Myth – history in the making caused quite a stir back when it was released for the C64 as system 3 were pretty well known back in those days. It featured lifelike character movement and graphics pushing the limits of the hardware. You play the part of the a mortal taken from the future and tasked by the gods to defeat several creatures (take from mythology) and restore peace.
The game is set as a platform game and the object of each level is to defeat the monster at the end of it. You can’t just try to beat them with your fists so you’ll have to fight lower monsters to get a suitable weapon, these can be anything from fireballs to a shiny shield with which you can beat the medusa. The regular enemies have a wide variety and some of them are skeletons, gargoyles, vikings and spirits. Each level is set in a certain time or place, the first for instance is set in Greek mythology with you facing bosses like the medusa and the manticore. Every boss has it’s own stage and you cannot pass that stage until you defeat the boss at which point you can go onto the next one.
Each stage is very small and you will have to find out how to defeat the boss, usually by finding a certain weapon. This is best explained by example. The first level has a manticore as a boss and you can’t even get close to him with your fists or feet so you’ll have to find some new weapons. Defeating the small gargoyles will sometimes give you an energy weapon and defeating the skeletons will sometimes give you a sword. You can use the sword to cut down a hanging skeleton and by pushing him into the lava will change into a demon. Defeat the demon with your energy weapon and he will leave you a trident which you can use to kill the manticore. Each stage has such a puzzle and the challenge is to solve this puzzle while trying to stay alive killing all the lesser minions.
I have to admit that I never played Myth until now but at first I didn’t really think too much of it. The small levels and the fact that you can’t seem to go anywhere and get killed by the boss in one hit don’t help. However once you realize that you have to actually figure out how to defeat or even get to the boss it becomes a different matter. This makes the game very challenging which in my book is a good thing. The graphics are very nice and the hero does really move with a fluidity that wasn’t seen in previous games, there’s even some speech in the C64 version which was quite a feat at the time. If you’re looking for a very challenging action game then you should definately check this game out.
Overal rating: 8.5/10
This game was released for several different systems here are some notes:
| Amiga | Released in 1992. The graphics are a tad better but the hero looks more like a barbarian probably because it was released under the name Conan. |
| Amstrad CPC | Released in 1989. This is modeled after the ZX version so there a real lack of color and detail. |
| C64 | Released in 1989. The original and in my opinion the best. |
| ZX Spectrum | Released in 1989. The graphics are nowhere near the original but basically it’s all there. |
| Not available | This version is not available. Amiga CD32 released in 1994. |
| Date added | May-18-2007 16:16 |
| Name | Myth – history in the making |
| Developer | System 3 |
| Publisher | System 3 |
| First released | 1989 |
| Genre | Action |
