Athena
SCORE: 56
Video games have progressed a long way
since they first came out. First up we had blocks to play with, then
human looking characters. Once video game developers could put images
that looked like people they did their best to draw up their fantasy
women. These women were nothing like the real thing, but it was as close
to a woman as many of them would ever get. The sad thing is it was also
the start of many women shunning the video game industry as a whole.
They did not, and do not appreciate being portrayed as objects of
enticement to lust.
Athena got a lot of comments. See the normal visual mode has a woman in
a bikini - a skimpy one at that. Now the screen can be stretched so this
offensive image does not show. I assume this image was on the side of
the box. The in game images are small, but we are talking about a real
retro game here. You can not get much older than Athena. Atari 2600
games, Colecovision and a few others pre-date this arcade game. Athena
was produced in 1986 so it has been some time since gamers paid this
game much attention.
Enemies vanish after they have been done away with by Athena. This game
includes numerous references to Greek and Roman mythology. With a name
like Athena few will be surprised by that statement. I noticed that the
music in Athena is excitable and fits the fast paced nature of Athena.
It does show its age on the Playstation 3, and Playstation Portable. I
had to keep reminding myself that this game is twenty-five years old.
Technology has advanced at a break neck speed.
If you enjoy the game play then you will will find replay in Athena. The
game is long enough to warrant the price. FFG was given a code to play
and review Athena. I found this game is so much better with the screen
stretched. The main character losing her dress at the beginning is a
little disturbing, but I think I addressed this concept earlier in the
review.
The game play in Athena consists of walking up to an enemy and attacking
it. Attack it until it is dead. Avoid enemies and kill them. Rinse and
repeat over and over again. There are a few spots where jumping is
required. Athena allows players to pick different control schemes if the
default setting is not to their liking. I am in the middle of the river
in terms of Athena. I did not find this game to be a lot of fun to play,
but it was not irritating either. Somewhere in the middle.
Athena has a bit of a storyline that I dug up in my research on the
game. She is disobedient because she want adventure. She leaves a
peaceful life to enter one of trouble and turmoil. I really can't
understand that. If you got it good, you should be thankful. But then
she is based on mythology where they are very flawed. Thankfully we
rejected that belief system long ago.
- Sam
Graphics: 40%
Sound: 60%
Replay/Extras: 70%
Gameplay: 60%
Family Friendly Factor: 52%
System: Playstation 3/Playstation Portable
Publisher: SNK PLAYMORE USA CORP
Rating: 'E10+' - Everyone 10+
{Suggestive Themes, Fantasy Violence}
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