Hercules is one of the first games I ever played. Every fine pixel of this game is burned into my mind from exploring the levels at leisure, back when I was a wee tot who could barely walk three steps without falling over. It turns out, there are a lot less of said pixels than I remember. To my younger self this game looked every bit as good as the film. As an adult, I can see the flaws, but that didn't stop me having a good time.

Hercules still runs decently on modern computers, though the FMVs - all low-quality clips from the film - have some audio stutters. The sound in the Steam version is definitely worse than in the PS1 release, because I played that on my PSP not too long ago as well (my nostalgia attacks are becoming more frequent). Some musical cues are missing; the BGM is lower-quality and is too loud, drowning out the sound effects and voices.

If you're reading this, you probably share the same nostalgia for Hercules that I do. Objectively, this port isn't all that great, and was not touched up at all for the Steam release. This makes it insanely overpriced for an old game that isn't even two hours long...

So here's how we stick it to The Man: Buy this game, play through it, have your fun, relive your childhood memories, and then refund it. Suck it, Disney.

Reviewed on Jan 08, 2024


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