a bit, as happens with these types of games. You have all the upgrades to look forward to and the difficulty has already capped so much that they can only get harsh and petty with the mechanics to make it harder. Looks like I'll have to finish it on Day 4.

Welp. It's day 4 and I'm a bit sick, and wanna make sure I fight this quick so taking it easy on todo list and active/intense stuff. It's sooooo beautiful outside so Imma try to game outside we shall see how this goes lol. I got my postits, scratch paper, map on the tablet, controller, and laptop :-p Lots of trickery for these final 2 areas, and pixel-perfect jumps, so savestates started getting used more. But that's understandable for a late-80s NES game. I wasn't sure if the ceiling walking was a glitch in my file but turns out it's intentional in the game :-p And basically needed in the last areas. I was feeling strong and used to the bat mechanics etc., almmooooost but not quite getting that Castlevania feeling I so love where I know the quirks of a game so well and can just jump and shred through enemies. Hadn't quite reached that point. More like a Zelda 2 feeling where I never fully got it down. But also like many games from this era there were tacky parts where there was unavoidable damage... I find that so lame when intended like below

Wow multiple instances of unavoidable damage rooted entirely in the bad Castlevania-clone stair mechanic >.< Why would anyone be compelled to copy that, the most infamous part of Castlevania lol. Plus like I know you can manage to let the character jump from the stairs... I didn't loooove the Tartarus music compared to the earlier music like Athens' but it's fine. Maybe part of that was cuz I was outside and convinced people could hear lol. And heh, also related to outside, of course this final boss has a mechanic where it's a shadow/dark/you need good vision. The sun definitely is getting in the way of that :-p Very similar to Shadow Link with this Hades boss. I definitely had to use my Nectar thing to heal up during that boss!

Pro-tip: Kneel exactly here and swipe away lol, it took me a while to get it down but if he's at the right spot and you're there, you'll be safe. And then a good jam came on and it's time to free Helene! And wow! What an ending! The music got good again and y'all know how much I love sunrise/sunset colors in gamesssss. The ending is all centered on a sunrise! They were probly so proud of these full body sprites and the way the shadows and colors change as it rises. Wow, I'm so biased that almost makes me want to boost this to a 5 but likely a 4 star, like the slightly better Zelda 2 but with less Attachment/nostalgia since I'd never heard of it before :-p

Look: 8.5/10 Sure, it felt a bit like a ripoff of Zelda 2, but I didn't see any dolphins with a beautiful background or a great sunrise ending in Zelda 2!

Sound: 8/10 Some great tunes, some just okay tunes too

Play: 8/10 I got close to that Castlevania feeling I love, and only a few of the bosses felt overly frustrating, but without savestates and a guide, I wouldn't have had much fun.

Feel: 8.5/10 It grew and grew on me. I can't say I have a huge attachment to Greek mythology locations and names etc, nor did I love the plotline. But the Look, the Sound, the Metroidvania gameplay, etc. all culminated into a great Feel.

Attachment: 8/10 How often I want to push through difficult late 80s NES games is yet to be determined, but if I return to this era, this will be on the list. And the Attachment rating could move up if so!

Overall: 8.2/10

Completion: Main Story + Extras

Playtime: 4h 23m

The Battle of Olympus may have some frustrating limitations on its action that keep it from classic status, but it's got charming and intriguing adventure elements that still make it worth going through.

Orpheus (optionally renamed by the player) must rescue his girlfriend Helene (also optionally renamed) from the dreaded Hades who holds her captive. Across a variety of dungeons and city states lies his empire, and in between gifts from the gods and powerups to turn Orpheus from a boy into a... more powerful boy.

The combat consists of platforming and action combat with his club (or sword) - while some upgrades increase the range of a spell or two it's very limited and frustratingly short range, with a variety of enemies either just out of range of Orpheus's swings or with shields that require tricky jumping and crouching that make combat more of a hassle than anything fun.

The player has a fair bit of optional investigation and side content, with many a villager to listen to (they almost always have something valuable to say that's worth writing down) and quests that upgrade health, strength, speed, jumping power, etc - plenty of them are optional per se, but given the frustrating difficulty of this game they're well off making these trips mandatory. Losing is somewhat forgiving, with the player just losing half of their currency, but grinding that currency can also be a hassle. Still, doing such fun quests like learning fire from Prometheus or buying out the treasures of Crete from Circe help really set the atmosphere of the game.

The game's visuals are VERY reminiscent of Zelda II almost to a fault, but the light color palette mixed with dramatically beautiful ocean/sunset colors and dank dungeons and forests (some of which resemble Castlevania's gardens?) keep it from being dull. The music is top notch, with plenty of exciting themes for every area and nothing gets particularly dull, except after grinding 50 satyrs in the same area.

The Battle of Olympus is a tough recommend if you're not a fan of the action-adventure elements that put people off of games like Zelda II and Simon's Quest, but if you have a bit of patience and want a truly charming bit of Greek mythology in your game, this is well worth picking up.