In Creation Games

Nostalgia really is an amazing thing. It can fill you magic that you haven’t felt for years; it makes you want to be a child again. Somehow I ended up listening to Disney songs the other day and I could still feel the magic that I felt all those years ago. Of course, this being a video games blog and not a movie blog I shouldn’t go on about all my favourite Disney films so I’ll talk about one of my favourite Disney games: Disney’s Hercules: Action Game. To be completely honest though, this wasn’t just one of my favourites Disney games, at the time it was on my favourite games ever!

I loved the Hercules film and I loved the game too. Thinking back upon this magnificent creation it was an extremely varied adventure that managed to capture the film’s magic almost perfectly. There were the normal levels which played as a 2D side-scrolling game with focus on fighting and jumping but there were also “rush levels” in which you had to keep on running forwards and you couldn’t turn back. Along with this the bosses were really fun to fight and were all relatively different.

The side-scrolling levels were excellent. They combined fighting enemies along with jumping about the reach new levels. Since Hercules is the greatest warrior (This is not hyperbole) in the world he had plenty of ways to kick ass. His sword was the main way of attacking and throughout the game he received upgrades for it. I can remember the lighting and fireball sword but the other ones escape me, though I’m sure there was at least one more. Hercules mighty fists could also be used but it wasn’t as easy to defeat enemies with. Though the charged punch really did pack a punch (Sorry… pun intended).

The “rush levels” were always fun. The first one of these (I think) was when Hercules is taking part in Phil’s training. You had to run forward while dodging deadly traps and hitting as many targets as you could. It mainly involved avoiding obstacles but every time it was just as fun as before.

The boss fights were nothing short of excellent. Whether you were fighting Medusa, the Centaur, the Hydra or one of the other bosses each fight was just as enjoyable as the rest. They all played out relatively different too which is an added bonus. The Medusa fight forced you to make her stare at mirrors to turn her to stone while in the Centaur fight you had to jump on him just like the film.

Graphically I remember it looking amazing. I have vivid, clear images of a very well animated and smooth game. It was really colourful and looked like it was taken straight from the film. Of course, after looking at some screenshots it didn’t look as good as I remembered but it actually holds up a lot better than I would expect. It looks a little jagged but the 2D parts don’t look too bad and it is does look very similar to the film (To an extent, obviously).

The music was taken straight out of the film which is nothing but a good thing because the music was excellent. It fitted in correctly within the game and appeared at the right parts. As I write this I am actually listening to the soundtrack (Before this was Tarzan and Toy Story). Some of the films voice actors voiced their characters in the game too.

This just so happens to be on the PlayStation Store and I desperately want to play it now. As soon as I get the time to sit down and play it from start to finish I will do because if it’s even an ounce as good as I remember then it will be a magical experience from start to finish.