Herc's Adventures
| Herc's Adventures | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Big Ape Productions, LucasArts |
| Publisher(s) |
LucasArts (North America) Virgin Interactive (Europe) Bullet Proof Software (Japan) |
| Distributor(s) | LucasArts (Worldwide) |
| Composer(s) |
Michael Land Peter McConnell (consultancy)[1] Herc's Adventures |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| Release date(s) |
Sega Saturn
PlayStation
|
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Herc's Adventures is the title of a video game released for the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn by LucasArts Entertainment in 1997. The PlayStation version was released internationally, but the Sega Saturn version was exclusive to North America. The overhead, action-adventure format is similar to Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Up to two players can pick among three ancient Greek heroes; Herc (Hercules), Atlanta (Atalanta), or Jason, who are on a quest to defeat Hades and save the Goddess of nature, Persephone. In 2014 it was release for PSN in North America.
Gameplay
The characters pick up various weapons and items along the game, which includes: pepper breath against bees and wasps, frost breath that freeze enemies, lightning which when hurled towards a target blasts it with electrical energy from the sky, spears, boar traps, flaming spears (used against the Hydra to prevent its head from reforming), bombs, an evil Pandora's box which when opened released rough weather, shrink doll which miniaturizes any target and laser gun from the aliens. Items include Circe's potion which turned the player into a pig to fit into small crevices, Medusa and Minotaur's head, the golden fleece (which opened the gates of Hades' underworld) and a lot more.
Gyros increased your health bar, and each hero had a second strength bar that depleted whenever your character moved or picked up and carried an object. Both your health and strength need to be increased by buying lessons from a strength trainer or finding red hearts throughout the game.
The challenge in the game was often involved in using the map in order to get to a god's temple, and learn what villain you need to defeat in order to grab one of the special keys needed to enter Hades palace.
Every time the players die, they are sent down to Hades' underworld and needed to fight their way to the exit in order to get a chance to continue. The more they die, the further back into the underworld they are sent, making it increasingly harder to fight their way out. However, after the fifth death, it's game over.
With the exception of the switch to and from the underworld section mentioned above, the game world is presented as an open, singular map, without any loading screens or transition intersticials between the areas that comprise it.
The game is filled with humorous situations. Your travels take you to various parts of Greece and the ancient Egypt where you battle, among other villains, space extraterrestrials. At the end of the game when Hades is defeated it is revealed that he is really a giant robot created by space extraterrestrials and its leader was the one who shoots the player with multiple blasters, and the player's character is then allowed to wander through a recreation of a Lucas Arts Entertainment office where it's possible to see the men and women that created the game.