I still remember your interview with Yukio Horimoto about Battle of Olympus back in the day, it was very inspring since the developers (Infinity) were a husband and wife duo who loves Greek mythology.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

One of my favorite interviews! I love when I talk to someone about a passion project from their past and they really open up.

@simoxyz8630

Жыл бұрын

@@JeremyParishIs the interview available somewhere? I’d love to read it.

@DeathCrustPunk

Жыл бұрын

@@JeremyParish what a beautiful article that is

11:10 This reminds me of one of my favorite hidden gems, "Sigma Star Saga" on GBA. It was made by Wayforward and also manages to mash up Zelda with shmups, and with a surprisingly good space opera story. Now I'm wondering if it was inspired by Guardian Legend.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

It was! They’ve said as much.

@anon-soso-anon

Жыл бұрын

I played Sigma Star Saga way back but didn't know that was Wayforward.

Exile on the C64 was one of the most impressive 8-bit titles I ever played back in the day. It's a crime that it's so forgotten.

@NesNyt

Жыл бұрын

I hope they make the mini x68000 classic they teased a while back

@m.a.packer5450

Жыл бұрын

It's a crime that the C64 as a whole is so forgotten. A gaming computer that did its job so well, you found them everywhere, even in warehouses and manufacturing centers where they used them as sturdy work computers

@NesNyt

Жыл бұрын

@@m.a.packer5450 anything jack tremeil was part of just reminds me of a big loser with some stupid brothers that pulled the original intellivsion amico scam. They probably fathered Tommy tallarico out of wedlock

Rygar, Battle of Olympus, Crystalis and Faxanadu were the best 3rd party action adventure games on the NES I loved every one of them as a kid. Wish we got more games like them today.

@dientimuri3956

Жыл бұрын

All of those are great, but I would add Guardian Legend and Blaster Master to the list, personally. Those two may be hybrids, but I think their quality puts them on even footing.

Exile reminds me a lot of Noita, both in style and execution- exploring procedurally generated areas, extensive physical simulation. I wasn't even aware of Exile! And you're totally right- the Brits could optimize their code to squeeze every last cycle from a jumped-up calculator like the ZX Spectrum or the Amstrad CPC. Programmers in the US did it to show off- the Brits did it because they had to!

@juststatedtheobvious9633

Жыл бұрын

Try coding for the 2600 before you claim it's only about showing off. Not that they aren't showing off, but it was a Pong/Combat dedicated hardware before anyone realized what was possible with the complete lack of a frame buffer. Early IBM PC games were also dealing with a hostile territory. Beating the odds, or at least making creative use of the limitations, was mandatory.

The Battle of Olympus has one of the greatest NES soundtracks ever. I was terrible at the game but loved playing it just to be able to hear the tunes.

The Battle of Olympus is one of my favorite games on the NES. It definitely wears its inspiration on its sleeve freely, but since I like Zelda 2, this never bothered me. I always loved the music and mythology involved, feeling that the bit I already read about as a kid, gave me a slight edge in moving through things (whether it did or not is up for debate). The Guardian Legend is also a game that is overlooked often and has a really ambitious way of presentation.

Ah ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’ my parents played the soundtrack a lot around the time it came out, which was around the same time I was playing Kid Icarus. I can’t think of one without the other.

The Guardian Legend has been my favorite NES game since my grandfather bought it back in 1990. The hybrid shooter/adventure style has always really appealed to me.

The Guardian Legend is easily one of my favorite NES games. One of the few that I’ve played and beaten multiple times. I’ve always been disappointed that it never got more entries on future consoles.

@chukyuniqul

7 күн бұрын

Shadow of naju is a fanmade sequel and it's hella tough on normal. I liked it a fair bit.

I love Battle of Olympus. It’s my favorite NES games. I can’t get enough content on it. I would appreciate an even deeper dive someday. Thanks for the excellent content.

The Guardian Legend was my jam back during the winter of 1989-1990. I never owned the game but I rented it a bunch of times and did manage to finish it. The spikes in difficulty were frustrating but the game as a whole was just so good I kept coming back for more time and time again! Plus the "TGL" password that sent you through a boss rush was a real trip to try and complete. I even played through the entire game again via emulation during the summer of 2021. Good times!

MY FAVORITE GAME. I still have a passcode index card I made from 93

_The Guardian Legend_ and _The Battle of Olympus_ are two of my all-time favorite games. It's really cool to see them featured together like this.

Dude! I played so much Golvellius and so much Guardian Legend and this is the first time I learned that they're by the same developer. As soon as you said that, the similarities became so clear. Love this content!

Nobody asked martin kove which rambo game was his favorite

Good to see someone finally giving Exile it's due. It was extraordinarily ahead of it's time.

I tend to comment before I even watch the video because I'm at work, but I love Metroidvania Works. I'm assuming I'll love this episode JP... plenty of data.

