Glory of Heracles Two for the NES

Glory of Heracles 2 is another example of early RPGs, now called JRPGs, and was originally developed and published by Data East. Now, I believe it's owned by Paon Corporation.

I really have a soft spot for the early RPGs. Most of you know by now that I miss this kind of gaming, so when I came across this game I had some moderately high hopes....

At first, I was wondering what the Hades happened to Glory of Heracles One because I couldn't find a cartridge or rom anywhere. Evidently, the first game was released in 1987 as Tōjin Makyō Den: Heracles no Eikō. Since then, three sequels have been released plus a portable spinoff.

According to Wikipedia, following the bankruptcy of Data East, Paon Corporation acquired the rights to the series, and Nintendo released the latest installment: Heracles no Eikō: Tamashii no Shōmei for the Nintendo DS in 2008.

None of the games had been released outside Japan until E3 2009, at which point the latest game was announced by Nintendo simply as: Glory of Heracles.

To be perfectly honest, I find all that to be outrageous. I have no idea how any of the other games play, but Glory of Heracles 2 is not that great, so I'm surprised to find it has such a history in Japan, and that so many more games followed.

When I first found this game, I thought it had a rather cool motif; it’s based on Greek Mythology. You can't go wrong with that, right? I mean, we don't find too many games based so tightly around Greek Mythology; sure, we have God of War now, but even that is really a spin off from Greek Mythology, and I must say that I'm shocked that we don't have more games based on Greek Mythology. If you think about it, it should be the perfect setting for a retro RPG, side scroller, platformer, or even a beat-'em-up.

Anyway, you pop this sucker in your Nintendo, turn it on, shut it off, pull it out, blow in the cartridge—even though the instructions tell you not to—shove it back in, turn it on, and begin by giving yourself a name.

I have no idea who you're supposed to be; you’re the grandson of some old woman in the town of Minoa. Presumably, since Zeus is a poon hound with a penchant for mortal women, you're probably the ill begotten son of Zeus, and for whatever reason, the queen wants to speak to you, so bumble on over, and then get sent to Athens.

Going to Athens isn't so easy, though. You need to talk to a bunch of people, name a woman you've never met, pick up a flute, and finally hop a ship to Athens, where you're supposed to find Homer.

I wonder if he's a Simpson....

Anyway, you get to Athens.

In Athens, you learn that Icarus has been found injured, and you’re told to go to Selan to inform Daedalus, but when you get there, he’s gone. You roam around, fighting these tree trunks with arms and boobs.

Okay, those probably aren't boobs. They're probably eyes, but c'mon....

While roaming around, looking for Selan (not the chick from Lufia 2) you have to be careful where you walk; one wrong step, and you'll get creamed by condors.

The Good

The game is playable… and that's a shame; it should have been great. The music is okay. The game mechanics are simple enough; you blast baddies to gain money and experience, so you can buy equipment and level up. It’s a standard RPG. As you progress, you get more people to join your party. One of them is a centaur, and that's cool. Unfortunately, there's really nothing outstanding. I did, however, enjoy that there is a day and night cycle, which affects what you can do in towns.

The Bad

Castlevania 2 Simon’s Quest comes to mind. Why? The townsfolk are utterly useless. They don’t give you any real information, so you just wander around, wondering what to do, where to go. It’s boring.

I absolutely abhor having to muddle through a game. In an RPG, since they are filled to the brim with NPCs, those morons should at least have the decency to provide you clues. I need to clarify that I like Simon’s Quest. I don’t find that game boring, and I’ll review it at some point in the future.

Anyway, Glory of Heracles 2 is another D- game. It’s playable, and the Mythology motif really sets it apart from other RPGs, but that just isn’t enough for me. I recommend you play Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, or Chronicles of the Radia War, another game I’ll review in the future.

In my final analysis, I can't say that I was disappointed by this game, but I will say that it did not hold my interest; I never wanted to play it; I just played it because I had it.

The NES truly has a lot of great games, and a handful of decent of RPGs, and it would have been nice for Glory of Heracles 2 to have been one of them, but it isn’t; it’s slow paced and boring, and it’s a great way to get to sleep.