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Derek Green
United States
Lexington
Kentucky
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On August 14, 1989 the Sega Genesis debuted in America. Among the initial titles available for the new 16-bit console was Golden Axe, which was undoubtedly the best launch title. As would become their custom for the rest of their existence as a console maker, Sega developed fun arcade games and then ported them to their home systems. While they had already made competent home ports of games like Space Harrier and Altered Beast to the 8-bit Master System, Sega had never before had this kind of processing speed and graphical and sound ability to work with. Golden Axe was a very good port of Sega's arcade hit and established a course for the Genesis to become the greatest beat-'em-up platform of all time. Now, let us explore why this is the case.
I. Graphics
Golden Axe had a fairly simple look and the Genesis was able to recreate it in a way which was faithful to the arcade original. Sega created a game with interesting and creative levels which blend together bucolic Medieval villages, enemies that are reminiscent of "Death Stalker", and fantastical places to fight, such as on a giant Turtle and on a giant bird. The characters are fairly well-animated and their movement looks fairly natural and fluid as compared with previous games. While Golden Axe was lapped in the graphical department by later Genesis (including its 1991 sequel) and Super Nintendo games, it was quite good when it came out. Even when compared to its sequel, which is technically superior in nearly every single respect, the animations for magic attacks in the original Golden Axe are still some of the most creative, cool, and well-animated instances of magic that I have ever encountered. Recently, I played this game with a female visitor and she described the game as "cute". In part, I have to think that the graphics were a big factor in allowing the appeal of this game to carry over to the 21st Century.
Graphics Rating- 20/20
II. Sound and Music
The Genesis ultimately came to be known for less than stellar sound since its sound processor was soon completely eclipsed by that of the SNES, which came pretty near to having CD-quality sound. Compared with the Master System and NES, however, the Genesis represented an extraordinary jump in sound technology. Golden Axe's sound effects are not that great, but they are at least distinct and memorable.
The sound effect when you hit an enemy sounds rather strange and it is hard to describe in words. The oddness of the sound is not annoying, so it doesn't present a huge problem, but it certainly does not sound anything like a metal weapon clashing with either flesh or armor. Perhaps this is because Sega thought it would be inappropriate to make it sound too brutal, but more likely they were in a hurry to release the game and couldn't get it right in time. All enemies make the same weak groan when they die, something which sounds like "ahh....". The music for each level is distinct, simple, and good at setting the mood. While the music was surpassed by other games, particularly Golden Axe II, it is memorable and certainly was rivaled only by a few other games like Castlevania on the NES when it was first released.
Sound and Music Rating- 16/20
III. Theme, Immersion, and Extras
Golden Axe feels like a PG playable edition of "Death Stalker". The heroes aren't particularly noble or civic-minded; all of them are there to avenge the deaths of their relatives. This appeals to me since in a quasi-medieval or Greek Dark Age society there would be little in the way of public-mindedness. Very few games of this era, especially beat-'em-ups, had a story worth mentioning. While Golden Axe's story is laughably silly and simplistic by today's standards, it was pretty decent for 1989. The elderly king depending on his assertive daughter is something which is not emphasized, but which is still clear from the way that the story plays out. The three heroes each have a degree of personality which shines through their moves, looks, and abilities. Death Adder was a memorable villain and is still listed among the greatest game bad guys. Death Bringer is truly frightening as an opponent and I have no idea why he is not the one who people remember as opposed to Death Adder. The levels are all charming and inventive, the gameplay never feels languid, and nothing that happens seems excessively repetitive. Of all the beat-'em-ups that I have ever played, Golden Axe is first for its theme and the degree of immersion that it provides.
Theme, Immersion, and Extras Ratings- 20/20
IV. Controls
Of all of the elements that I appreciate the most in a game, controls are the factor which can either make a game feel like a dream or like a nightmare. Golden Axe is silky smooth and responsive. The control scheme is very simple and there aren't that many moves but they are all effective and give you exactly what you need to get the job done against Death Bringer's goons. The attack sequence varies for each warrior and is how the game makes each person have relative fighting skills. All of them have the same quick and deadly air attack. All of them have unique ways of defending their backsides. As for magic, each has a variety of attacks and uses all of their magic upon pressing the button for it.
