In the course of reviewing games for this website it is interesting to revisit games I was once fond of. Phelios is not a particularly noteworthy title and not even one that I like all that much. But even though I find Phelios to be mediocre I have spent a large amount of time with it. When I was younger I tolerated Church because I knew we would visit my older brother after, who had a Genesis. This was one of his games and I chipped away at it for weeks. Back then I thought Phelios was the coolest game in the world but now I can see it for the average shooter that it is.
Phelios was released in the arcade in Japan in 1988, after Namco’s own Dragon Spirit. It is easy to see the similarities between the two in terms of viewpoint and mechanics. Phelios does differ with its setting as it is based on Greek mythology rather than generic fantasy. You are Apollo, tasked with saving Artemis from the evil titan Typhon. The game implies the two are lovers which just ain’t right as they are brother and sister. Incest aside Phelios pulls from Greek mythology heavily but that isn’t enough to keep it from being boring.
Apollo’s main weapon is a sword that shoots charges blasts of fire. In terms of power-ups there aren’t many. There are a few other weapons such as wave beam, homing, and across. You will only see each one only once or twice throughout the entire game which is lame. The standard shots are completely useless since most basic enemies take multiple hits to destroy. Luckily the charge shot is incredibly effective which is fortunate as you’ll be using that for the majority of the game. While secondary weapons are rare the game is very generous with speed and options. Although they are a bit meh you’ll rarely go without at least, even after death.
If I had to describe why Phelios isn’t that engaging it would be due to its pacing. Every level introduces one or two new enemies which is great. But then it simply throws those same enemies at you in larger numbers and the same pattern for entire segments. When the game becomes predictable like this it is boring and sadly it follows this pattern until the end. Even the final level which tasks you with spelling Phelios to gain the ultimate weapon doesn’t excite. You can’t fail unless you actively avoid the items. They had the entirety of Greek mythology to draw upon and squandered it in this way. It is doubly disappointing for me as I love Greek myth. But not like this.
In the arcade Phelios wasn’t exactly a looker but it did have some cool scaling and rotational effects. Honestly it was gratuitous but impressive for its time. The Genesis version in comparison is ugly. Everything has been redrawn and is darker by default. The level of detail is reduced and the visible playing field is smaller due to the status bar on the right. Honestly aside from the larger sprites and occasional parallax scrolling it wouldn’t look out of place on the NES. And if you can believe it the game begins to look worse the deeper you progress! It’s supposed to be the opposite! The sole visual highlights are the bosses and the, uh, scantily clad Artemis between levels. I sure as hell hope no one is playing this for that however.
Phelios has an even difficulty curve despite its stinginess with power-ups. Even the simplest enemies are resilient and you won’t have overpowered weapons to back you up. They swarm in large numbers and it is easy to get overwhelmed. While the game isn’t terribly exciting you at least have to pay attention. Checkpoints are spaced out well and you are given a bare minimum of power-ups after death. Boss battles are laborious since the game removes your weapons aside from speed and options. I’m not fond of it as it makes the boss battles a chore rather than a fun battle. You’ll have to put in the work to reach the end but the real battle is summoning the willpower to even care.
In Closing
As a shooter Phelios is completely inoffensive. It does what it does but not exceptionally well. The problem is there are plenty of better vertical shooters to spend your money and time with. This is a decent arcade port but a strictly average game.
