The Battle of Olympus

The Battle of Olympus is a side scrolling, action-adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System developed by Infinity. It was published on March 28, 1988 by Imagineer in Japan for the Famicom and was titled ~Ai no Densetsu~Oryunposu no Tatakai (~愛の伝説~オリュンポスの戦い, The Legend of Love: The Olympus Fight?). The North American and European versions were released for the NES in 1990 and 1991 by Brøderbund and by Nintendo respectively. There's also a 1993 Game Boy port of the same game that came out in Europe and was developed by Radical Entertainment.

Plot
This game is about a Greek named Orpheus, in Ancient Greece. His love, Helene, was poisoned by a snake and died. Later Orpheus learns that Helene was actually taken by Hades, god of the underworld, to become his bride. Upon hearing this, Orpheus begins his journey to save Helene.

Note that the (European) game's manual calls the hero and heroine Orpheus and Helene, even though the story is clearly based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Also note that the game allows you to give a custom name to both your hero and his wife, even though the Game Boy version only allows four characters per name - making it impossible to actually call them Orpheus and Helene/Eurydice.

Game Play
During this adventure, Orpheus will need to meet the Greek gods and gain their favor. Starting with Zeus, the leader of the Olympian gods, who encourages the other gods to grant Orpheus powers. These powers are in the form of a weapon, a shield, and other special equipment. Among them a harp, which summons Pegasus to carry Orpheus to far locations.

Orpheus will also encounter mythological creatures such as the: Taurus, Lamia, Cyclops, Centaur, Talos, Minotaur, Cerberus, Stymphalian Birds, Nemean Lion and also a Siren. He will fight his way deep into the underworld, fight and defeat Hades, and finally save Helene. He will acquire several items depicted in the Greek mythology, such as the Harp of Apollo, the Sword of Hephaestus, the Staff of Prometheus and the Sandals of Hermes.

Influences
The pretext of Orpheus's quest is the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Elements of the quest are drawn from the stories of Heracles and Perseus. Many characters, enemies, locations, and items are also based on Greek mythology, resulting in a similar melting pot of Greek myths and legends as shown in the 1981 movie Clash of the Titans. The gameplay and graphics seem to be strongly influenced by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, released in 1987.