Golden Axe III

"Why Does this game get bashed ALL the time???"

Introduction:
Golden Axe is one of Sega's most legendary games which ranks right up there with the likes of Streets of Rage and Altered Beast. There were a number of sequels to the original game, this was its second sequel on the Genesis.

Story:
Some Evil Prince (not death adder, i dont think) has stolen the golden axe, you must retrieve it, blah blah blah, the usual story, you must also free the other warriors from an evil spell. You play as 4 characters, Ax Battler and Tyris are back, with two new friends, a Panther humaniod and a massive guy. Can no longer play as Guilius, why oh, why????

7/10

Visuals:
The Visuals are a major improvement on the second game,the stages are much better looking with background anims. The sprites , look better but are of the same quality. The characters look much cooler now and look like having different personalities. Also the character animation is much smoother than previously. The enemies from the first and second game are back but have gone makeovers, the hammer bros are back but look nothing like previously, the skeletons are also back but look like the skeletons of lizardmen (lizardmen and skeletons combined from GA2??)

8/10

Gameplay:
The biggest improvement is deniably the gameplay. There are MANY more moves to pull off, also the player can block against incoming attacks. However the magic is a let down as the special function is lost and there are not many stages of magic, also the power of all characters magic is same. BUT the characters have different personalities, the heavier stronger characters are powerful but slow, yet the less powerful ones are faster and can preform double jumps and tricks in the air.

10/10

Sound:
The Usual grunts. Some tunes are really catchy in this game. The tune in the first stage is really great as it is a fast rythm tune. However, more time could have been spent on the tunes. although the tunes are much better than the second game they are as not as good as the first game.

8/10

Overall:
This game did not disappoint me at all unlike Streets Of Rage 3 , people are being way too harsh on this game. I have read many reviews bashing this game and none being good and liking this game. I think this game was a major improvement over Gold Axe II, the graphics , the sound, the gameplay all being MUCH MUCH better.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/02, Updated 03/24/02