Battle of Olympus was something I never played but maybe I should seek it out. Nice to see Compile continue doing great games with the Guardian Legend. I've never heard of Exile but it's concept sounds cool.

@JazGalaxy

Жыл бұрын

I’ve tried to check it out a few times over the course of the 21st century and I find it hard to get into. I think I need a strategy guide or to read the instruction manual or some thing.

5:29 - The gradient they managed here looks so gorgeous. Can't wait to see what that moment looks like on a blurry CRT.

Two Metroidvania Works in the same week? You spoil us, Jeremy

The Guardian Legend, a true underrated game. Its music is so good too.

The Guardian Legend Japanese box art is a lovely piece of work- on that note, you can't really blame a generation for being fixated on sleek fighter craft that transform into cybernetic armor-clad bikini girls

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

I was fortunate enough to work with the artist (Naoyuki Katoh) on Axiom Verge 2. His work is still amazing even in his 70s.

@ChristopherSobieniak

Жыл бұрын

True.

@ChristopherSobieniak

Жыл бұрын

​@@JeremyParishNice!

@ToranosukeEdo

Жыл бұрын

​@@JeremyParishWow, that is super cool! 😀❤

@malkneil

Жыл бұрын

@@JeremyParish What was your involvement in Axiom Verge 2, out of curiosity?

I've told this story elsewhere, but Battle of Olympus will always hold a special place in my memory for being a big part of why I learned to read. I was really young when my parents bought it, and I "helped" (that is, sat next to and offered my expert advice to) my dad as he played through it over the course of many weekends. But I didn't know who any of these Greek gods were, and, because my parents weren't experts themselves, they got me this giant book of Greek myths for kids to read so I could learn about them myself, and, with a lot of help and frequent trips to the dictionary, that's what I did. I still have that book in my basement somewhere. I'm sure I'd have gotten the hang of reading eventually anyway, but this game is still what made me read through the biggest book of my life up to that point.

The Battle of Olympus has fantastic pacing. It's clearly following Zelda II but there's plenty of room for 2D sidescrolling adventures. Love this soundtrack!

Exile on Acorn Electron! Phew! That’s some pulls form the deep back catalog, but I certainly appreciate it. Japanese devs don’t have a monopoly on original ideas. 8:10 - “Myria the Transforming Cyborg Bikini Girl” - lol, no mentions of her in the manual, art, or even the Nintendo Power article. Characters and theme are an important part of the game. I like GL but it feels like there's nothing to latch onto in between the crowds of bugs and alien fish the game throws at you. For all the 2D side-on Metroidvanias out there, the only modern take I can think of of Guardian Legend is maybe Blaster Master Zero, but that’s isn’t delivering the “Giant maze with no clear goals” experience that Guardian is doing. I want a twin stick shooter / metroidvania!

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

American video game publishers were SO AFRAID to cop to the possibility that women could be something besides hostages back then.

About 8 years ago a friend and I played through Battle of Olympus on original hardware, we met several times to complete it. It was such a fun experience.

Excellent episode! Battle of Olympus and Guardian Legend are two of the best and most advanced NES games.

The Guardian Legend was a childhood favorite! 😍

Another great episode Jeremy. You covered two (or maybe three) underrepresented classics here. Somehow I got my hands on B.O.O. back in the day by trading (which is what we used to call borrowing for some reason) carts with buddies back then. It falls just short of perfection for me, mostly for the over importance they put on grinding for olives (and those damned salamander skins), coupled with how quickly you lose them when you die (unless you get wise to using Retry). Guardian Legend is one my buddy touted to me in my young adult years as I hadn't played it as a kid. A bit strange when you first dive in, but it quickly endears itself to you and strikes a great balance between the overworld exploring and shooter aspects. I'm sure you know about the plagiarized box art from the 80s movie Creature. Exile looks quite cool and reminded me a bit of Solar Jetman on NES. Shout out to Golvelius on SMS. I bought an SMS a few years back and randomly bumped into that title. Once I got playing it was a surprisingly competent and fun experience with those mixed in vertical levels reminiscent of Guardian Legend; they both used Zenny as their currency as well! An SMS must-play!

This is one of my favorite YT series

TGL was a bullet hell game on a system that could not handle bullet hell. Honestly, the most impressive part about it was that it ran at all.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

That's the Compile way, baby. Wait 'til we get to Gun•Nac.

I had The Battle of Olympus as a kid (but never Zelda 2...). It was so challenging for me and I have this weird memory of telling my mom I needed to find the Moonstone and her laughing about the idea of that because I didn't know what "mooning" was.

guardic gaiden was and still is one of my favorite games -- love it

It’d be interesting to someday see a study of how early video games so often used Greco-Roman mythology to varying degrees of accuracy or rewriting of them, like Kid Icarus or even Altered Beast.

