Athena, World of Worlds, Part One

I know I promised the end of Athena on the NES this update, but it turns out there's a lot more to the last level than I expected! This one'll be spread over two posts.

So last time I successfully nabbed the Harp of Protection from the Goddess and found a Lamp to allow me to escape the World of Labyrinth, and when the screen for the next World comes up... it's blank? Normally this is where it would say 'World of Sea' or 'World of Ice,' but this time it says nothing. According to the Internets, this is the World of Worlds, and soon we'll see why.

It looks like the World of Forest, it has the same enemies as the World of Forest, and the music that plays is that of the World of Forest. In fact, in just a screen or two I find that it has the same Boss as the World of Forest!

I jump over his flailing branch, hit him in the face, and he goes down easy. There's more of the World after him, and eventually takes me to a pit. When I jump down the pit, I land in...

... the World of Cavern! I see what they're doing here. It's a 'best of' level and a Boss Rush rolled into one! Interesting!
 

I don't have the Pegasus Wings this time, so I actually have a harder time with the Golem than I did in the real World of Cavern. Once the head flies off screen and I can jump behind the body, it's business as usual. After some more caves, I fall down a pit to the...

... World of Sea! After you drop down into the water, it's very important to grab the Blue Hourglass in the blocks on the left, since the World of Worlds is so long and time could be crucial. I'm going to want something long-range to attack the Boss of the World of Sea, so I pick up a Wand from the merfolk and upgrade it to the Scroll.

There's no narrow passage to navigate in the World of Sea Redux, so I don't need to stress about remaining a mermaid, which is nice, and before long I'm firing my magic discs at the too-large hitbox of the Boss.

He goes down easy and it's time for the World of Sky, which feels like a nice breather. I'm starting to worry about what will happen if I die; will I start from the beginning of the section I'm at, or is it all the way back to the start of the World of Worlds? I feel like it's probably the latter.

Tomorrow I'll continue with the World of Worlds, and answer the million dollar question: have we, in all the Worlds we've traversed to this point, seen the most annoying thing Athena on the NES has to offer?

Sneak preview: no we haven't.