Each of the three characters has their own distinctive feel. Ax Battler is the broadsword-wielding barbarian who is supposed to be evenly balanced between having powerful magic attacks and powerful fighting techniques. Personally, I am not an Ax Battler fan, but he is a decent character for a new player to try and was iconic of the series and of the early Genesis. The barbarian uses earth magic, or something that is somewhat indistinct. Tyris Flame is an Amazon with good speed and the most powerful magic attacks. Tyris can kill most of the early bosses with but a single magic attack, but her reach is limited and it takes a skilled single player to knock off Death Bringer using her. Since playing as Tyris represents a great challenge, I enjoy testing my skills and creating tension in a game that I have had for two decades by playing as the Amazon summoner. Tyris has fire magic, including a very cool fire ghost attack at one of the higher levels and a fire-breathing dragon at full force. Gilius Thunderhead is the dwarf and the best character in my humble opinion. His lightning magic attacks are not very powerful, but look pretty cool. While his magic attacks are basically only good for getting enemies off of your back, he has excellent reach and is by far the best at fighting when outnumbered. It is in some ways a good thing that Sega excluded Gilius from the wretched Golden Axe III since that game did not have the control responsiveness to be worthy of the magnificent dwarf warrior.
Controls Rating- 20/20
V. Gameplay
As stated above, all of the levels are well-designed and flow with a celerity and smoothness that is still impressive even in 2011. There are several categories of things which are well worth noting in this section of the review.
Firstly, Golden Axe has a better options menu than most of its contemporaries and was probably a solid year ahead of its competitors. The game allows you to up your hit points on each life to five instead of the standard three, which is not quite the same as adjusting the difficulty but which can definitely improve your chances of beating the game. In fact, since the game is a legitimate challenge, even with all of my experience, I always play with five bars. There is also a beginner mode and a duel mode which allow the player to build his skills before going into the fray and drawing steel against the unspeakable Death Bringer. The player is also given the very Genesis option of altering the control scheme to however he would like. Personally, I have been using 'A' for attack, 'B' for jump, and 'C' for magic for about 75-80% of my entire life. That is not the standard setting, but it just goes to show how increasing the control options can enable gamers to better enjoy their gaming experience.
More importantly even than the options menu is that there are a good variety of enemies. While the actual types are limited to but 7 types, their abilities vary based on their color. Different colors represent different speed and hitting power, with darker colors generally indicating a greater capacity to beat you down. All of the various enemies have their own tactical behavior patterns and while these are predictable, they are well-designed enough so as to still present a challenge. All of these enemy units have their own strengths and weaknesses and when there are varied groups of opponents, they can really make you think carefully about your position on the screen.
(It is important to note here that the screen has enough depth to allow you to move up and down. By across the screen, I mean to your left or right.)
Heninger and Longmoan are the two most basic types of enemies. Heninger uses a mace and can get in close by stepping into your guard and do damage that way. Longmoan has a club and a bit more hitting power and range, but comes at you head-on and is generally easy to pick off. Both of them will charge you if you are standing directly across from them but they are generally somewhat easy to dodge or preempt with your basic attack. Storchinava/Strobava/Lemanava/Gruniya (the name varies based on the color of her outfit) carries a small axe and can take more abuse than Heninger and Longmoan. She has a particularly good charging attack and usually appears in conjunction with the various animals that you can ride. Skeletons, as would become a series tradition, are probably the hardest opponents in the game aside from Death Bringer. Though they are technically only rated a B in both speed and strength, they are good at everything, including taking a lot of punishment. For the most part they attack with aggression and intelligence, charging or sliding in at exactly the right moment. No opponent will obnoxiously knock you off of your animals more than the skeletons, even though they cannot ride them. If they get in close they can perform a quick combo that will take out two bars of your life before you know what hit you. To this day, I am still more apprehensive of skeleton warriors than of any other supernatural monsters and it is because of how devastating they are in this game. Luckily, most skeletons appear near ledges and can be thrown or knocked into the abyss.