The Guardian Legend is one of the best games of the 8 bit era in my opinion. I used to play it so so much

Wow! Using clips from Jim Henson’s ‘The Storyteller’! Epic!

Thanks for this series such great perspective

Wish you had made a mention about Battle of Olympus's banger ost!

The Guardian Legend is a standout game on the NES. It's difficult, but in a good way like Dark Souls. It gives the player plenty of options to overcome its challenges.

oh yes! more of this series!

Oh cool, Battle of Olympus. I love that game.

While I really like The Battle of Olympus, I think that The Guardian Legend remains one of my favorite games that I've ever played.

Battle of Olympus is a good time! Though, I do find it more challenging than Zelda II overall. And thanks for the reminder on Guardian Legend. I need to play that one sometime.

The Guardian Legend has RPG health upgrade actually! With every like 100k score you get +1 health bar expansion. Score act like experience points.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Wow, TIL.

A fantastic trio of games this time around! Olympus and Guardian Legend were favorites when I was smol, though the latter I never actually managed to get very far in the latter until I was much older. That kind of makes me reflect on how much more comfortable I was as a child being a fan of a game I couldn't actually play very well. I liked the shooting and I liked the exploration and that was good enough for me. I guess that's not too different from being impressed by Exile, which I've only been able to try it a handful of times and I didn't make much progress.

I think I only played The Guardian Legend once in a weekend rental, and I would have sworn it was closer to 1990. That’s an impressive hodgepodge of a package for 1987/88 (and I love this series for learning about MSX origins of series) It’s kind of impressive that the black sheep of the Zelda family, and the one closest to B/b- range (give or take a skyward sword and twilight Princess) would have such an impact

I had Exile on the Atari ST as a kid but I could never get very far, though I returned to it a lot for the atmosphere.

you had to search "is olive a fruit?" for this one, don´t lie!... man i love your content, thanks for the hard work, it shows.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

It’s absolutely a fruit! What are they teaching you in school these days?!

Ooh I remember playing Exile on my Amiga. It was cool, unique.. and confusing!

Oh! What a feeling/Greek dude on the ceiling

Man, I love me some Battle of Olympus. Great game.

I have exile for the Amiga CD 32. It’s awesome but man are those physics tricky! It came in the big box too.

I guess those European microcomputer multi screen maze games could occasionally have Metroidvania-ish aspects. Even something like the Cauldron games had some items that were required to reach other places...

Huh I thought you were done at the this series with your last episode. Cool to see you continue

The battle of olympus and The Guardian Legend are great. 😀👍🎮

Battle of Olympus and Guardian Legend are two of the best games on the NES.

I really wish Compile's Famicom stuff was more easily available these days. A friend of mine had Guardian Legend as a kid, but would never lend it to anyone.

In German we have "zur Salzsäure erstarren" instead of "zur Salzsäule erstarren" [to turn into hydrochloric acid ≠ to turn into a column of salt (like Lot's wife)], "etwas auf Trapez bringen" instead of "etwas aufs Tapet bringen" [bring it on the trapeze ≠ bring it on (the covering) of a conference table]... My grandma often says "Ich werde dich Moses lehren" [I will you teach you (the way of) Moses] instead of " Ich werde dich Mores lehren" [I will teach you 'mores']. "Mores" (singular 'mos') is latin for 'costumes and traditions'. It is related to "morals". And there is also "Osterporöse" instead of Osteoporose (easter porous ≠ osteoporisis).

I don't know where you ended up afterward, but trust me, you did yourself a huge favor by leaving Talking Time.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah, that place degenerated into a toxic cesspool long before I relinquished the keys to it. Breaks my heart, but that's the internet in a nutshell... everything you build eventually turns to rot.

The Guardian Legend is among my favorite NES games.

Axiom Verge 1 and 2 are in my too 5 games list along Warcraft 1, 2 and 3.

Didn't think I'd hear of Hollow Knight on this series! Think I will check out if I can emulate Exile.

Battle of Olympus: One I remember renting back in the day but never owned... really should rectify it I remember it being a fun zelda 2-like. TGL I know all my friends go crazy over, but I get it. great shmup action in between some zelda-like exploration. I did pick this one up somewhat recently gonna have to hook the nintendo back up one of these days and get back to it! Exile.... I'm not familiar with, so nothing to really say about it... but it looks pretty vast for a game that old!

In hindsight, Battle of Olympus really missed a trick not having a Metroid-style "post-final boss escape sequence" ending with the classic Orpheus blunder.

@goranisacson2502

Жыл бұрын

That would have been so mean to the children of that time, and realizing this makes me regret that it didn't happen even more.

@cormano64

10 ай бұрын

@@goranisacson2502 Games were nothing if not mean to the children of that time, so it would be on brand.

