Golden Axe II

"The follow-up to a very enjoyable original, and it's funny (and not always in a good way) - worth looking at ..."

FOREWORD

Golden Axe was one of the very first games I played at the arcade as a boy. I remember being so INCREDIBLY amazed at the screams, how my enemies turned to stone when they fell to the ground, just ... well ... just EVERYTHING about it basically.

Whilst there were a number of home ports of that title, the Megadrive/Genesis' was one of the best, so I was VERY keen to see what Golden Axe 2 turned out like, particularly as, to the best of my knowledge, it was a straight-to-home release.

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME

Death Adder fell at the end of Golden Axe, but as with so many tyrants, his place was quickly filled by another - this time an evil Warlord named Dark Guld.

Dark Guld has secured himself the much lauded Golden Axe, and is causing all sorts of havoc with it.

The same intrepid trio as were present in the first game - Ax-Battler, Tyris Flare and Gilius Thunderhead, reunite to do battle with this new foe, and to once again usher in peace and security for those currently suffering under the evildoer's boot.

... and if THAT doesn't get you going, NOTHING will !!

GRAPHICS - 7/10

The graphics in Golden Axe 2 are well done, but do seem a bit small sometimes. The characters are all perfectly respectable, animated to a decent level, and some of their special moves have been modified (Tyris Flare now does a backwards somersaulting kick which is graphically very nicely reproduced), for example.

The enemies have been redone from the first game as well, so whilst there are your usual standard array of grunts to slay, there are also Minotaur, Lizard Men, Wizards and plenty of others to do battle with in this title, which add a refreshing side to playing the game.

The spell effects are also very nicely presented, with a great many more levels of spell being made available to players (Tyris Flare in particular), and yes - the dragon is back with a vengeance ;)

The backgrounds themselves are nicely varied, and you will find yourself fighting in castles, hidden vaults, caves, marshlands, mountain passes and others in your quest to find and slay Dark Guld.

SOUND - 4/10

Not being funny ? But the sounds in this game are hilarious. Let me ask you a question - what ONE sound would you say should be done really well in a game of this sort ... a game where you spend all your time hacking, slashing and slaying your enemies ? I'd give you two acceptable answers - either the sword swinging sound, or the enemy dying sound.

Listen to an enemy die in this game, and what do they do ? They go "Bleurgh" ... as if they were throwing up. "Bleurgh". What's all that about !?!?! It's WELL funny and makes the game shockingly quite appealing to play, because you immediately disassociate yourself from the seriousness they intend to convey, and just wind up killing things for the heck of it.

It is both amusing and ironic that this is quite obviously NOT what the developers had intended.

The other sounds in the game are all perfectly passable, from the sword swinging to the sound of your magic spells striking or burning your enemies. The music is also decent throughout the title, but I simply HAVE to give it a 4 because the one sound they have really let down is one of the most often heard in the game !!

Whilst there are other sound effects for people dying (most notably big bosses, and Dark Guld himself - I'd have physically wet my pants if HE'd gone "bleurgh"), the common death sound is ever-present unfortunately.

Pity.

CONTROLS - 8/10

The characters are all very responsive to your commands, and whilst there are not a lot of commands you can fire off at them, they execute them willingly and swiftly.

Keeping an eye on the position of your enemies on-screen enables you to set up more than one enemy at a time for the fall (an easy example is slash, turn, slash, turn, slash, turn, and so on until both an enemy in front of you, and an enemy behind you, have fallen to your blade).

Combining regular attacks, magical attacks and power attacks (pressing the attack and jump buttons together) is very easy and almost a reflex action once you're into the game, and all in all this makes the entire experience quite enjoyable.

PLOT - 4/10

I'm sorry, I barely noticed there WAS a plot. Death Adder was a really nasty piece of work, and you felt motivated to go and slay him because he had directly meddled in the lives of all three of the heroes - slaying one's brother, one's mother and so on. You had this sense of "I want to bring this guy DOWN" when you were en route to him, and the thrill of battling him when you faced him at the end.