For the Golden Axe bad guys who are used as bosses, they are even more interesting as opponents. The first level bosses are the Bad Brothers, two giants with large sledgehammers who dress like Krang's body. They can stop your air and regular attack with charges and work together to prevent each other from being spammed. While they can charge quickly, their overall speed is not very impressive and they are much easier to take out than skeletons even though they do a lot of damage when they drop the hammer. The Bad Brothers also emerge out of a tavern later in the game to get some more and are no better then than they were before. Gen. Heartland is red as opposed to blue and is a little better rated than the Bad Brothers but he fights alone and has no shot. Lt. Bitter, Col. Bitter, and Gen. Bitter are armored knights. Though they are slow and have no capacity to charge, they are probably the craftiest foes in the game. They have a good guard and can blast you with their shield unless you begin your attack sequence immediately upon coming level with them. Their broadsword swings have great range and allow them to forestall air attacks better than any other enemy in the game. Only Death Adder and Death Bringer maneuver to advantage as well as the Bitter knights. When they appear together, it is very difficult to beat up on one of them without the other one's sword catching you in the back of the head.
Death Adder dresses in red, has normal colored flesh, and carries a huge axe. He is accompanied by two skeleton warriors. His axe swing is sudden and has good range. Since he swings side to side, his swings can stop you from stepping inside of his guard and performing your attack sequence. His defense against air attacks is pretty decent, but you will get through about three-quarters of the time. He can also send out things on the floor that move in random patterns and can hurt you. Generally, so long as you kill the two aggressive skeletons, you can take out Death Adder one-on-one without too much difficulty.
When you come across Death Bringer, however, it is a whole different story. After Death Adder dies, the King and Princess request that you go behind the throne room and take out whoever was giving Death Adder his orders. After fighting through a precipitous stage with many skeletons and ledges, you finally meet the man himself. He looks like Death Adder, except that he wears blue bondage gear/armor instead of red, carries a golden axe, and his skin is something like purple. Since the game calls what I see as teal "gold" and what I see as silver "blue", I don't know whether there was an error in translation or a failure in the color palette design, but at any rate he is a purple-skinned guy in blue bondage gear. Like his understudy, Death Bringer is accompanied by two skeletons. But here's the catch: these skeletons don't die. While there are some final bosses who regenerate henchmen, this jerk just created two skeletons who can't be killed. As if that were not rough enough, he is also more apt to swing his axe and has faster reactions. Even worse, he follows up every single attack with a magic attack that will remove at least one more bar of life. If he chooses to drop Tyris' maximum strength magic attack on you, then make that two from just the magic follow-up. So, he is difficult to attack and skeleton enforcers. That means that you can simply air attack or get in quick hits and run, right? Well, generally speaking yes, but there is still another problem. Death Bringer can also randomly cast spells and will do so if you are keeping away from him for more than a little while. Keeping close will obviate most random magic attacks, but not all. The unpredictability of Death Bringer makes him probably the hardest end game boss who I have ever successfully defeated.
How then does one beat Death Bringer? You have to avoid screwing up or taking needless hits early in the game. It will take a lot of practice and you will ultimately come to realize that you need at minimum half of your total life (continues and lives) remaining to pull it off. The last time I played was just last week, and I finished him off with Tyris when she had only three bars left of her very last life on her very last continue. It is the kind of difficulty that builds tension effectively. When I played a couple days before that with my female visitor who has game experience but had never played Golden Axe before, we fell prey to Death Bringer. Yeah, he's good, damn good.
Gameplay Rating- 20/20
VI. Conclusion
Golden Axe on Sega Genesis has been one of my favorite games ever since I first discovered it. Even though I played the sequel first, I still was able to pick up and love the original. In terms of intangible qualities such as charm, Golden Axe has rarely if ever been surpassed. There is a reason why every collection of Genesis games that is released on modern consoles and for the PC includes this game. Without Golden Axe, one truly cannot appreciate why the Sega Genesis was so beloved by its fans. I recommend this game to anyone with a pulse. If you don't like this game, then there is something seriously wrong with you.
