Athena, World of Ice

We've arrived at the fifth stage of Athena, the World of Ice. In his book How to Win at Nintendo Games #2, by Jeff Rovin, he had this to say about this level: 'You'll go to the World of Ice after that [beating the dragon Boss of the World of Sky], but it's neither slippery nor very different, strategy-wise, from what's gone before.'

Jeff Rovin may, in fact, be a liar.

I'm joking, of course, but there's one very significant difference about the World of Ice that's going to cause me trouble on this leg of the journey, and has caused me difficulty just about every time I've tried to play Athena. But more on that in a moment.

The upper level of the World of Ice is a palette-swapped variation on the World of Forest, in dull and muted tones, and the lower level is a similar variation on the World of Cavern. I grab a Life Flower right at the outset, but I'm in pretty rough shape: my life gauge is still low and I'm on my very last Athena. It might be most painless to just get it out of the way and start fresh from a brand new Continue.

I go ahead and choose Continue, and my K Slate lets me keep what gear I still had. I'm trying to hang onto my Red Sword for while, so I avoid picking up the numerous Clubs that keep dropping.

That Flying Pyutan up there is what killed me last time; he shoots deadly Ice Arrows. Continuing on a ways, I find a Flaming Sword in a block near the bottom the screen! Flaming Swords require a little cost/benefit analysis: they're extremely powerful and completely fill up your life gauge. But they also cost one unit of your life gauge to swing, so unless you pick up a Goblin Hand to downgrade the Flaming Sword after a time, you'll swing most of your life gauge away!

I decide to pick it up, because firepower is a great thing to have in the World of Ice. Shortly afterwards, while I'm concentrating on not losing the Flaming Sword, I mis-time a jump and fall to the lower level!

Luckily I find another one on the lower level before too long, and also a rare Crystal Ball. The Crystal Ball reveals the location of items inside blocks by displaying question marks.

I move further to the right and... oh. It's the Boss already? I really thought at some point I'd hit a wall and climb back up to the surface. I wasn't expecting to see this guy yet!

Here's the problem: Gryupus (which is apparently his name) is completely immune to any weapon that isn't part of the Bow and Arrow line. If you arrive here with a Yellow Sword, like I have, you're simply out of luck. So the World of Ice is, in fact, a little different strategy-wise than what's come before: you need to ensure that you pick up a Bow before arriving at the Boss, or you're just going to get stuck.

A short distance before the Boss, there's a Bow hidden in a block; that's what I should have gotten. If you have the Bow, he's very easy: just stand to his right, jump and fire arrows.

Once he explodes, he'll drop three items: a Club, a Schoolgirl Dress (for an extra life), and... a box? Each of these are important:

1) The Club - if you only have a Bow and never upgraded it (which you won't have if you got the "last chance" bow right before Gryupus) you'll need this to break the blocks in the tunnel to the last room, or you'll be stuck.

2) Schoolgirl Dress - if you're playing without the aid of useful modern tricks like the ability to save anytime, this Schoolgirl Dress feels like a consolation prize since it's so easy to arrive at Gryupus without the proper weapon.

3) Pandora's Box - I didn't recognize the significance of this box, and it'll cause me trouble soon. Just remember that we picked it up from Gryupus with no explanation of what it does.

This is the last room of the World of Ice, and beyond lies a level I only saw once before this current attempt to finally make it through Athena on the NES: the World of Hell. Ominous! And if Jeff Rovin led us slightly astray with his brief description of the World of Ice, it's just as well that his chapter on Athena didn't get to the World of Hell, because in terms of unfairness, this is the worst level of all! See you next time for a real barrel of monkeys.

Athena, World of Sky

My journey through Athena on the NES is now passing into more unfamiliar territory, as the difficulty spike of the World of Sea kept me from seeing this next level, the World of Sky, very often as a kid. True to form, we made it here with a single unit on the life gauge. It's a good thing I know the location of a K Slate on this first screen!

Now if Athena dies we'll be able to keep our equipment. But let's see if we can explore this World a little before...

