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| Welcome
to Game of the Week! Each week there will be a
new featured game on this page. The game may be good,
average or diabolically bad, it really doesn't matter!
Just look at the pics, read the text and enjoy the nostalgia!
:-) Game of the Week! is open to contributions so if you
would like to contribute
a game article for this page you're more than welcome
to! Every article we receive will be considered! |
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Hercules
1984 Interdisc
Programmed
by Steve Bak
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text of the present article comes from the review published
in the seventeenth issue of the British C64 magazine ZZAP!64
(street date: July 21st, 1986). |
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HERCULES
Alpha/Omega
(CRL), £4.95 cass, joystick only
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Now you all know the legend of Hercules . . . No? Ah
-- well then . . . Are we sitting comfortably? Then
I'll begin. Once upon a time there was this guy called
Hercules. One day he killed his wife and kids in a fit
of mad rage, so overcome by grief and remorse he consulted
the Oracle at Delphi to ask how he should earn his forgiveness.
He was told to go and serve King Eurystheus for twelve
years, performing all the tasks commanded of him. If
Hercules survived he would become immortal and take
his place among the Gods on Mount Olympus.
Hercules,
the game, contains fifty platform screens and from these,
eleven of the twelve quests are randomly selected (only
when Hercules has completed all eleven tasks can he
attempt the twelfth). Each quest is set on a platform
screen which is usually infested by various nasties.
But don't think the platforms are there to help you
-- no, if you stand on them for too long they may
burst into flames, or simply fade away, leaving Hercules
a Kentucky fried Hero or a free falling clod.
Not
all the platforms are that bad, though -- some of them
actually help you. There you are, falling some great
height when -- KAZAM! a platform appears and breaks
your fall. Occasionally lurking amongst these self-combusting
platforms are some helpful ropes which you can climb,
although hitting the top of the rope causes Hercules
to fall.
On
each screen there is a target to reach. This takes the
shape of an animal or object pertaining to the task,
such as a lion or a hydra. Completing the screen transforms
the beast into a door which leads to the next task.
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Don't
be misled by the sick graphics and sound -- underneath
this pixel abortion is a brilliant platform game just
screaming to be let out. It's true to say that the graphics
and sound are totally appalling -- just look at that
screen shot and laugh! The game itself won't have you
laughing though, it had me screaming and yelling in
frustration, and I reckon the author of the game is
a descendant of the Marquis de Sade. The screens are
deviously thought out and most of them require a lot
of perseverance before they can be completed.
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What
I really liked was the fact that you could start
on any number of screens, making it nice and varied
to play. Everything is played at one hell of a
speed, and although most of the screens have a
pattern, split second reflexes are needed to actually
complete them. As for addictiveness -- this game
really has it -- it had me glued to the Commodore
when I should have been doing reviews. It's a
brilliant game which definitely shouldn't be missed.
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Presentation
79%
Naff title screen, but high score table can be
saved for posterity, and the random accessing
of 'tasks' is a neat idea.
Graphics
21%
The 64 should have been on the
pill to prevent the graphics from being conceived.
Sound
20%
Does to the ears what the graphics
do to the eyes.
Hookability
76%
Almost too frustrating to be worthwhile...
Lastability
94%
...but perseverence reaps its own
reward.
Value
For Money 96%
Less than a fiver for 50 action
packed screens.
Overall
92%
Don't judge a book by its cover
-- beneath the awful exterior lies a superb platform
game.
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Htmlized
by Dimitris
Kiminas (28 Oct 2007)
Only the first of the above screenshots existed in the
original review.
Other
"Games of the Week!"
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