Extra points for the style and at least effort put into this game. Trust everyone who says this game is difficult. It's mainly the reason why this game get's low reviews. I mean the one thing that is holding the game back is its flawed design. The game just hammers any and everything at you while in Athena's barely nude form which is terrible since it's what you start with and she is at her weakest without any armor. So here you are looking for armor while killing enemies that could potentially kill you first before you even get a chance to even find any. You have to legit use hammers and clubs from the enemies to even be able to find where armor may be since you have to break down rock to uncover items. So it starts to get even more tedious as you go. And if you do get armor.....try not to die because the moment you die, you lose the armor and weapon you have and have to start over as Barely naked Athena again. The respawn points are ABYSMAL. Not only can you respawn in an area with an enemy that can straight kill you off rip but there is also a chance you'll be mid-way in the level so it'll be a little harder to gain a weapon again too.

Overall if you want to master Athena..... get past the first level without losing anything and seeing what does what and where goes where. You'll know what to do and what paths to take and not take once you get this down. It will help you understand Athena's gameplay loop much more. For one of SNK's 23 games pre-Neo Geo, it's definitely a leap forward. Especially since the game had a huge following behind it when it got ported to NES. I guess back then this type of challenge in games was desired. As of now though it leaves a lot to be desired even with that thought, you have to love the effort and at least the idea they were going for even if it's a bit rocky to play.