Heracles: Battle with the Gods

A short 2D platformer allegedly based on Greek legends, Heracles: Battle with the Gods might not be the best game in anyone's collection, but it still delivers some unexpected moments of fun and interesting level design.

Despite its apparent shortcomings, this game proves that there's a market for basic platforming titles that don't demand too much skill from the player. As such, Heracles: Battle with the Gods might be the perfect gateway into the world of gaming for younger players, as long as they can understand some of the game's cryptic objectives.

A Look into the Myth

When Heracles' trusty steed, Pegasus, is kidnapped, the son of Zeus embarks on a perilous journey to rescue his life-long companion. That's the basic premise of Heracles: Battle with the Gods. Right from the get-go, you'll notice that the game targets a young audience.

This game is not related in any way to the trademark violence of God of War, or even the colorful platforming of Disney's Hercules. In their place, there's a very barebones platformer where you control the son of Zeus and face off against some of the most popular faces in the Greek pantheon.

However, there's a twist to Heracles: Battle with the God's gameplay, and it has to do with one of the basics of most platforming titles.

Ascending to Greatness

99% of platformers would have you moving from the left side of the screen towards the right. It's a common genre rule. Heracles: Battle with the Gods defenestrates that concept by tasking the player with navigating the game's levels in a vertical fashion.

There are still some remnants of horizontal side-scrolling platforming to be found in this game, but they're few and far between. If anything, I think that we should commend the determination of the developers: they wanted a vertical platformer, and by Heracles, they got it.

The only real issue with this is that most of the time, what comes in the upcoming platforms is obscured. Still, it's not like there's much to look at in each level, as the arenas are as basic as they come.

Looks Aren't Everything

Visually speaking, Heracles: Battle with the Gods is (and there's no better way to say this) horrendous. Jagged edges everywhere and a laughable texturing job makes the game feel even cheaper, resulting in the video game equivalent of days-old food.

As repulsive as the visuals can be, at least the music is catchy enough to accompany Heracles in his jaggy-edged journeys. The fact that the UI is also rather unobtrusive is also a plus, even if it comes at the cost of letting us see even more of what's going on in the game (and no one wants to do that.)

All in all, the game might not be the more competent platformer out there, but its unique gameplay might justify its place in any gamer's collection, at least as a discussion piece or one of those "so bad it's good" kind of games that always end up garnering a cult following.

Pros

• Innovative vertical platforming
• The music isn't bad at all
• Basic but concise plot

Cons

• Terrible graphics
• Awkward controls with a camera that gets in the way of the fun
• No replay value whatsoever