... or not. I have real trouble defeating the Pyutans with the Bow I retained from the last level, so I pick up a Blue Sword and quickly upgrade to a Yellow Sword. Before too long I find the Pegasus Wings; fitting for the World of Sky!

The good news is I find another K Slate to replace the one I used at the beginning of the level, but the bad news is I release a flying head and it drains most of my equipment away. It makes for slow going through the next tunnel.

But there's a Red Sword in there! Things are looking up.

... or not. This is a dead end, so I'd better hope that this pit doesn't take me back to the start of the level. Luckily it doesn't, and down there I find a Mirror, a Blue Hourglass, a Schoolgirl Dress that rewards me with an extra life, and...

...a second dead end? Uh oh. All Worlds in Athena seem to have two levels, an upper level and a lower level. If I started the World on the upper level, and dropped down one floor to the lower level, I should have gone back up to the upper level at some point; since I didn't, dropping down from the lower level means I'll drop out of the World. But I wasn't thinking about that, and now I'm probably in trouble.

Sure enough, this is the start of the level. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, and now I'm back at the beginning. I don't lose a life, but the clock doesn't reset either. It's usually not a good idea, though theoretically I guess you could try and gear up if your equipment isn't up to snuff.

This is where I made my mistake: it's the tunnel before the second dead end. I should have gone up here, and now I do.

It's much scarier up here: check out the lion shooting deadly block-breaking discs! If you can't see him immediately, check in the score line. Some games treat the score line as an overlay, with sprites appearing underneath it, but Athena, like Super Mario Bros., treats it as background where the enemies are concerned. Dodging Lions for awhile leads me to a temple in the background. It's the Boss of the World of Sky, and also a floating head I carelessly released on the way!

This Boss would be tricky if you couldn't stand behind him and attack with impunity. I'm a little worried about the floating head coming down to where I am, but luckily that doesn't happen. The Boss takes a lot of damage, but every so often one of his heads disappears. When they're all gone, so is he. He drops a lot of goodies when he's defeated: a Mirror, a Helmet, and a bag of money. From there it's a short jaunt to the last room of the World of Sky, which isn't so much a room as it is an open-air cloudscape.

Next time it'll be the World of Ice, whose Boss is uncharacteristically mean, and which I've only seen the other side of twice. But that's a discussion for another day.

Athena, World of Sea

Next stop in my quest to finally get through Athena on the NES: the World of Sea! This is the level that generally ended my adventures when I played Athena as a kid, and I always had the impression that it was the furthest level most people ever saw. Only rarely was I able to get past it, and being able to do so was a big deal: you mean there are more stages after this one?

First thing's first. Blocks to the left? Take 'em out!

Sure enough, our efforts are rewarded with a new item for this World: the Shell Necklace. If we have this in our inventory when we hit the water, Athena will transform into her mermaid form.
 

This is significant because as a mermaid, she's only one block tall. She can fit through narrow gaps like the one that blocks passage to the Boss. Unfortunately, if her life gauge dips too low, she'll transform into tall, bulky Athena again -- and if she's not through that narrow gap already, she won't be getting to the Boss on that life!

A major difficulty in the World of Sea is that the most common enemies, the merfolk, drop one of two weapons when defeated: the Bow and the Wand. Neither of these first-level weapons can break blocks, so you need to be careful what you pick up. Meanwhile, I'm really getting mobbed by the merfolk; sure enough, I accidentally pick up a Bow. I really have no choice after that but to keep killing merfolk until I get the Silver Arrow, which upgrades the Bow and gives it block-breaking ability.

There's a Blue Hourglass in the corner of those blocks in the middle of the screen, and once I grab it I quickly swim back to the upper level. Curiously enough, this doesn't bring us to the surface -- it's entirely water-logged up here.

I'm getting really worried now because my life gauge is dangerously low, and a couple more hits will mean Athena will leave mermaid form and be too tall to fit through the narrow gap. It's gonna be close...

Made it!

Just made it! But I lost the Shell Necklace on the other side, and only have a single unit of life remaining! This is where my adventures would usually end while playing Athena during my childhood: just before or just after that narrow gap. This time I make it to the Boss.

