Conference rusure::nintendo

    Re:.0
    
    Yep...I bought this one a while back.  I've regretted the purchase
    ever since!
    
    The directions aren't detailed enough.
    The game is too slow (especially the initial opening).
    
    Also, the screen gets too fried when they try to jamb too many enemies
    on it.
    
    I've only played it for a total of 10 hours, so I've never made
    it beyond the first 'world'.  I don't even know what worlds there
    are, as the directions don't mention it.
                                
    
    Galv
    ----

	  Just picked it up this weekend, the kids LOVE it. (May have something
	to do with there being a female hero for a change. I have two daughters)

	  Anyways, there is a major lack of directions in the instructions,
	especially on how to get anywhere. If anyone has had success, please
	share it. I wouldn't consider them spoilers really, more like just
	filling in the missing instructions.

	  From the time I had to try it, (about 1/2 hour last night) I'd rate
 	it closer to a 6 plus. Graphics are pretty OK and the action is quick,
	but it does bog down when the screen fills up with attackers.

	Spoilers welcome.

	Steve.

    I purchased the game during the fall of 87 and had several dislikes
    with the game.  While I thought the idea behind the game was good,
    it is difficult to play.  It is too easy to accidently pick up a
    lessor weapon in the heat of battle.  The system has problems keeping
    up with all the activity on the screen.  While the game isn't all
    that bad,  there are other games available that are better for the
    price.
    
    Craig
    
    

    
    I've attempted Athena about 15 times and haven't got anywhere. 
    I'm always running out of time - (I can't stand timed lives)  What
    is Athena a mayfly?
    
      I'm always picking up a lesser weapon and getting killed.  
    
    Does anyone know where the hour glasses are for more time?  Any
    maps ?  This games is a 4.  Better than donkey kong worse than Kid
    Icarus.
    
    Ken (disappointed)

	Just got this game pack and it seems that it will be a while
before the game will be conquered.  Made it to the World of Labyrinth and
keep getting caught going to a warp area.  From there we end up back to the
start.  We have figured out the sequence to go through in the world of
labyrinths that makes the K appear each time we go to the area where it
resides.  This helps in that all weapons and such are kept when starting
the world over.  Also found a 1 up in this world.  I've gotten up to 5 Athena's
before my son started wasting them away.
         I've seen note of a World of Ice in this file.  I don't know how
many worlds are in the game.  If more are to come I don't know how we'll be
able to keep going.  I think it's time to do some video taping to explore all
possibilities.  Have any of you who have played this game completed it?
If so could you tell us how many worlds are in the game?  Here's the Worlds
we've been though thus far.

	World of Forest
	World of Cavern
	World of Sea       (tough at first but found the key)
	World of Labyrinth  (stuck here for now)

        This game has thus far proved to be challenging.  It's not easy to
play or beat.  Long hours of play are required.  If your play doesn't work
try new techniques.  The main thing that I have learned so far is that you
will die many times before you figure out any one world.  Once you do figure
out the world,  the key is to KEEP MOVING!  This will help in getting
the weapon you need and keep it to the end. 
        I've also noticed that if you get the Fire Sword,  each time you
swing it you lose some of your life.  When you reach a point that your life
is low they take away the fire sword and give another weapon.
	Will write later when we figured out more.

	Bob

    Anybody out there playing or played this game?  HELLO!  HELLO? 
    Still stuck on the World of Labryinths!  Any hints would be welcomed.
    
    Bob

	YEA!  Finally figured out the way to get through the World of
Labyrinths in this game.  Had to break allot of blocks (hint?!).  We never
had to defeat a monster so I don't know if we were in an area where we were
warped to the next level(maybe we are warped,  my wife thinks so!).  Has
anyone out there been through this world?
         Currently in the World of Ice.  Have gotten to the monster but
haven't figured out how to destroy him yet!  We've gone in with four different
types of weapons so far(not all by choice),  the Red Sword,  Blue Club,  
Purple Club,  and the Magic Stick.  None of these weapons seemed to affect
him.  I think we may need the Ball and Chain.
        Wish they had incorporated a password scheme for this game.  It's a
pain getting through all the worlds once you restart the game from scratch,
although we now can whip through the first three worlds,  (I hope I can
remember how to get to the last one and make it four), and be all the more
powerful when we reach the World of Ice.
					More later....
Bob_who_has_his_eye_on_Athena

