Golden Axe

"An unneeded port."

Golden Axe must be one of those games I never played on the Genesis because after playing it here I don't think I've ever played it as none of the stages looked familiar. Is it worth buying though?

Someone evil is doing something evil so it's up to three heroes to stop the madness. It's a very basic plot but I expected nothing less from a game that is this old.

Graphically the game is a bit boring. The sprites lack detail and the enemy variety is very low. I did like how the enemies turn to stone when killed instead of vanishing. The levels and locations look really washed out and I'm not sure if the original game did.

The music is very lacking in this game and really did nothing for me or even set a decent mode for the game. The sound effects were decent though. While enemies sounded alike the little troll guy who has potions was amusing.

The control is a bit stiff. Not sure why. You have two attacks a light and heavy. They are the X and B buttons. Y is to use your potions and the A button is used for jumping. Very easy to get the hang of and has almost no real learning curve.

The game play on the other hand is a bit bland. Fans of Streets of Rage and the like should feel at home with this beat'em up. This game is further proof of why the genre has pretty much died off.

The combo system is heavily flawed and most enemies die in a 3 hit combo. What does keep it interesting is that some enemies ride upon mystical creatures and you can control them as well. Doesn't add a whole lot but it's kind of cool to ride a dragon.

Sadly the bosses come off as cheap more than anything else. There is usually one with a group of enemies or two with a group of enemies. So they pretty much tag team you so it's a race to separate them and kill them on different sides of the screen.

The game uses both a health meter and a life system. You can change it so you start anywhere from 2-5 for both. Most enemies can land a number of shots before a health bar will drop off but the bosses are 1 hit bar lose.

The game isn't overly long and it isn't all that entertaining. But of course you can play co-op over Live and work for achievements but no one seems to be on-line any more.

I actually wouldn't recommend buying this game off the Live marketplace. Not just because it's a so-so title but because it can be had on the Sega Collection discs released on the PS2/Xbox and for the price of 800 points it totally isn't worth it when the disc costs $20 or less and you get about 10 more games, it just seems like a waste of money.

Story - 6/10
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 5/10

Final Score - 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/08

Game Release: Golden Axe (US, 07/10/07)