Olympus no Tatakai is one of those weird, early NES action-RPG hybrids that feels like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. You start off as this little Greek hero running around slashing monsters, but then suddenly you’re managing stats and buying gear like it’s a full-blown RPG. The controls are a bit stiff—typical for 1986—but there’s something charming about how janky the combat feels.

First thing you’ll notice? The music slaps. It’s got that classic chiptune energy, all heroic trumpets and dungeon crawler vibes. And the sprites are tiny but surprisingly detailed—you can tell they were really trying to cram mythology into that 8-bit cartridge. Just don’t expect much story beyond “gods are mad, go hit things.”

It’s the kind of game where you either vibe with its weird mix of genres or bounce off hard. I stuck around for the sheer novelty of watching Hercules brawl with what looks like a pixelated minotaur missing half its animations.