Golden Axe II

"Same characters, new monsters, new stages, new enemies."

The first Golden Axe is considered to be a classic gem when it comes to scrolling beat em ups. Golden Axe II is just what you can expect a sequel to a classic game to be. The new villain is Dark Guld, who just like Death Adder (The villain from the first Golden Axe) is a a threat to the kingdom and our three heroes must once again travel to the evil warriors castle and defeat him in order to save their kingdom.

The three heroes is the same characters as in the first Golden Axe game. Ax Battler the barbarian has perhaps the longest range with his Broad Sword, and he can use okay magic, this is the all round character in this game. The second character is the Amazon Tyris Flare. She is the best magic user but also the worst melee fighter in this game, however that doesn't mean that she's bad at it. The third character is the popular dwarf Gillius Thunderhead. He's the best melee fighter but the worst magic user.

The only thing that have changed about the characters is that the back attack that you could do in the original has now been changed into an attack which can be used both as a front attack and a back attack. Another thing that have changed is that you can now choose how many scrolls you want to use when you cast a spell, but now you have to hold the magic button for a while before you can cast your magic.

The other thing that have changed in this game is the monsters you can ride, the stages and of course the enemies. You might notice that the enemies are more like monsters in this game than humans which was the enemies in the first game. For example the berserker women and giants have now been replaced with Lizardmen and Minotaurs. However the headless knights are still in this game.

Except for what I have now mentioned, Golden Axe II is the same game as the original. You walk on a stage, enemies pop ups and you must now defeat them, then you can go further and meet more enemies that you have to kill. This is still mindless fun, and personally I think the game formula didn't need to change that much, but the annoying things the original had is still there.

Some of the enemies have longer range than your hero, and it's almost impossible to defend yourself against an enemy who is attacking you from behind while you are already fighting against another enemy. The control have been slightly, improved, but it's still far from perfect.

Golden Axe II is just like the original a great game to play with a friend. If you have to choose between the first Golden Axe and this one, then I think I would pick this. It doesn't have the charm that the first Golden Axe have, but on the other hand is has a better magic system. Another nice feature in this game is that it has three different difficulties, so maybe you will play this game over and over again until you have finished it on the hardest difficulty with just three life stocks.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/07