Reception
The character of Athena has been very popular within gamers; In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, she was voted as the tenth favorite character with a total of 1,020 votes. On January 30, 1995 issue of Gamest magazine in Japan, Athena ranked at No. 3 in the list of Top 50 Characters of 1994. Her character is also featured in various types of merchandising such as figurines from KOF: Maximum Impact and SNK Beach Volley. Athena was also featured along with Mai Shiranui as a part of a set of two action-figures with both her character being chibi. A key-chain from her character was also released by SNK.
Various video games publications have commented on Athena's character, which has received mixed responses. The IGN staff commented that Athena's introductions in the first The King of Fighters seemed a parody of Chun-Li from the Street Fighter series as she wears a similar school outfit. Her new appearance in The King of Fighters XII has been noted to be one of the biggest changes from the series by Todd Ciolek from Anime News Network who commented that "Athena looks to have been de-aged five or six years." GameSpot writer Hirohiko Niizumi commented that several fans complained on this new design as it looked "chubby"; However, Niizumi mentioned Athena looked normal-size in comparison to other characters from the game. Ryan King from the Official Xbox 360 Magazine noted that her new appearance makes her look "more pop star-esque than ever." In another review, the writers from IGN noted Athena's skill as an assistant character (named "Striker") to heal characters during fights in The King of Fighters '99 to be one of the best of the game although it has to be used carefully as it is limited. When she was announced to appear in Capcom vs. SNK 2, David Smith from IGN praised her addition to the game but was confused about from what game Athena was going to be based as she has several outfits.
Read more about this topic: Athena Asamiya
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“Aesthetic emotion puts man in a state favorable to the reception of erotic emotion.... Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art.”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)