Back in its heyday, LucasArts was a premier video game developer and publisher. In addition to great Star Wars titles like Rebel Assault and Star Wars: Dark Forces, George Lucas’s video game studio made and released some non-Star Wars gaming classics like Maniac Mansion, LOOM, and Full Throttle. Although the majority of LucasArts games were confined to the PC, many titles were either ported to consoles or made exclusively for them. One of their games belonging to the latter category went horribly unnoticed because of its visual style, source material, and its relation to another property at the time.
Herc’s Adventures was a 2D action-adventure game released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. The game went largely ignored by the general gaming populace, primarily because of its 2D aesthetic. The fourth generation of gaming consoles introduced the console gaming public to 3D gaming, and many at the time saw a return to 2D visuals to be a step backwards. In addition, Disney had released a game based on its Hercules animated film almost at the exact same time. The popularity of the movie, combined with the Disney game’s surprisingly good gameplay, conspired to relegate the LucasArts title to near obscurity. For the lucky individuals who experienced it – myself included – Herc’s Adventures was an absolute gem of a game.
The game’s plot is simple: Hades, the god of the underworld, has kidnapped the goddess of nature, Persephone. It is up to Herc and two other Greek heroes, Jason and Atlanta, to free Persephone from Hades’ clutches. The player’s chosen hero will traverse ancient Greece in a perspective similar to Konami’s hit game, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, exploring the world, conversing with its many citizens, and bashing quite a few enemies along the way.
The game looks surprisingly good for a 2D PlayStation game. The reason for the surprise lies within the PlayStation’s architecture. While the 2D graphics in Herc’s Adventures were no problem on the Sega Saturn, which had a 2D rendering engine and could handle beefy 2D sprites and backgrounds, they were considered impossible for the PlayStation. Sony’s freshman console was designed with 3D graphics as a priority and didn’t have a 2D rendering engine in it. LucasArts developers had to “trick” 2D graphics on the PlayStation, rendering the 2D sprites ad flat, textureless polygons. The results on the PlayStation version were barely distinguishable from the Saturn version. Everything about the game’s graphical presentation on the PlayStation was top-notch. The scenes are very colorful and cartoony, and the player and enemy sprites are well drawn and animated. Except for a few hiccups in framerate due to the 2D/3D trickery and the PlayStation’s notorious loading times when bringing up new areas, the PlayStation version is the equal of the Saturn version.
Everything else about Herc’s Adventures’ gameplay and presentation is virtually indistinguishable between the consoles, and quite good. The game’s trademark humor is excellent, filled to the brim with puns and jokes. Callbacks to Sam and Max: Hit the Road and its crazy humor pop up in my head. The gameplay is tight, with light RPG elements like stat increases to mix up the pure action-adventure gameplay. There’s a fair bit of challenge for players looking for a game that’ll test their gaming abilities. There is also a 2-player local co-op option available, letting couch friends bash Hades’ minions in together.
Does the game still hold up? Yes it does! I recently played the game, collecting footage for a possible review video. I played through two hours, nearly exhausting my hard drive’s free space in the process, and I did not wanna stop. For action-adventure game fans, Herc’s Adventures is a fun romp.
Fortunately, playing the game today is very easy. Players with a PlayStation can pick it up on the cheap in the secondhand market. Better yet, PS3, PS Vita, and PSP owners can purchase the PS One Classic version on the Playstation Store for only $5.99. I’d recommend picking this criminally overlooked gem up.
Good: Colorful, detailed graphics; tight gameplay; good challenge.
Bad: Some graphical hiccups due to 2D/3D rendering; Sony’s infamous loading times.
Final score: 8.5/10
