So you wanna be a hero, kid?
Disney's Hades Challenge is a licensed Adventure Game based on the Disney movie Hercules that was released in 1998 for the PC.
The game stars the player character as a rookie hero or heroine called to solve various problems around Greece, since Hercules himself is off fighting giants. Under the tutelage of Phil, you'll go from zero to hero as you aid Daedalus in trapping the Minotaur, advise Odysseus on rescuing Helen to stop the Trojan War, and help Perseus slay Medusa.
But it's not all fun and games in Ancient Greece—Hades himself has heard of your quest and is determined to stop you with quiz shows, puzzles, and more, with your final challenge taking place in the depths of the Underworld. Do you have what it takes to be a true hero?
This game contains examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: While the Fates play an antagonistic role in the film, they assist the player in providing clues to slaying Medusa during the third quest in this game.
- Anachronism Stew: Although set in Ancient Greece, Charon briefly pulls out a modern day megaphone when giving the safety spiel to his ferry passengers.
- Ascended Extra: Charon the Ferryman only appeared very briefly and didn't have any dialogue in the movie, but has dialogue here and is a major part of a puzzle to sort incoming souls.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The Cyclops is completely invincible except for its eye, while Typhon must be shot in each of its open mouths.
- Bad Boss: Hades beats Pain and Panic multiple times throughout the game. In his defense, he beats them after their bumbling accidentally helps the player.
- Chekhov's Gunman: As early as your first quest, you can overhear a man brewing a fire potion in Crete. During the third quest, the shop explodes, and the shopkeeper dies and ends up in the Underworld, where he gives you important information for the final challenge.
- Composite Character: Like in the movie, the Fates are combined with the Graeae, who Perseus traditionally encountered. They give hints on how to find the items needed to free him.
- Death by Adaptation: Snowball, the burned cat from Thebes in the movie, is one of the deceased souls that may ride Charon's ferry in this game.
- Disney Villain Death: While technically not a death since he's immortal and all, Hades goes out in the grand Disney tradition of falling off a cliff.
- Distressed Dude:
- When you first meet Perseus, he's all tied up by stone snakes and has to be rescued.
- For the final challenge, Hades kidnaps Phil to lure you to the Underworld.
- Evil Is Petty: After the player gets a trophy, Hades will quiz them on the various tidbits on Greek mythology they find throughout the game. If the player gets a question wrong, Hades will shrink their trophy.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: Typhon has dozens of heads with eyes inside their mouths.
- Faking the Dead: To get to the Underworld you have to be dead, so in order to rescue Phil you use a potion to fake Charon out.
- The Ferryman: Charon returns from the movie as the skeletal rower of the Styx, and is closer to his mythological appearance by having a hooded robe.
- Girl in the Tower: Helen has been imprisoned in a tower for 10 years and even gets a song about how bored she is waiting for rescue.
- The Gods Must Be Lazy: Monsters and other threats are terrorizing Greece, and even though Zeus isn't busy with anything, he insists on Phil getting a hero to fix things. That said, he and the other gods give the player gifts.
- Go for the Eye: The Cyclops's weak point is its eye. Striking it with the Power of Stealth will One-Hit Kill the Cyclops.
- Lower-Deck Episode: This game focuses on other Greek mythology adventures that weren't covered in the movie.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Pain and Panic's attempts to impede your progress end up helping you, much to Hades' frustration.
- Off with His Head!: Perseus kills the Medusa by beheading her.
- One-Hit Kill:
- Medusa will go down in a single hit. It's just a matter of getting Perseus close enough to her for him to deliver the lethal blow.
- The Cyclops and Pain and Panic, disguised as Phil also go down in a single hit. The challenge is figuring out which thunderbolt power to use and where to use it, making them more of a Puzzle Boss.
- Playing with Fire: The Cyclops and Typhon throw fireballs at the player.
- Poke the Poodle: Hades will quiz the player on Greek mythology after they get a trophy. The ominous setup hints that he will do something terrible if they fail to pass the quiz. Nope. All Hades does is shrink the trophy and insult them for getting the question wrong.
- Pop Quiz: Hades will test your knowledge with Greek mythology quizzes as the game progresses, such as "Who is the mother of Persephone?" Getting an answer wrong has him mock you viciously and shrink your trophy.
- Prepare to Die: In the final battle, Hades warns you that if you want to be a hero, you'll die like one as he sends creatures of the Underworld after you.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: The player can choose whether to play as a hero or heroine at the start. It only affects one of Hades's lines of dialogue ("No more hero/heroine, got it?") and the statue at the end.
- Puzzle Boss:
- Rather than directly fighting the Minotaur, the player has to quickly configure Daedalus's maze in order to secure the walls and trap the monster before it escapes.
- The Cyclops, Typhon, and Pain and Panic fights require the player to figure out which thunderbolt power to use (Stealth, Strength, or Wisdom) and then Attack Its Weak Point.
- Rescued from the Underworld: Your final challenge is to rescue Phil after Hades kidnaps him and takes him to the Underworld.
- Schmuck Bait: One of Hades' quiz questions asks "Which god or goddess was heavily disliked?" and he dares you to answer with himself. The answer is Ares, so answering Hades gets your trophy shrunk.
- Self-Disposing Villain: Hades is so freaked out on seeing you armed with Zeus's lightning that in trying to fast-talk you, he backs off a cliff and falls into the Styx.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: A heroic example with Phil, who uses the Fates' other eye to watch your progress and communicate with you.
- Taken for Granite: As a Brown Note Being, Medusa's line of sight turns her own snakes into stone, creating obstacles that block Perseus from getting close enough to her. If she sees him and he does not have the shield, then he will temporarily be turned to stone as well.
- Third-Person Person: Charon always refers to himself in the third-person.
- To Be a Master: Your goal is to become a great hero or heroine, just like Hercules.
- Truer to the Text:
- The statues of gods and goddesses and Hades' quiz questions include details like Athena and Hephaestus being Zeus's children, which is true in the myths but never mentioned in the movie or subsequent TV show.
- The game features the Minotaur being trapped in a labyrinth built by Daedalus and Medusa being slain by Perseus, both of which are closer to the original myths rather than the Minotaur and Medusa being fought by Hercules as cameos in the movie.
- Hercules's hall of trophies directly reference the mythical Twelve Labours of Hercules, instead of being based upon his actions in the movie.
- Uncle Sam Wants You: Zeus's Hero Application form has him pointing at the player a la Uncle Sam.
- The Unfought: You don't get to fight Hades directly, as he backs himself off a cliff by mistake.
- Written-In Absence: Hercules is busy fighting giants, so it's up to you to help Phil and prove your worth.