The Boss of the World of Sea was an incredibly imposing figure during my childhood runs at Athena. He's less scary now that I've learned a trick. Normally hit detection works against you in this game, but on this occasion the fact that the Boss's graphic doesn't line up with his hit box works in our favor.

That area I've circled in red? If you stand right at the edge of his platform and fire arrows straight forward, you'll hit that area and it'll count as a hit on the Boss. Just keep firing, and he'll be destroyed in no time, and his projectiles can't seem to hit you.

He drops a simple Club, which is important if you have a weapon that can't break blocks. I'm pretty happy with my Silver Arrow, so it's on to the last room of the level. Next time: the World of Sky, in which I get lost and waste a bunch of time. Huzzah!

Athena, World of Cavern

My attempt to finally get through Athena on the NES continues! I'm up to the second level now, the World of Cavern. This level is entirely underground, but like the previous one consists of two floors; we'll move between both floors to make it to the end. As with any level with blocks to the left of where you start, let's break them open and see if there's anything to be found.

I find a Mirror, but I also release a flying head. Whoops! These guys seem to have a very inconsistent amount of health, and while trying to avoid him I'm hit by a stray arrow from an Archer and fall down the first pit. It turns out this isn't terrible, though; by staying on the top half of the screen I'm able to uncover the Pegasus Wings in the ceiling blocks.

Pegasus Wings are really neat. By mashing the jump button, you bob once in the air; it's like swimming in Super Mario Bros. You keep the Pegasus Wings until your life meter falls below a certain level, and if you want to reach the Boss of the World of Cavern, you need to have them by the time you reach a certain pit.

There's a Life Flower that you can make appear just in front of the pit in question, so I top off my life a bit before flying across. Inside the blocks of the tunnel that follows I found a Blue Hourglass, which adds more time to the clock (up to a maximum of 5:00). Let's not repeat the unfortunate death by timer of the World of Forest, shall we?

Following that tunnel is a good example of the sort of design that sometimes plagues Athena. Remember I mentioned that there are harmful items you can sometimes pick up by accident? One of these items is the Goblin Hand; if you pick it up it downgrades your weapon one level. So if you have the awesome Ball and Chain and you pick up a Goblin Hand, you'll suddenly be equipped with just a Hammer.

If you break the blocks beneath the tunnel after the big pit in the World of Cavern, you unearth not one, but two Goblin Hands. Imagine your consternation if you're not really paying attention and you grab both of them. Oops! Luckily I don't make/admit mistakes like that.

I miss the next Life Flower's Crystal Heart trying to take a screenshot of it. Enjoy the next picture, because it cost me two life bars added to my maximum.

Here you can see me flying over a Medusa, one of the new enemies encountered in the World of Cavern. She doesn't cause me any trouble because I have the Pegasus Wings and can just fly over her.

Two boulders on the ground signal my arrival at the Golem, the Boss of the World of Cavern. He walks back and forth on his platform, shooting his rock hands straight forward every so often, and his head detaches and chases you through the air.

The hit detection on the Golem's head is a little spotty; usually it doesn't give my Ball and Chain much trouble, but this time it rams me pretty good and I can't recover. Another death!

This is where we see the value of the K Slate I picked up in the World of Forest. Since I have a K Slate, I start over from the beginning of the level but don't lose any of my equipment, so I have all my golden armor and the Ball and Chain. I still have the Pegasus Wings too, which surprises me; maybe I don't lose the Wings at low life?

My K Slate is gone, though. Next time I die I'll need to reacquire all my upgrades. With all my gear, it's a relatively easy jaunt back to the Golem. This time the head vanishes easily, and after that it's a simple matter of flying behind the Golem's body and smacking it with the Ball and Chain as it walks back and forth.

The Golem finally blows up, and leaves me with a money bag. Not as good as a K Slate, but I'll take the points.