	Sorry,  but I forgot to mention one of the worlds we have gotten
through in a previous note.  Here's an updated list with some observations;

	World of Forest  (don't need to get the time bottle in this one)
	World of Caverns 
	World of Sea     (Ball and Chain is a good weapon here)
	World of Sky  (my son found the way to get through this one,  I
                       couldn't make it very far at all at first.)
	World of Labyrinth (Red Sword is a must, jumping critical!)
	World of Ice  (#7 maybe one more after this one?!)

Bob

    
    I have been playing Athena but cannot get out of the world of Forest.
    
    possible spoiler
    
    
    
    	I can't find the hour glass and I can't get by the big tree. I
    ALWAYS get killed by that stupid tree and then I have to start from the
    beginning. Please help with some hints if you can about the tree and
    I'll take a spoiler about the hourglass. Thanks.
    
    
    						Dana
    

	RE:-1

	 Glad to see someone else is playing something other than Link or
SMB2.

	World of Forest Spoilers Follow

	Here's the techniques I use in this world.  Stay on the upper level
until there is only one way to go (down) without wings.
I don't usually get the time glass but I'll try to direct you to it. There
are two time bottles in this world.  One of these requires wings to get.  
Here's the easiest to get.
Have you found the item which puts ? marks in the blocks?  If you have you
are very near it's location.  You'll see an area where there are many more
blocks than any other place you have come to so far.  You need a weapon which
you can use to break blocks below where you are standing.  I usually have the
ball and chain to this point,  but get club or yellow sword(preferred) by
doing in the creatures which come at you.  Note the ? marks.  If I remember
correctly you will see three.  One is in a depression on the floor.  This is
the block you must break to get the time glass.  Make sure that you can walk
down to it before you break the one with the ? on it.  Be careful not to
break the other ? which is closest to this one.  It's one of those nasty
creatures that look like a flying grape.
	The other time bottle is across the place where you can only go
down if you can't fly(wings).  We have found the wings in the lower level
near the top.
        To get the tree has been a bit perplexing to me also.  There are
times when I've been able to walk through his root and others I can't even
come close.  Timing is the key.  Once you reach the trunk you must hit the
tree around it's mouth.  It only takes one hit.  Get the K before you leave.
	Let me know if this helps.  I can draw up some maps if you need
them.

	Bob

	I must say we had quite a surprise last night.  Athena entered the
"World of Hell."  This is a difficult world to say the least.  We've reached
the monster and it acts a bit like Ganon in that,  it continuously fires at you
but is not visible on the screen at all times.  Wings would be a plus in
trying to defeat this guy but we haven't been able to locate any so far.
	This world also has enemies,  besides the monster at the end,  which
are not listed in the instructions.  It's the first time we've seen Jasso.  
It's big but not any harder to do away with than some of the other enemies.
A few other things we've noticed is that there are hidden blocks which impede
your progress.  You basically need to have a weapon which can break
blocks or you get stuck until your life is ended.  If you go down you end up
in a water world.  In this world there are also invisible blocks and we have
been hit by invisible creatures!  We have never made it through the water
area of this world,  and by the way all the creatures above try to push
you down to this world when your near an opening.
	We found an area in the World of Ice which at times gives two, one
ups.  We've gotten as many as 7 Athena's here.  What we like to do is,
continuously go through this world and not kill the monster at the end just
be killed by it instead.  We've figured out how to extend the life meter to
it's maximum by getting a crystal flower and getting at least one of the one
ups.  Here's a tip,  when you want to defeat the monster you need a different
weapon than that with which you need to get into the chamber where it resides.
	Our high score for this game so far is 642,000.  I'm sure that we
are close to completing this game now, and I rate the game a strong 8.
It's difficult at first to learn what to do and when,  but once you discover
the techniques and find needed "goodies" the game moves along nicely.  I don't
think that the screen slowing down is any worse than what I've experienced
in Zelda, so this is not an issue with me.

