Sony PlayStation £39.99
Live the life of a legend. Take on the role of the strong one - Hercules - in this Disney production, which has been released in conjunction with the cinematic version. And, not to be outdone, James Woods and Danny De Vito provide excellent dialogue. Indeed, for the first time, the actors had a script to record additional voice-overs specifically for the game.
For many years box-office hits have been followed by a similarly successful video game tie-in and none has been more successful than those originating from the Disney factory. In the past we have had such titles as Aladdin, The Lion King and Jungle Book, but Hercules is the first to appear on the PlayStation.
Like its predecessors it is basically a 2D platformer with the action scrolling from left to right, but occasionally it morphs into an almost 3D-like mode whereby our hero can move in and out of the screen rather than across it.
The graphics are nothing short of perfect for a game of this type and a screen-shot from the game could easily be mistaken for a clip from the film. The character Hercules lends himself so well to this type of game environment: he is so physical, athletic and armed with a host of god-like weapons, that it would be hard to make a bad game about him.
All the basic platformer ingredients are here. In typical fashion there are all sorts of goodies to pick up to give your character the edge in his quest. There are some nice power-ups that energise your sword with fire, lighting etc. There is also money to collect, hidden lives and health boosts. And, just to keep it in the true platform fashion, there are plenty of items hidden or just out of reach to keep your interest.
Hercules is about as good as they come, and by taking key action sequences from the film players will find that on completion of the game they will also have covered the narrative path of the film. There is nothing innovative about the gameplay - we have seen it all before - but it does provide some excellent entertainment.
Graphics: 92%, Sound: 90%, Gameplay: 89%