Unfortunately, in Golden Axe 2, it appears as though the developers knew they were onto a winning concept (because Golden Axe had been so very successful), and therefore saw fit to kinda ... skip bits ... like ... the plot ... and ... stuff.

Dark Guld is a regal and imposing villain to do battle with, but the absence of a really decent and gripping plot kinda makes this game sometimes feel a bit like Golden Axe 1b, rather than Golden Axe 2 if that makes sense.

GAMEPLAY - 7/10

That being said, there are a number of positives to take from playing Golden Axe 2. The things that made the first game enjoyable are all here - very little change has been made to each of the characters, and they are generally for the better.

The number and variety of enemies you face is greater in this title than the first release, and so too are the locations through which you travel - they do not feel like rehashed versions of the original, which is very important.

The boss fights are decent and varied, although later on in the game they do degenerate into the tried-and-tested "ok you've fought ONE of these guys before, NOW FIGHT TWO !!" mentality, but that's ok - we're used to that.

The spells are nicely beefed up, and the game introduces a charging system for spellcasting, so if, say, you had managed to max out Ax-Battler's Magic Bar, but you didn't want to use a full-strength spell on an enemy, you could charge up to whatever level you wanted, and then use that instead (with an appropriate level of charge being removed from your spellbook).

This is nice because if, for example, you are facing a minor enemy, you won't want to waste ALL your magic on him. Likewise, if you prefer one of the cheaper-ranked spells to your master master master spell, you can cast that lesser-ranked spell in its stead (and more often too, if you do the math).

There is a new mode called "Duel Mode", which is basically an arena mode of sorts where you get to do battle with various enemies from the game, in various combinations, which is a nice addition, but with limited appeal as the fights are always fought in the same arena, and become stale after a while.

So whilst it does have its flaws, the gameplay in general is not where they lie (which is coolies).

REPLAY VALUE - 6/10

Believe it or not, the biggest reason to play this game again ... and again ... and again, is from the sheer disbelief you will have at that SOUND !! "Bleurgh" - you just WON'T be able to get over it - it really is quite inexcusable.

Aside from that, there is very little reason to play this title over its predecessor, unless of course like me you like fighting certain particular enemies (the Minotaur rock my world).

VALUE FOR MONEY - 7/10

As long as you are paying what you SHOULD be paying for this title, then I believe it represents quite good value for money. After all, the title is seriously dated now, so you shouldn't be paying top dollar for it by any means (even though some would argue that Megadrive/Genesis titles should be considered collector's items these days).

I fully intend on keeping my copy to serve me as part of the Golden Axe Legacy in the years to come - perhaps I'll bequeath them to my grandchildren and watch them squeal with delight at the "Bleurgh" - perhaps not ... who knows ;)

OVERALL - 6/10 (This is NOT an average)

Whilst the game is fun to play, and boasts a broad and varied spectrum of magic, and hordes of enemies to do battle with, I can see why people complain that it is basically a clone of its predecessor.

I would happily give the title a 7 because I did thoroughly enjoy playing through it, but the "Bleurgh" sound effect when your enemies are slain really does make the experience of playing the game rather farcical at times. The one saving grace of this sound is that they did not apply it to EVERY warrior's death, as there is no way I would ever have touched this title again if Dark Guld had died in the same way.

MAIN GOOD POINTS

* The "Bleurgh" death sound-effect
* Nicely designed graphics
* Varied enemies
* Cool spells, and more of them than in Golden Axe

MAIN BAD POINTS

* The "Bleurgh" death sound-effect
* Poorly constructed plot

SO SHOULD YOU GET IT ?

If you can get a cheap copy, then I would suggest you rent it to see what I'm talking about, and then buy it if you really like it (as I did). Unfortunately there is not a huge amount to recommend buying this title over its predecessor, which was arguably more enjoyable to play - however, if you can get a cheap copy then it should make a decent addition to your Megadrive/Genesis repertoire, so yes - I would buy it personally.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/21/07