Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first stretch of Odyssey gives you a clear reason to press on: your character needs crystals to grow strong enough to reclaim the throne from the uncle who killed his father. Rather than sending you through a single fixed sequence, it opens its first three large levels immediately. That freedom is the game’s strongest early move. If one area’s jumps, enemies, or puzzle roadblock starts wearing thin, you can head elsewhere and look for another crystal.

At its core, this is a side-scrolling platformer built around gaps, sword fights with the uncle’s soldiers, and persistent exploration. The seven levels scroll in multiple directions, so progress depends on learning their spaces instead of simply marching right. Crystals are hidden rather than handed out, and later areas unlock as your collection grows. That makes each find matter; you are not just chasing a score, you are opening the route to the endgame.

The animal transformations are what lift Odyssey above a routine sword-and-jump adventure. Turning into forms such as a lion or a bird gives you different abilities, and the puzzles make practical use of them. You will still encounter the familiar adventure-game style of finding an object and carrying it to the proper place, which can feel workmanlike. But changing form to meet an obstacle gives the puzzle-solving a welcome sense of discovery, especially once you begin to recognize that a blocked route may need a different body rather than a better jump.

Graphics

Odyssey uses a 2D side-view across large, multi-directionally scrolling fantasy levels. Its most useful visual distinction is functional rather than flashy: the hero’s animal transformations give your changing puzzle options a clear on-screen presence as you move through the kingdom.

Story

This is direct fantasy melodrama, and it knows it. Your uncle murdered your father, the king, forced you into exile, and now sits on the throne you intend to take back. There is no ambiguity in the goal: gather enough power, return, and kill the usurper.

That blunt setup works because it gives every crystal a concrete purpose. The hunt is not framed as random treasure collection; it is the path toward becoming capable of confronting the man who took your family and crown. For a platformer with puzzle elements, that is a clean motivation that keeps the backtracking tied to the central conflict.

Do not come in expecting a complicated court drama. Odyssey’s story is an old-fashioned revenge-and-restoration tale, used to push you through its kingdom and toward a final reckoning. It is simple, but it fits the game’s adventurous structure well.

Overall Experience

Odyssey earns its reputation as more than a basic action platformer because it makes exploration and transformation part of the same loop. You jump and fight, hit an obstacle, search for an item or crystal, then reconsider the space through the abilities of an animal form. When that chain clicks, the large levels feel like places to investigate rather than merely stages to clear.

Frustration is most likely to come from its traditional puzzle language. Carrying the right object to the right location is not a thrilling idea on its own, and hidden crystals can turn progress into a search. Still, the ability to choose among the first three areas softens that problem: you are less likely to be trapped banging your head against one route from the outset.

Give Odyssey a chance if you enjoy Amiga-era platform games that ask you to explore, remember blocked paths, and use changing abilities to solve problems. Its revenge story is straightforward and some puzzles are decidedly old-school, but the seven-level crystal hunt has enough structure and variety to make the journey to the throne worthwhile.

Retro Replay Score

7.6/10