Looking at Exile in the video it vaguely reminds me of Solar Jetman. Perhaps due to the physics-based flight and the space theme. There may have been some direct influence considering it came from British developers as well.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

UK programmers were up to some serious shenanigans on 8-bit micros. Like they were single-handedly trying to win back computing dominance for the U.S. for Turing’s sake

Battle of Olympus, one of my favorite games of the NES...

Holy cow, the brief bit showing the shmup intro of the Guardian Legend turned my stomach! That is not something that has happened to me since Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy.

I liked Battle of Olympus, but didn't dig the early "take the longest possible backtracking paths to pad the game", but it was one of a few titles my mother ordered from Home Shopping Club, that somehow all would become well played games (the other two were both Camerica games: Big Nose Caveman and The Adventures of Dizzy). TGL was, and still is, one of my favorite NES games ever. Never really thought of it in the vein of a MetroidVania, but with hindsight, I don't see how I missed linking the concept. However, this was my first exposure of Exile.

I had never even heard of Exile whereas I've seen a fair share of stuff about Battle of Olympos and Guardian, so I'm really intrigued by this mysterious exploratory action-game - who killed him? Who made the skeleton-man? Would we ever know? No clue, I just thought it was funny to speculate.

You said that Compile developed The Guardian Legend as well as Golvellius and Legacy of the Wizard, but in Japan Legacy of the Wizard is Dragon Slayer 4 and was definitely developed by Falcom. However it was, like The Guardian Legend and The Battle of Olympus, published in NA on the NES by Broderbund. Perhaps that was the intended reference and things got mixed up during an editing shuffle? Sorry to be "that person" in the comments, but this seemed like a worthy correction. Still a great video as always!

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Compile developed the NES version of Dragon Slayer based on the MSX version by Falcon.

Wow, praise for Ys 3, I knew I liked you! Lol

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Well... moderate praise. Oath in Felghana is really good, though!

@MrTableDesk

Жыл бұрын

@@JeremyParish Oath is probably my favorite Ys game; but SNES Ys 3 was my introduction to the series, and I loved it. I had to spend my entire childhood defending that game against my older brother, lol. I mean it's not a fantastic game, but I always had a good time with it.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

The level balancing is... something.

Yeaaahhhhh buddy

I miss the side scrolling ARPG. I still enjoy the top-down ARPG, though. Glad there are several of them and the genre still is being made. Another one I miss is the turn-based JRPG. It's sad no one wants to make those anymore, at least not big budget companies (Dragon Quest XI aside).

Prediction: Next episode will be about Xexyz, a personal favorite of mine. I'm probably wrong, though.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Neat game but not really relevant to this series, I'm afraid.

@Boonehams

Жыл бұрын

@@JeremyParish Darn. But thanks for replying! I'm a big fan of your work!

2 of the NES’ best IMO

The hidden God of War Prequel.

Is there a connection between Guardian Legend and Golvelius? Because that blue dude looks familiar.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Randar is a sort of Compile mascot and shows up in a bunch of their games.

I think Battle of Olympus does a hell of a lot more with its Greek inspiration than Glory of Heracles.

I always thought Dragon Slayer/Legacy of the Wizard was developed by Falcom? Or have I been wrong all this time...

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Ported to NES by Compile.

@tolindaniel

Жыл бұрын

@@JeremyParish OOHH that makes a lot of sense, I'm surprised I never knew that one. Thanks!

The Guardian Legend is fantastic im glad I gave it a shot despite the awful box art

Has Guardian Legend seriously never been ported to any other system, even as a Virtual Console release?

I liked Battle of Olympus, but felt the hit detection was off. (Ys 3 perfecting the Zelda II format though? Not sure if serious. No offense or arguing meant.)

People call every action adventure "Metroidvania" now?

Battle of Olympus is such a frustrating platformer. I would have enjoyed it more had the player’s weapons had more reach

Algorithm comment

Why do we accept these called “Metroidvanias” rather than Metroidlikes? By the point that SotN came out, the term roguelike had been used for years… why do people continue to use the term Metroidvania to give an oversized credit to Castlevania SotN (and its follow ups), yet another Metroid copycat?

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

You’re going to be OK, I promise.

@nintendianajones64

Жыл бұрын

​@@JeremyParishI know you came up with the term but technically he's right. These should be called Metroid likes or Metroid clones.

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

I didn’t come up with the name.

@rowtow13

Жыл бұрын

The actual galaxy brain take is that no genre should be called *game title*-like

@funkybuttloving

Жыл бұрын

@@Xhalonick agreed… thought mr parish might actually give a real response, but nah

I heard so many positive things about Battle of Olympus over the years, but when I finally played it I was disappointed. The combat can't hold a candle to Zelda 2, and the platforming was annoying too.

I love that your name was Metroi

@JeremyParish

Жыл бұрын

Helene of Metroy, the face that launched a thousand double-jumps