The 1988 NES platformer The Battle of Olympus is set to receive a remake on Steam, developed by its original creators, programmer Yukio Horimoto and artist Reiko Oshida. The husband-and-wife team, who were in a romantic relationship during the original game's development, are personally overseeing the recreation.
Infinity Co, their reformed studio, is handling the remake, which involves recoding the game, redrawing the pixel art, and refining the experience for modern PC players while aiming to preserve the spirit and challenge of the original. The game is scheduled to enter Steam early access in January 2027, and is described by the developers as their "final major game product."
The Battle of Olympus drew significant inspiration from Greek mythology for its themes. Additionally, Horimoto has stated that the gameplay mechanics, including the player character's attacking, ducking, and jumping motions, were directly influenced by and imitated from The Legend of Zelda 2. This approach was intentional, as Horimoto aimed to create a game with similar mechanics to Nintendo's action-adventure title.
This remake follows a recent trend of veteran developers revisiting classic titles. Notably, Sierra founders Ken and Roberta Williams returned to game development to create a redux of Colossal Cave Adventure. However, unlike that project where the original game was made by others, The Battle of Olympus remake is a direct effort by its original designers. Yukio and Reiko Horimoto have remained active in the industry, having directed the fashion model simulation games Model Debut #nicola and its sequel in 2019 and 2021, respectively.