Golden Axe
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
One of the major reasons that the Sega Genesis got a head
start on the rest of the 16-bit world (aside from Nintendo
taking a couple of extra years to even release their
machine) was their impressive catalog of arcade hits. As
mediocre as it was, the success that Altered Beast achieved
in the arcades helped sway many gamers who were trying to
decide which new system would be the wisest purchase. Such
name recognition was lacking on the rival Turbografx-16
system, and as a result, the Genesis took off. One such
arcade conversion that most gamers immediately snatched up
upon purchasing a Genesis was Golden Axe, a classic
hack-and-slasher that undoubtedly brings back fond memories
for many veteran players.
As one might expect, Golden Axe wasn't the most complex of
games. Picture Final Fight in a medieval setting, with
characters that prefer swordplay to fisticuffs, and you've
got Golden Axe. A typical quarter-muncher, Golden Axe
focused on simple, non-stop, right to left action. For what
it was at the time, it was spectacular.
There are three characters that you can choose from in
Golden Axe, none of whom display any originality or
creativity. First, you have the short strong guy, who swings
a mean axe but lacks the gift of speed and isn't very
skilled with magic. Then, there's the requisite "warrior
woman", who can move swiftly and has obviously studied
magic for quite a while, but can't pack very much of a
wallop. She does make sure to wear as little clothing as
possible - after all, who needs any equipment or protection
when going up against eight-foot-tall swordsman and
fire-breathing dragons. Lastly, there's the "all-around
guy" - you know, the character who is decent at everything,
but masterful at nothing.
While there's nothing particularly special about any of
these characters, they each possess their own individual
appeal, and different players will undoubtedly have
differing opinions on which warrior is the "best" to use.
A trademark of many early Genesis titles, Golden Axe is a
two-player game, so repeated play will lead to each player
becoming proficient with a certain character. Once you get
used to how each character moves and acts, you will find
that they are all capable of getting you through the game -
especially considering that the quest in Golden Axe is a
rather easy affair to begin with.
Speaking of your quest, Golden Axe requires you to do
standard good-guy business: save a king and queen and beat
the bad guys. In between each stage, the game brings up a
map along with a small bit of text. This represents the
game's effort to have an ongoing story run throughout the
game, but the text isn't very effective - or necessary, as
it really has very little to do with the game play. For
instance, the text may tell you that one stage takes place
on the back of a giant bird, but if you simply played
through the stage without reading the text, you probably
would have suspected that you had been fighting your way
past a generic-looking mountainside. The settings of the
game don't work very well with the actual story, but since
the text is irrelevant anyway, it's a good idea to just skip
the intermission scenes and get on with the action.
The controls in Golden Axe are simple and effective. The
three buttons on the Genesis control pad allow you to jump,
attack, and cast magic. You can also pull off some dashing
and throwing moves very easily. Occasionally, you will be
granted the opportunity to climb atop certain creatures and
let them do the dirty work for you. Magic works well enough,
and adds a bit of strategy to the inelaborate game play.
Prudent gamers will know when to use their magic and when it
is wiser to hold on to it and strengthen it further. Swift
little thieves come running by quite frequently in Golden
Axe, and by giving these miscreants a good smack with your
weapon, you can make them drop magic bottles. Collecting
these bottles will make your magic more powerful (up to a
certain point).
Golden Axe has some rock solid visuals. The backgrounds are
drawn well (even if they don't quite match up with the text
sequences), and most of the characters in the game are large
and detailed. The huge bosses in the game were particularly
impressive; such tremendous characters were very rare in the
days of the NES, but Sega transmitted these behemoths
perfectly from the arcade to the home console. The music and
sound effects are low key and unimpressive, but they
certainly won't require you to mute your television.
Golden Axe is an enjoyable hack-and-slasher that you will
probably come back to many times, thanks to the two-player
mode and the impressive enemy cast. After many years of
playing the game, I purchased a copy of the game used not
too long ago - simply because it's a fun title that provides
some solid multiplayer entertainment. It shouldn't be at all
hard to find, so if you own a Genesis and don't have this
game, I highly recommend that you stop by Funcoland some
time and add it to your library.
Overall: 7 / 10
OR
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