It has been revealed that the 1988 NES title The Battle of Olympus is being remade on Steam.

The game was designed and programmed by Yukio Horimoto, with Reiko Oshida, who would later become Horimoto's wife, responsible for the story and graphics. It was also ported to the Game Boy.

"While making our first game, I met [the woman who would become] my wife," Horimoto told Jeremy Parish in an excellent interview a few years ago. "We fell in love and wanted to make our own game together, so we talked about the game concept for a long time. I like Greek myths and legends, so we decided to base our game on those legends. Given those circumstances, we talked about the game, and our mood influenced it."

In the same interview, Horimoto credits a famous Nintendo property as a key influence:

"Quite simply, Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda interested me. It inspired me to make a scrolling platform game. [I looked to Zelda II's] jumping system and walking system, and I imitated them. I wanted to make the same kind of game, and so many parts of the game, like the player's attacking motion, ducking motion, and jumping motion: They were all influenced by The Legend of Zelda."

Horimoto and Oshida have reformed their studio, INFINITY Co.,Ltd., for this project. "This remake is being rebuilt by the original development duo behind the programming and graphics," says the game's Steam page. "We are personally recreating the code, redrawing the pixel art, and refining the game for modern PC players while preserving the spirit, atmosphere, and challenge of the original."

The page explains:

"For the full version, we plan to redraw all graphics, improve the overall visuals and animations, and add new visual effects. In addition to the original game balance, we also plan to add new play options such as Easy Mode, Normal Mode, and speedrun-oriented features."

The game will launch early next year in Early Access, which means players can support the development of the project by pledging their financial support as it progresses.

“We are rebuilding the core systems, recreating the pixel art, and preparing the main gameplay structure for the Early Access release," says the team. "At the start of Early Access, we plan for players to be able to play through all stages of the original 8-bit version of The Battle of Olympus, all the way to the ending, with the original game balance preserved."