There has been a rather large emphasis upon Greek mythology as of late, from Percy Jackson and the Olympians to God of War. I personally love everything about Greek mythology, but it’s always nice to see a new game release that focuses on another mythology; in this case, Young Thor is about the Norse myths, which are definitely some of the lesser known stories outside of knowing who Loki is and what is Valhalla. It’s even more refreshing to find such a game to be quite entertaining.

As it’s a PlayStation mini, the game is not very long or really very deep, but it makes up for these shortcomings with fun gameplay. Young Thor is a 2D side-scrolling action-platformer that follows young god Thor on his journey throughout Midgard and Asgard to save the Norns from Hel and revive the Yggdrasil. The action focuses primarily on hack-and-slash along with some platforming – unforgiving platforming. For someone like me, who often flips over coffee tables in rage due to platforming, the platforming elements are actually fun and not anger-inducing. There are very few instances where Thor has to complete a jump, and none of them are that tricky to complete. It will only take one fall into the water (like Cole from inFamous, water is a big no-no for Thor) to learn exactly how to make the jump upon respawning. Oftentimes, Thor doesn’t have to take to platforming at all, it’s just one of the options to use to explore the level. The reward for doing so, though, includes better equipment and weapons.

However, the fighting makes up for the easy platforming.

At first, the game seems to be overly easy. The first level can be breezed through with basic hack-and-slash (and some lightning zaps!) in five minutes, and even the next couple of levels have the same feel as Thor levels up. The game gives players the option to replay the same level (i.e. 1-2) with a higher difficulty setting (usually with stronger enemies and greater numbers) or to move on to the next level (i.e. 2-1). It doesn’t take long to realize that you really won’t get very far in the story without ensuring that all weapons and armor from previous levels have been found and you do need to level grind. Level grinding can include those extraneous levels and replaying cleared levels. Most players probably won’t mind the latter if they’re looking for missed equipment, but level grinding for the sake of level grinding is never fun, no matter how great the gameplay is. At least the levels are fairly short, and there are always different routes to explore, which alleviates the tedium somewhat.

The graphics are a bit Pixar-ish, which makes the enemies come off as mistakenly cute. They’re like the Hammer Bros. of the original Super Mario Bros.: cute but deadly. And just in case players don’t find them challenging enough, wait until Thor becomes trapped in a small-spaced bubble with constantly spawning enemies. At these moments, suddenly unforgiving platforming doesn’t seem so bad. Thankfully, there are several checkpoints littered throughout the levels, so at least you won’t have to replay much after each respawn. For more on the graphics and gameplay, check out the official trailer:

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The Rundown
For $4.99, players will get what they pay for with Young Thor. It’s a short, fun little hack-and-slash that will offer plenty of challenge for the seasoned gamer. The required level grinding may be a turn-off to some, but those who overlook it will find a real gem of a mini. And hey, you get to learn a bit about Norse mythology while you’re at it.