	Bob

                             
	Sorry Dana,  I gave you some bum information on note 10.  There
is only one bottle that I have found and no wings.  I got this world mixed
up with the World of Caverns.
Let me try this again.

	World of Forest Spoilers Follow

	Here's the techniques I use in this world.  I don't usually get the
time glass but I'll try to direct you to it.  
        Stay on the upper level until there is only one way to go.  Have you
found the item which puts ? in the blocks?  It's a blue ball on a pedestal
type arrangement.  There are three columns of blocks which go up to a platform
just after the blue ball,  and three ? in that area of blocks.  I usually have
the ball and chain to this point,  but you need a club or yellow sword to be
able to break blocks below where you stand.  You can only get the yellow sword
by destroying the creatures who carry swords,  and you would need to do this
before you get to the place where the time bottle is located because the
creatures which come after you are only carrying clubs.
       Note the ? marks.  One is in a depression on the floor.  This is the
block you must break to get the time glass.  Make sure that you can walk down
to it before you break the one with the ? on it because it will only be there
for a short period of time.  Be careful not to break the other ? which is
closest to this one.  It's one of those nasty creatures that looks like a
flying grape with a face on it.
        To get the tree has been a bit perplexing to me also.  There are
times when I've been able to walk through his root and others I can't even
come close.  Timing is the key.  Once you reach the trunk you must hit the
tree around it's mouth.  It only takes one hit.  Get the K before you leave.
	Let me know if this helps.  I can draw up some maps if you need
them.

	Bob

    
    	Bob,
    
    		Thanks. My parents have the game so I can only play once or
    twice a week. I can't wait to try out this new info. Thanks alot for
    the help.
    
    
    								Dana
    

	We finally made it through the World of Hell last night.  Again,
we ended up going through the world many times before we figured out what
to use for a weapon to destroy the monster at the end.  This was not the
end of the game however.  Once getting through this world;

	Possible Mild Spoilers



						You start out in the
World of Forest but,  the tree which was originally at the end of the world
the first time through is the first thing you meet,  and once destroyed
you proceed through the rest of the world getting set for the monsters of
the next world.  These worlds are very short compared to the initial time
through,  and don't take very long to complete.  All weapons which
were needed to destroy any particular monster are still needed in these
worlds.  The order that the worlds appear the second time are as follows;

	World of Forest
	World of Cavern
	World of Sea
	World of Sky
	World of Ice
	World of Hell
	World of Labyrinth

	I was wondering when originally going through the World of Labyrinth,
why there was no monster at the end,  as in all the other worlds.  In this
world when going through the second time you must complete the entire world
as in the first time through,  and all the time bottles etc.. are in their
original positions.  Once you complete the world there is a slight difference.
You enter a section of the world which has blue blocks instead of the
yellow blocks.  When this section is complete,  there's a large nasty three
headed monster.  The heads come off the body and start flying around trying
to do you in,  which hasn't been problem for them so far.  We've tried
several different weapons with no success in slowing down the attack.
	This Game is Awesome!  Great graphics!  Challenging!  Frustrating
at times,  but great fun!  I change my rating of this game to a solid

				9!

	Bob

	I've decided to try to fill in some of the missing instructions
for this game.  I hope this will help to make the game more enjoyable and
easier to start off.  I'll try not to give anything away that would spoil
the fun.
	Here's a list of the Worlds in this game.

	World of Forest
	World of Cavern
	World of Sea
	World of Sky
	World of Labyrinth
	World of Ice
	World of Hell

	You can warp from one world to another and skip a world,  but I
haven't quite figured out what makes this happen.  My son has done this
several times but I never have.  Once you complete the above worlds you go
through each world again (much shorter though) and the World of Labyrinth
is the last world you encounter.
	Next is a list of the weapons which I know about,  and a few
observations.  Notice that the list is separated into four groups.  For each
group the weakest weapon is listed at the top and the strongest at the bottom.
The number on the left is the strength Athena will receive when getting
possession of the weapon.  A (k) listed after the weapon indicates that the
weapon can break blocks.  A (k*) indicates that you can break blocks only at
your level or above you but not below you.  Any letters that follow depict the
color of the item where applicable, y=yellow,b=blue,r=red,g=green,p=purple. 