Through the tunnel to the right and we reach the end of the level, and... there's no passage leaving on the right side of the screen. So much for that hypothesis that every level shows its connection to the next one. Athena jumps in the center of the room and it's on to the next level: the World of Sea!

Athena, World of Forest

We got all the introductory basics out of the way last time, so now it's time for Athena's adventure to begin! She starts in an unassuming hallway, and suddenly jumps to... the World of Forest!



I defeat the first several pig-like Boas, picking up the Club and then the Hammer. In the blocks along the bottom I find a Ball and Chain, the best weapon of the blunt line.

You generally want to keep the Ball and Chain as long as you can (with a few notable exceptions), because it has a great reach and can destroy up to four blocks in front of you. So I'm feeling pretty good as I defeat one of the horse-headed Pyutans and fall prey to a classic Athena blunder: accidentally replacing a weapon you like with one you don't.

Most enemy types in Athena drop a weapon when they're defeated, and if you're not careful, you could pick it up even if you don't want it. The Blue Sword is weaker than my Ball and Chain, but even worse: it can't break blocks! Passage through the levels gets much harder if you can't break blocks, and you also won't be getting armor and items! So we either need to upgrade this Blue Sword or find a different weapon type to start collecting. Luckily, there are lots of these Pyutans around, and if you already have a Blue Sword they'll drop Yellow Swords when defeated, so it's easy to get back the ability to break blocks.

See the mushroom in that screenshot? Athena's claim to fame when I was growing up was this mushroom. Any of the 'Win at Nintendo Games!' books that came out that mentioned Athena would very rarely talk about anything except this mushroom. See, if you duck down while standing on that mushroom, Athena will instantly get the Flaming Sword and all the best armor in the game.

The catch is that every swing of the Flaming Sword descreases your life gauge by one, and once it gets low enough the Flaming Sword degrades to a Red Sword. The Red Sword is better than the Yellow Sword, and it can shoot projectiles, but it doesn't have the destructive power of the Flaming Sword. So I'll use it sparingly, and try to keep it as long as I can.

That didn't take long!

A couple things to note about the above screenshot. First you'll notice that I lost the Flaming Sword. Second, that flying head hides inside blocks and once released will fly around pestering you and draining your life at a frightening rate if he touches you. And third, I'm almost out of time, with only twenty-six seconds left on the clock!

Sure enough, that wasn't enough time to finish the level, and after losing a life and coming back, I decide to try a different route. Instead of staying on the upper level to get the Flaming Sword, I drop down the first pit to the lower level. Down there, in the blocks on the left, you can find the Lamp.

The Lamp is a very unique item. Once you find a Lamp in a level, it's possible for you to skip fighting the Boss of that level. However, it requires that you find a particular room, the Warp Room, and if you instead find the Boss Room, you'll still have to fight the Boss. If you were to find the Warp Room without the Lamp, it'll just send you back to the start of the level. You won't lose a life, but the clock will stay where it was, so your days are pretty numbered.

Of course, through general sloppiness I lose both of my remaining lives, so it's back to the title screen for poor Athena. This might be more difficult than I expected.

Next time through, I scroll the screen too far to the right before dropping down the pit, and as a result can't grab the Lamp. I make my way back to the area where I died before, but before climbing up the last vine to the Boss area, I thought I'd let you see what the Warp Room looks like. If I had the Lamp, I'd automatically teleport to the next World after reaching the center of this room.

Instead, it's up the vine to the area with the Boss.

This guy is apparently called Hammer Dryuas, and if you're intended to fire arrows or magic at him from a distance, I know that I never did. With a Ball and Chain equipped, I always ran straight at the Boss, jumped over his flailing root with a short jump, and attacked him from right next to his face.

It takes me a couple tries this time, but I manage to get to that sweet spot and voila! After the Boss was defeated, a K Slate falls from the sky. This item lets you keep all your equipment when you're defeated, so it's very valuable.

A short jaunt to the right and it's the end of the World of Forest! Unlike the Warp Room, you can see that there's an open passage to the right.

It was more difficult than I remembered it being (a game over already!), but overall I'd say we're off to a good start. Next time: the World of Cavern!