Overall Rating- 96/100
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My friend and I pumped so many quarters into the arcade version in order to finish it. It was my first and last arcade game to go all the way to the end.
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Derek Green
United States
Lexington
Kentucky
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Haha, the only arcade game that I've ever beaten was the original Time Crisis. That must have been a memorable moment to beat a game like this at the arcade.
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Mark Lohr
United States
Michigan
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A VERY detailed review indeed...
But, I don't agree with you AT ALL about Golden Axe II. From the very first screen shot of GAII, I was quite disappointed with the graphics.
For one, it seems that they did a really lousy job of utilizing the Genesis's color palatte. I mean, I KNOW that it was limited (what was it, like 64 different colors on screen at once), but this game just makes it look even MORE limited than that!
Secondly, the background animations are just god-awful. Compared to the backgrounds in the first game they look like a first grader animated them. Plus, where the heck is the paralax-scrolling? That's what always added a "cool" depth to the look of those games, but there is absolutely NONE in this sequel (making it look extremely flat).
I will admit that the second game added some new cool-looking enemy characters and bosses, but once again... the lack of a decent color palatte really hurt this as well (it just seems like they could've thrown in a FEW more colors).
The ability to choose the strength of your special magic (in the sequel) was nice. And... I liked the little changes that they made to the looks of the main characters, but for me, overall, the game just seemed A LOT less of a quality product than the original.
Still... I was always a big fan of the Golden Axe games. I just wish they had taken the series in a different direction. Perhaps adding some role-playing elements to the hack-n-slash action. You know, using coins that you would collect to buy better weapons and clothing and that kind of thing... I think that could've been a cool way to go with it. They could've made a HUGE environment Golden Axe action/rpg for the Sega-CD! Some big game where you could explore different towns and decide on your own which way to go and what to explore next. That would've been nice...
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Derek Green
United States
Lexington
Kentucky
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@ Mark,
GAII has had its detractors over the years and for mostly the reasons that you just mentioned. I plan on doing a review of it early next year to explain why I am fan of the game, which will get into many of the pros that you just listed. I do agree with you that the backgrounds are worse, but not because they look worse, just that they are less creative.
I like your idea about the Sega CD GA action rpg. That would have been pretty awesome. There is actually a Master System Golden Axe rpg which I plan on emulating at some point, but my initial impressions suggest that it might suck. What really disappoints me is that Sega didn't make a good GA title on Saturn. Saturn needed all of the good games it could get and GA would have been quite a good contribution.
Out of curiosity, how do you feel about Golden Axe III on Genesis?
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Mark Lohr
United States
Michigan
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I actually never picked up GAIII. I bought the Sega Genesis right when it first came out (I don't remember if it was launch day, or a little while after). What I DO remember is standing in the video game aisle of my local Toys-R-Us and looking at the Genesis AND the Turbo-GraphX and trying to decide which one to buy. Boy... I was lucky to make the right decision and get the Genesis, but I do remember at the time that there were A LOT of impressive commercials on tv for the "Turbo".
I picked up quite a few of the early games that came out for the system, but by the time that GAIII came out, I had moved on to Sega-CD games (and some games for the SNES and Neo-Geo as well).
I'll have to download GAIII from the Wii Shop sometime and try it. I'll let you know what I think after I get a chance to play it...
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Derek Green
United States
Lexington
Kentucky
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GAIII was never released on Genesis in the U.S. I wouldn't recommend spending any kind of money for it if you can avoid it. If you can get one of the Genesis collections (the ones on PS2 and PC have it, are pretty cheap now, and have other games worth having) or if you can run an emulator on your computer, that would be a much better way to play. I wrote a review on the game and it should give you a clear picture as to why the game is not worthy of any kind of monetary investment.
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