In Japan, the Famicom version came with a promotional cassette of a pop star singing the theme song from the arcade-exclusive sequel, "Psycho Soldier".
Well, the arcade one won it for me with way better graphics and the music beying not annoying at all)) Also, did you know that this was the first appearance of this eponymous character before she became a fighter in the King Of Fighters series (alas there're opinions on whether it was her or her decendant/reincarnation from the siquel called Psycho Soldier).
This is one hell of a frustrating game and I give neither the win lol! Well ok, the arcade wins by default. That's so cool, I never knew this was the same Athena from the King Of Fighters series. Thanks for the tidbit:)
Oh no...So, the NES port of Athena is one of the first games I rented after I got my NES. It's one of those games where the first time we rented it was because I thought the box art was cool. But, dang, did this game aggravate me. I rented it 3 or 4 times too even though I kind of actively disliked it. I didn't play the arcade game until many years later in MAME. The arcade version is by far the winner in graphics, and I personally prefer the music and sound of the arcade too. Neither games play too well...I don't actually like either one but maybe slightly prefer the NES version. Micronics did their normal jank job of porting the game, but somehow, maybe just because of nostalgia, prefer their NES port over the orginal game. I'd rather play about any other SNK game over Athena though.
Ouch! This is a harsh one to rent right after getting the NES. I thought it was cool for like the first 5 minutes until I kept getting destroyed. I'm not really a fan of either port either but I strangely preferred the NES version too. I guess maybe it's because the arcade version isn't that great and I can't imagine pumping in $100 worth of quarters for something that isn't vastly better than the home port and isn't a great game anyways. I even followed some guides on this one and still got my butt kicked. Not a big fan.
That's crazy, it's the first game I ever rented too. I had SMB/Duck hunt and then about a month later rented Athena. I liked the art style and weapons a lot even though the game kicked my @$$. As a kid I didn't even know what anime was but any game that had remote anime/japanese style was so intgriguing to me.
...so, yeah, great use of negative space and a charming pop art aesthetic that's way ahead of its time in how clean it is. This was the future of 8-bit design. Good job...Micronics? That can't be right. I mean, I could and should deduct points for how the high contrast gold dirt on bright blue sky nukes your eyes... But that's the least of the pain this game is responsible for. That said, I had built this game up in my mind as one of the worst ever made...I forgot that the NES was a heavily filtered library, and there's just no way this game can compete with Super Monkey Daiboken or FDS Exciting Baseball. I sort of like it...if I don't try to play it seriously. A shame I can't play every game with such pessimistic expectations.
Lol! I guess if you go in with pessimistic expectations you're rarely let down. The thing that sucks about this game is that it has a lot of potential to be better than what it turned out to be.
@@RetroComparisons It helps to place this with Tower of Duraga, original Japanese Mario 2, Ghosts N' Goblins, Atlantis No Nazo, Championship Lode Runner, etc. Yeah, it's cruel and unfair, but this was a brief period of time where it was assumed obscure sadism was what the gamer community wanted from the expensive ROMs they couldn't afford to buy very many of. Imagine being an inexperienced developer back in those days, trying to make sense of the very mixed messages you were getting about what "good" even is? SNK would continue to have difficulties with balancing the challenge, even in games like Art of Fighting 2 and KoF '94.
This is one of those games that I honestly hate with a passion no matter what system it's on. Insane difficulty with little to no payoff in fun is the name of the game here, and also its chief character flaw. Apart from the color being weird, the NES here gives us a very serviceable conversion of a game you almost couldn't pay me to play. (LOL, I know, I know... "Tell us how you really feel.") At any rate, I'm just glad Athena got a second, infinitely better job as one of the OG contenders and regulars in the "King of the Fighters" franchise, because there was no future in this one.
It's a shame because this game had potential. I know most NES games are hard but this is another in the category of unnecessarily hard and not in the fun way which I'll again go back to with Castlevania & Contra as the gold standard of hard but fun NES games. As for the NES port it's pretty well done all things considered but when the original game itself is not great there's not much that can be done.
@@RetroComparisons True, true. But, y'know, this was a big graphical advance for SNK at the time and a stepping stone to much bigger and better things in the coming years. I'm willing to give it a minor pass as a historically important game even if it's not one I'd ever care to play today.
@@baronhausenpheffer That's a great point. While the original media may suffer in retrospect sometimes from a historical perspective it's a whole different story. It's like movies from the 1920s that didn't age well with story or substance but changed how cinema was produced.
Neither version looks good, yipes... The NES version looks horrible. Winner: Me I am so glad I didn't play this one.. lol, I know there would be games I would be like. Maaan do I have to show this?!? lol Nice job regardless buddy!
All I have to say is no. This game was unnecessarily hard to the extent of giving up and I was good at finishing games but, you’d have to do things out of nowhere to proceed to the next level. Bad game overall.
I totally agree as do most of the people commenting here. It's a game that had potential but was hard for the sake of being hard with mechanics that weren't fleshed out enough.
Oh Man, This Port Actully Stinks, the Box Art Is Cool, The Graphics Are Abysmal, Music And Sound Horrible, Presentation Trash, And Gameplay Is Horrible, Worse Port As For The NES, I Rather Play Any Other SNK Game Insted Of Athena
I wasn't a fan of this game in either version. It's unnecessarily hard and while I think the home port is pretty faithful I'm with you on wanting to play any other SNK game.
