Athena (NES) Playthrough
3Playthrough of SNK's 1987 side-scrolling action platformer NES game, Athena.
Athena for the NES is a side-scrolling action platformer developed by Micronics, a studio known for handling several challenging and often criticized ports on the system. A home version of SNK’s arcade title, the game places players in control of Princess Athena, who escapes her mundane royal life by entering a portal into the World of Wisdom—a fantastical and hostile realm filled with monsters, traps, and mythological themes. The concept has a unique appeal, offering a mix of Greek-inspired environments and RPG-lite elements like gear upgrades and weapon collection. However, the execution on NES is highly divisive due to a combination of design flaws, technical limitations, and difficulty that many players have found overwhelming.
Athena begins the game nearly unarmed and unequipped, and players must scavenge for swords, shields, helmets, and other items to improve her survivability. These items degrade quickly due to constant enemy encounters, requiring frequent replacements. Combat mechanics are inconsistent: hit detection is unreliable, and enemy behavior can feel erratic, often resulting in unavoidable damage. In some instances, players can take advantage of bugs or strange hitbox interactions to progress, but more often, these quirks introduce frustration rather than strategy. The final boss, for instance, requires a precise understanding of animation cycles and invulnerability frames that are never explained and appear unintuitive, making the encounter more about exploiting glitches than mastering a fair challenge.
The game’s visuals are colorful, and the fantasy aesthetic is ambitious for its time. Each stage presents a distinct setting, ranging from forests to caves to infernal landscapes. While the graphics are relatively basic by later NES standards, they reflect the early era of the system’s life. The music is energetic but repetitive, providing a background that matches the frenetic pace of gameplay, though it doesn’t necessarily enhance the experience. The level design often relies on punishing difficulty rather than thoughtful layout, leading to trial-and-error progression rather than skill-based mastery.
Overall, Athena on the NES is a difficult and often frustrating game that stands out more for its historical and character legacy than for the quality of its gameplay. While it has moments of creativity and ambition, the inconsistent mechanics and steep learning curve make it a tough recommendation, especially for casual players. For those interested in retro gaming history or SNK’s early development catalog, however, it offers a glimpse into a formative yet flawed chapter of 8-bit action platformers.