Golden Axe

"One of the original jewels in Sega's crown shines brightly in this better-than-arcade-perfect port"

One of Sega’s greatest arcade efforts finally comes to a console in its proper form, and brings home a little extra, just to make things that little bit sweeter. No more of the incompleteness of the Master System version (in which you could only play as the guy (whose name I cannot remember) and chose your spells) and playable speed, as compared to that of the DOS conversion.

Golden Axe for the Genesis/Megadrive chucks in some new things of its own, namely two new levels, and an all new boss, as well as a duel mode (both single and multiplayer). It all adds up into a grand package which belongs in every G/MD owner’s collection.

Graphics: 8

Great at the time. Nowadays, the look as if they have taken a hit from their podium, but nonetheless still look good. Plenty of good animation, mixed with great colouring and general sharpness eliminates that washed-out look of some of the earlier G/MD titles. Graphics on the larger enemies especially stands out.

Sound: 9

One of the best soundtracks around, it will stick in your mind for a few years to come. Heck, I even downloaded the soundtrack I liked it that much (something I don’t regularly do). Sound effects are pleasing to the ear although certain sounds do stick out as being a little grainy. Due to the limited abilities of the sound components of the G/MD, certain sound effects actually cut out the music. A minor hiccup, but not derogatory.

Story: 7

Death Adder has taken the Golden Axe, as well as the King and Princess, as his prisoners. In the battle, your friend Alex was also killed (I have absolutely no idea where he fits in to all this). Your quest is to bring peace back to the Land. Pick one of three characters (a barbarian, a girly (whose names both escape me, sucks getting old :P) and a dwarf named Gillius Thunderhead), and set off to woop some bad guy ass.

Gameplay: 9.5

Really easy to grasp, but the lack of credits (especially in 2 player) will hinder your progress through the game. Appears to be your straight out beat ‘em up, but adds a little bit of magic into the mix. Add in a few selected dragons, and you have a fight on your hands. Two player mode is fantastic, making the game really shine.

There are 3 main modes, Arcade, Beginner and the Duel. Arcade throws you into the thick of it, 8 levels filled to the brim full of bad guys and even badder bosses. Beginner gives you a taste of the experience from Arcade mode, but makes things that bit easier. It is also much, much shorter. It is basically designed to teach the fundementals of the game. There are two flavours of the Duel. The single player affair pits you up with a set number of enemies, which increase in number and difficulty each time, and to make things worse, you are only given 10 health points to do it in. The 2 player Duel is a head to head affair, with one player pitted against the other in a fight to the death. Rather limited in my opinion.

Lastability: 7

Once you get into it, you’ll finish the Arcade mode after a few tries. It stays interesting with the two player mode, due to the added difficulty of sharing credits. The duel adds in a little more challenge, but once everything is done, there's not much to go back to. Sort of disappointing, but isn’t almost every arcade to home conversion that way?

Overall: 9

Holds its own against many beat ‘em ups nowadays (probably because the genre is downright awful now, thanks to the farces known as Fighting Force and MK Special Forces). The best of the series by far (2 is pretty much the same, 3 is downright awful, 2 (arcade) was never ported). It belongs in every gamer's collection. Although a Dreamcast sequel would be nice, I am in doubt to such a concept due to a) the turnout of number 3, and b) the state of the genre.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/16/01, Updated 02/25/01