Battle of Olympus; The

The Battle of Olympus is a side scrolling, action-adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was developed by Infinity. It was published in March, 1988 by Imagineer in Japan, and the North American version followed in 1990 by Brøderbund.

 

This game is about a man named Orpheus, and takes place in Ancient Greece. His love, Helene, was poisoned by a snake and died. Later, Orpheus learns that Helene was actually taken by Hades, the god of the underworld, to become his bride. Upon hearing this, Orpheus begins his journey to save Helene.

 

The choice of name for the heroine - Helene - is odd, considering the story is clearly based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. The game, however, does allows the player to give a custom name to both the hero and his wife, so mythology-enthusiasts can easily correct the error.

 

During this adventure, Orpheus needs to meet the Greek gods and gain their favor. He starts with Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian gods, who encourages the other gods to grant Orpheus powers. These powers are granted in the form of a weapon, a shield, and other special equipment. Among them is a harp, which summons Pegasus - a flying horse - to carry Orpheus to far locations.

 

Throughout the game, Orpheus will also encounter a variety of legendary mythological creatures, such as the Taurus, Lamia, Cyclops, Centaur, Talos, Minotaur, Cerberus, Stymphalian Birds, Nemean Lion and also a Siren. He will have to fight his way deep into the underworld and defeat Hadesto finally save Helene. Through the course of his quest, he will also acquire several items depicted in Greek mythology, such as the Harp of Apollo, the Sword of Hephaestus, the Staff of Prometheus and the Sandals of Hermes.

 

Although the pretext of Orpheus's quest is the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, many elements of his quest are drawn from the stories of Heracles and Perseus. A number of the characters, enemies, locations, and items he encounters are also based on Greek mythology, resulting in a similar melting pot of Greek myths and legends as shown in the 1981 movie "Clash of the Titans".

 

It has been often noted that the gameplay and graphics also seem to be strongly influenced by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, released in 1987.