is a Japanese

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

series initially developed and published by

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The Am ...

and owned by the Paon Corporation and Nintendo. The series began in 1987 with ''Tōjin Makyō Den: Heracles no Eikō'', and three sequels were released until 1994 in addition to a portable spin-off game released in 1992. After Data East's bankruptcy in 2003, Paon Corporation and Nintendo acquired the rights to the series, with Paon (now

Paon DP is a Japanese video game developer. The company was founded in August 2004 as DP Inc. and merged with Paon Corporation, Ltd. in March 2015 to form Paon DP. Paon Corporation was founded on January 20, 1999. Through a partnership with Nintendo, ...

) and

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

co-owning the copyright and Nintendo solely owning the trademark, and Nintendo released the latest installment in the series, ''Heracles no Eikō: Tamashii no Shōmei'' for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

in 2008. None of the games had been released outside Japan until E3 2009, at which the latest game was announced by Nintendo as ''Glory of Heracles''. The series is based in the world of

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, with the Greek hero

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

as the title character of each game. However, Heracles only serves as the main character in the original game and the Game Boy spin-off, and plays a support role in all subsequent games. The 2018 game ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...

'' represented the series in the game's spirit mode, with Heracles from the original game and the player character for the DS game, named as the ''Glory of Heracles'' Hero, possible to unlock.

Games

References

External links

Nintendo E3 2009: Glory of Heracles''Glory of Heracles'' (Nintendo DS) official website

''Heracles no Eikō: Tamashii no Shōmei'' official website
{{Data East Video game franchises Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Role-playing video games Video games set in antiquity Video games based on Greek mythology Video game franchises introduced in 1987 Video games developed in Japan