Achilles

Achilles Walkthrough

Achilles is a beat-em-up game developed by Ben Olding (of Dragon Fist and Starfighter fame) and based on the Ancient Greek legend of the same name. This fighting game features simple graphics, fifteen stages broken into five levels, and sound bytes and music from the motion picture, Troy.

Achilles features two gameplay modes: Normal Mode and Survival Mode. In Survival Mode, your mission is to defeat as many enemies as possible before dying. The objective of Normal Mode is to defeat all enemies on each stage. Every third stage contains a challenging boss battle. You may not want to be "remembered as a tyrant's mercenary", but this fighting game will retain your progress, allowing you to continue from where you left off the next time that you play. You must complete all three stages of each level before your progress is saved, however.

Achilles uses the keyboard as its control device and features two possible control schemes. The first control scheme uses the WASD keys to move and the T and Y keys to attack and kick respectively. The second control scheme uses the arrow keys to move and the 5 and 6 keys to attack and kick respectively. I prefer using a mix of the two control schemes, the arrow keys to move and the T and Y keys to attack and to kick. The S (or down arrow key) is used to block or pick up spears. To throw spears, press one of the direction keys along with an attack button. Spears are best thrown at enemies in this fighting game to deal massive damage at range before closing in for a sword kill.

Achilles is a straightforward fighting game that shouldn't cause much trouble for most players, that is, until they reach the boss battles. Bosses have more hitpoints and devastating techniques than peon enemies, and may take a few tries to defeat. The key to beating bosses is timing. After the boss performs their flurry of attacks, move in close and kick them to stun them. While they are stunned, let loose with a combo of your own! As a note, it may be tempting to perform jumping attacks (like Achilles did in the move, Troy), but they are not very effective in this fighting game!

Achilles is an epic fighting game that lives up to the standard of quality expected from a Ben Olding game. Make sure that your name will be remembered in history; play Achilles and vanquish your enemies!