Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of Hercules’ earliest appearances within the medium of video games. By tracing Hercules’ emergence against the broader context of ancient world video games from the late 70s and early 80s (i.e., the third generation of home consoles and the beginning of the PC era), it will be demonstrated how the hero’s reception was shaped, first and foremost, by the capabilities/limitations of early gaming technology. Further, this technological context facilitated a unique interpretation of Hercules and his character which, disconnected from his portrayal elsewhere in mass media, sets his reception apart from common trends regarding the use of antiquity in early video games (cf. Lozano 2020).
Key to this analysis is the identification of Hercules’ earliest video game appearances. To this end, Ulysses and the Golden Fleece (1981), Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (1981), and Labyrinth of Crete (1982) are fundamental case studies for Hercules’ debut within this emergent medium, predating more commonly recognised titles such as Stuart Smith’s CRPG The Return of Heracles (1983) or Steve Bak’s platformer Hercules (1984) (cf. Chmielewska, 2016; Secci, 2019; Old School Gamer, 2023). With this earliest phase of Hercules’ video game reception delineated so, it will be demonstrated how this period is defined by a tentative, gradual, and often lacklustre engagement with the hero.
This trend may appear to be at odds with Hercules’ usual ubiquity within popular culture; however, it is indicative of the technological context of the nascent video game industry. First, Hercules’ presentation reflects broader trends within early video games that engage with the ancient world including, for example, a preference for historical, rather than mythological, source material and (in Hercules’ absence) a proclivity for the mythology of Theseus and the Minotaur. Furthermore, these trends are indicative of the industry’s propensity towards a limited number of specific game genres (e.g., economic/resource management, computer wargaming and sports/maze games) as required by the constraints of early gaming technology. Consequently, the rapid technological advancements that came to define the industry during the mid-late 80s not only allowed for the creation of novel video game genres but, through doing so, removed the constraints that had previously hindered Hercules’ reception within this medium.