        4  Blue sword               2  Billy Club    (kp) 
        8  Yellow Sword (k)         3  Hammer        (kb)  
        8  Red Sword    (k)         5  Ball an Chain (k*b) 
           Fire Sword   (k)

        3  Magic Stick (g)          4  Bow and Arrow (g)
        7  Magic Stick (k*b)        8  Bow and Arrow (k*b)
           Magic Stick (ky)            Bow and Arrow (k*r)

        There are two ways to get weapons.  By breaking blocks and by defeating
enemies.  There is a ring which increases the strength of the weapons Athena
is carrying.  This is known as the Fighters Ring and it is Blue.  If for
example,  Athena is carrying the Billy Club and you get a blue ring the
Billy Club will be turned into the Hammer.  The Billy Club,  Hammer,  and
Ball and Chain are weapons in there own group.
	Each time you get a new weapon which is not in the group of weapons
you have,  the strength meter of Athena is lowered or raised to the strength
listed for that weapon.  For example,  if Athena is carrying the Ball and
Chain and you pick up a Blue Sword the strength meter will be set to four.
I have not included all strength levels because if you have a weapon
in the group of the Billy club and you want a sword,  the first sword you
will get is the Blue Sword,  not the yellow,  red,  or fire sword.
        To increase the strength of any weapon you carry you must find a
Red Ring.  This ring increases any weapon to +4 of what the strength meter
indicates,  unless the weapon has reached its maximum strength.  As an
example,  if you have a strength of 16 with the Red Sword and get a Red Ring
the strength meter will not be raised by four.
	I will write more about other topics and include in the title that
these are instructions.
       
	Merry Xmas to All Of you,
	Bob 

    Finaly someone apprciates this game.
    
    I liked the fact it didn't have a lot of instruction. Just enough
    to play the game.
    
    In two days I had the game, I managed to reach the SEA world. It
    was fun.
    
    A question for Bob.
    
    	In the instruction , they talk about a lamp thats suppose to
    let you unto the other worlds. Could this be what you're looking
    for? If not what do they do? if so where are they.
    
    I'm going to rent this game again. I really enjoyed it. I can't
    rate the game since I only played two selection from the many
    available.
    DL

        The lamp lets you warp under certain conditions which I haven't
quite figured out when or why.  I have warped to other worlds before without
defeating the monster at the end of a world and skipping whole worlds entirely.
I just don't quite understand how it works.  I know that you need the lamp
to be able to warp.

		Possible Lamp Spoilers****

        If you get the Blue Medicine bottle and you have the lamp they take
the lamp away from you or vice versa.  Try this for yourself in the World
of SEA just before you get to the monster.  There is a Coin which when broken
has a medicine bottle in its location and under the platform where the coin is
there's one row of blocks you can break where the lamp is present.  Of course
you want to be a mermaid when your in the world of Sea.  If you have the Blue
Medicine bottle and you go to a place where the Lamp should be it will
"sometimes" not appear.  I don't know how this all works yet.  There are times
when the lamp is in the correct place and others it's not.  If you use the K
they sometimes take the lamp away.  There are rooms in which you may go from
one level to another and the lamp will be taken from you.
        I guess the bottom line is that I know the lamp allows you to warp
worlds,  but I don't know what conditions must be met which allow you to warp.
It seems to be a fairly complex algorithm or just so simple its hard to
figure it out.

Bob
                                    

	The following are MAJOR SPOILERS for Playing and Winning ATHENA!


	Here are the patterns to follow and some hints for each world.

