Disney's Hercules Action Game

"Not often do you see Disney fail this badly."

As most of you should be able to tell Hercules is a game based on a movie. And true to form this game plays like an absolute dog, but this should come as no surprise to anyone who’s experienced all of those horrible movie based games. The one thing I just can’t figure out for the life of me is how Hercules made it to Platinum. When it comes to pointless, useless, brainless games, Hercules is at the head of the pack.

The graphics are just terrible. The animation in the game is some of the worst you’ll ever see, it looks even worse than the movie did (that’s no mean feat). The graphics aren’t very clear, it’s hard at times to see anything that’s going on in front of you. There are Genesis games that look better than this. Heck, there are NES games with graphics superior to those of Hercules.
The backgrounds are mostly bland, boring and have very little detail. The forests have a few trees, the city has a couple of pillars, the thought was there but everything generally comes off looking poorly done. Sprinkled throughout the game are selected FMVs from the actual movie, to give the story some sort of continuance. But to be honest Hercules really deserves to win an award for the most tasteless use of FMV, some of the choices were rather dubious and the game would have been better off without them.
As an overall package, the graphics are poorly done. They do nothing at all to add character to the game. Watching a documentary on the history of root canals would be more enjoyable than viewing this load of rubbish.

The audio component of Hercules is one of the dullest things you’ll ever hear. The background music mainly consists of supposedly bright, cheerful tunes. What you end up hearing however, are a group of dodgy, repetitive, AGGRAVATING tunes that sound like they belong in a Super Nintendo. All of the character speech is just a selection of the corniest phrases from the movie, these phrases will sound repetitively throughout the course of the game and do little to help your sanity.
The Sound Effects are all of poor quality, this game honestly belongs on a 16–Bit machine, that’s where the sounds were definitely spawned from. The effects are dull and really assault the eardrums, it’s as if the developers tried their hardest to really screw this game up.
Overall the sound is totally lacklustre and the only enjoyment that you’ll get from it is if you decide to turn it down. It’ll be the one time in your life where the silence will seem soothing to your ears.

At least the gameplay offers a little bit of variety (but not much more than that), there’s the bog standard run and jump and swing your sword levels, but there’s also a number of levels where you’re running continuously and have to rely on your reflexes and dodging skills to progress further in the game. Also, the boss levels, where you have to take on Medusa and The Hydra, are actually NEARLY fun, that surprised me a lot. It’s just too bad that the other eight levels are so poor.
Hercules himself has a few nifty moves that he can utilise during the course of the game, he’s got a volley of small punches, a POWER punch, and his basic sword swing. A decent mastery of these is all it takes to finish the game. The controls are easy to get the hang of and it won’t be long until you’re Herculesing (I know it’s not a real word) like a pro.
All of the levels have been designed badly. The repetitiveness is amazing; there are some spots in the game that a person could believe that they’ve gone past five or six times during the course of a level. There isn’t a big enough number of enemies to take care of, and the ones you do meet are just pushovers, one or two swings of the sword and down they go.
The pick-ups that you find along the way do make the game more interesting, but only by a tiny amount. There are various to your sword that can be found, and these make blasting away the small amount of enemies even more enjoyable than it never was.
Overall, the gameplay of Hercules is dated and has been used before in numerous games. Even for a 2D side-scroller the whole thing is mindless and there are just too many games spread across all the consoles that play better than this one.

The lifespan of Hercules is bordering on pathetic. The save points are ridiculously hard to find and it’s just as well that the game can be finished in under an hour. You may (if you have enough intestinal fortitude) finish the game between three and five times. But that’s still only five hours play maximum, and it just isn’t enough. There is no redeeming feature that this game has to keep you hooked or even mildly interested for a decent stretch of time.

The fun factor offered is virtually non-existent. Although a small percent of the levels offer a good enough play, most of them just seem like a chore to finish. Finishing this game will give the player no satisfaction whatsoever, in fact this game has the uncanny ability to make you suicidal after long bouts of playing. In short. Is Hercules fun at all, even a tiny little bit? No!

The challenge contained in Hercules is exactly the same as the fun factor. The game has three difficulties, Hard, Medium and Easy. They should have really been named Easy, Very Easy and Insanely Easy; this game is a breeze to finish. Hercules may have been aimed at the younger gamers but even they shouldn’t have too much trouble getting to the end.

Overall, Hercules is a poorly put together game. Most games usually have one redeeming feature but this one just doesn’t deliver the goods. This game is suited towards a lower age bracket, but even the little kiddies may find themselves appalled with the way that it plays. It’s recommended that you look elsewhere if you want to find even a half-decent game.
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GOOD POINTS
- It’s from Disney. Most people like Disney
- It’s a short game, so you won’t have to put up with it for long

NOT SO GOOD POINTS
- Nearly everything, Hercules was poorly put together
- It gives 2D games an even less credible name
- Those darn FMVs from the movie will sicken anyone
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GRAPHICS – 2/10
SOUND - 1/10
GAMEPLAY – 3/10
LIFESPAN – 1/10
FUN FACTOR – 1/10
CHALLENGE – 2/10
OVERALL – 2/10

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/00, Updated 05/21/00