	1) World of forest - Go all the way right,  go down,  then go right
                             'till you come to a vine,  go up and right.
	Hints,
		You can get all of your armor when you first start the game.
		There is a mushroom that gives the fire sword and all the most
		powerful armor (yellow helmet,  yellow body armor and lion's
		shield).  Keep killing horses until one leaves you a blue sword.
		Then get on top of the mushroom and push the down arrow on the
		control pad to get the fire sword and all the armor.  Then
		grab the blue sword.  You'll lose the fire sword when you get
		the blue sword but you will keep all the good armor.

		Kill the tree at the end by jumping over the tip of the root.
		Any weapon will work.  All weapons are available in this world.

	2) World of Cavern - Go to the first hole,  go down,  go to the top and
			     break all bricks,  go right,  after you get the
			     wings go up and right.
	Hints,
                Kill Frankenstein by standing on the second step and hitting
		his body.  Any weapon will work but the ball and chain is best.

	3) World of Sea - (must be a mermaid to get through)  Go down,  break
			  bricks on left and get armor,  helmet and hammer,  go
			  right,  get  ball and chain,  go right 'till you see
			  a hole above,  go up,  go right.
	Hints,
		Get the necklace at the beginning of the world,  on dry land, 
		and then go to the tip of the land(about to fall into the
		water).  Tap the joystick right until you fall into the water.
		Athena should be magically floating in the water.  Press right
		and jump buttons simultaneously,  and you will be able to fly
		through the air.  You can get the K mark if you fly to the
		non-passable wall.  Search in the bricks for this K-mark.

		Kill the Octopus by swimming over or behind him.  Use the bow
		and arrow,  hammer,  magic stick or ball and chain.  Ball an
		chain works best.

        4) World of Labyrinth - Go right,  go down,  go right,
				go up,  go right,  go right,  go down (ladder)
				go right,  go up (2nd ladder),  go right(break
 				blocks where kat is), go down ......
	Hints,
		You can avoid this world the first time through by getting the
		lamp in the World of Sea.  If you don't get the lamp and this
		world is entered the pattern is not the same as above.
		The first time through this world you will not encounter a
		monster.  Try to get the one ups in this world.

	5) World of Sky - Go right all the way,  go down,  go right,  go up at
			  the first hole,  go right.
	Hints,
		It's easiest to kill the three headed dragon if you have wings.
		Fly over or go under him and stay behind him.  Any sword will
		kill him.  Other weapons will work except the bow and arrow 
		although I haven't tried them all.

	6) World of Ice - Go right,  go down at the first hole,  go right.

	Hints,
		You must have a yellow or red sword,  club or hammer to break
		blocks,   get time and the Bow and Arrow.  To kill the monster
                you need arrows.  You can find them near the ceiling where
                there are lots of bricks.  When at the monster run to the far
                right of the screen.  Face to the left,  jump high and shoot.
                If you hear a high pitched sound you have hit one of the blue
                balls which the creature shoots.  If you don't hear the sound
                and the arrow bounces off the creature you have gotten a hit
                on him.  Five hits are required to kill the monster.

	7) World of Hell - Keep going right,  avoid being push or going down!

	Hints,
		The best way to kill the monster is to use the fire sword.
		Stand on the right side of the platform.  Wait 'till he appears
		on the left and swing the sword.  If you have the fire sword
		The monster will be destroyed in with one shot.

	8) The last World - These worlds are made up of all the levels you have
			    already gone through.  You kill the big monsters
                            with the same weapons you used the first time.
	Hints,
		To finish Athena and escape all of the magical worlds,  you
		must find the princess who is being held captive behind a wall
		of blocks.  She can only be found in the World of Labyrinth.
		In order to enter this final round you must first locate a key. 
		Although keys can be found in both the World of Sky and the
		World of Hell,  you should wait until the Last Worlds before
		grabbing the necessary key.  After the Last Worlds you will be
		transported to the World of Labyrinth.  Look for the princess
		near the end of the level.  You will encounter a large wall of
		blocks that are suspended in the center of the screen.  Knock
		out all of these blocks to expose the picture of the princess. 
		Once you've uncovered her,  a magical harp will fall from the
		sky that you must recover to proceed against the final monster.


	Let me know if any of you have a chance to end the game.  This game
was, to say the least, a challange and fun.

	Have Fun!
	Bob