Golden Axe

aka: Golden Axe Classic
Moby ID: 199

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Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 76% (based on 69 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 326 ratings with 13 reviews)

Milestone in arcade to home ports.

The Good
I can distinctly remember the impact this game had when it came out. Before it was released I had played the arcade game at the theatre and at the local Wal-Mart. I had never been able to play it past the second level due to lack of time. It was a wonderful side-scrolling fighting platform where you could choose a barbarian, a woman, or a dwarf. The Genesis version came out sometime later in 1989.

This game really stands out in my mind as its purchase coincided with earning a brown belt on the same night I bought it in 1989. All of my friends who played it over at my house wanted a SEGA Genesis because of it. This was back when SEGA only allowed higher quality games to be released for its system, a policy dropped in 1991 with the introduction of the SNES. This was a fantastic two player game back in the day.

Surprisingly, the silly looking dwarf was the the most effective character. Though his magic attacks were weaker, if you wanted to beat the game on a quarter or two all you had to do was pick Gilius and master his special moves. This remained the same with the Genesis.

The Genesis version had an additional two or three levels and saw Death Adder taking orders from his pallet-swapped clone: Death Bringer (a character never to be mentioned again in the Golden Axe mythos).

The Genesis game controlled better than the arcade version. Considering the constraints placed upon the designers it was a fantastic accomplishment that truly put an arcade machine in people's homes. Most people could not tell the difference between the Arcade and the Genesis version. However, the Genesis version was inferior graphically due to memory and color pallet limitations (thousands of colors at several megabytes verses 96 colors at 6 megabits*).

1 megabyte = 8 megabits
The Genesis was only supposed to have roughly 64 colors but Sega's inhouse programmers frequently a used technique to get 96 or more.


The Bad*
The only true short coming of this game was that it was incredibly easy. This was especially true if you chose the dwarf and learned how to pull off his rolling attack. The additional levels were not particularly imaginative and merely used the same enemy characters and new, conspicuously bland backgrounds.

Gilius Thunderhead's "Golden Axe" was accidentally colored silver. Although this is not a major flaw, it is a quite an annoying oversight.

The Bottom Line
Golden Axe is a great beat'em up not to be missed. You can either get the cartridge off eBay for a few dollars or you can get it as part of the SEGA Genesis Collection for the PS2. It has a mediocre sequel called Golden Axe II, and a terrible game after that called Golden Axe III. A few other games similar to this are The King of Dragons for the SNES and the Dungeons & Dragons Collection for the Saturn (Japan only).

Genesis · by Majestic Lizard (670) · 2007

A good visual conversion of flawed gameplay.

The Good
The graphics in the PC conversion of Golden Axe are very good; if you were to pipe the output of your VGA onto a television, they're indistinguishable from the Sega Genesis version.

The Bad
First and foremost, the PC version is damn near impossible to complete without continuing. After an hour of gameplay, I would have hoped that the game got easier to master. It doesn't. After 30 minutes of getting repeatedly kicked into unconciousness less than a second after getting up, I was ready to smash the screen. The original arcade game was easier than this!

There are other problems that bother me a bit: There are entire sections of land missing in the PC version. Since the game is disk-based, it would not have been a big deal to include them. And while the CGA graphics run on almost any platform (8mHz and higher), the EGA graphics really require a 286 and the VGA graphics require a 386 to run smoothly.

The Bottom Line
If you liked the arcade game and don't have access to a Sega Genesis or arcade emulator, the PC version will satisfy your Golden Axe cravings. But if you haven't played the arcade game and aren't familiar with it's style of gameplay, look somewhere else for a side-scrolling fighting game.

DOS · by Trixter (8952) · 1999

An all-time classic. Period.

The Good
It can be said that they don't make games like they used to. It's true! Not since Golden Axe was released onto home consoles have people started having no social life! Myself included. I love the levels, the characters, the music.... Even the enemy AI is decent! The difficulty level is not unbearable. The overall aura surrounding this game is superb. The control rocks, too.---- *1/2 ----

*The Bad

The only thing that rang in my head was some of those annoying multi-death jumps you take (there's only like one or two). The inability to change characters between continues is kind of annoying. Otherwise I was sold when I first played it.

The Bottom Line
Supreme side-scrolling action that will last for ages. Great play mechanics, characters, level variation. Fun with a friend or alone. A game for the history books.

Genesis · by aaron pridemore (10) · 2003

We're off to see the Bringer, the wonderful Bringer of Death

The Good
Golden Axe, I always wanted to use the Golden Axe. But alas only the Baddies can.

This was a game which was a side on hack-em-up, for one or two players. Best in two player but fun nonetheless in single player.

Taking control of either Ax Battler (The Warrior Hero who strangely wielded a broad sword), Tyrus Flare (An amazon whose speciality was Fire magic), and Gilius Thunderhead (He was a Dwarf with Thunder & Lightning based sorcery). You must save the day by defeating Death Adder who has taken control of the Land & its people with the use of the fabled & powerful Golden Axe.

There are about 6 levels to this game where you cut the enemy to bits and defeat strong end of level guardians. With the help of the local Reptilian creatures and a bit of Magic for good measure. It is a good conversion of the original Arcade game which is itself an excellent game.

The end of the game 'Brings' a surprise but many Golden Axers will already have found this out for themselves.

The game is extremely addictive and holds excellent replay value. The 'Duel' mode is good for a laugh too.

A very worthy game which is recommended to all.

The Bad
There are parts in the game where you have to leap across larger than normal chasms & gaps in the level. Repeated deaths are often found here & can prove mighty frustrating.

The Bottom Line
The original and best hack-em-up.

Genesis · by Liam Dowds (39) · 2003

A classic beat em up.

The Good
Ah Sega's classic beat em up Golden Axe. A arcade sensation that has been ported to home. This game represented for the first time a Arcade game could be ported to a home console and look like a visual representation of the actual arcade game not the dreaded words "arcade port"

Now for the good.

The Graphics are VERY close to the arcade. Infact if you never played the arcade game you would swear you had the arcade game at home. This version just totals any other ports in graphics and gameplay.

The speed is parallel to the arcade which means fast and furious gameplay. Tons of enemies crowd the screen to give you a pummelin a plenty.

Three characters to choose from. Each character has different magic and a slight variation of moves.

The game is a nice time waster. Kill five minutes or beat the game and kill 30 minutes. This game is always fun for the duration.

The game still retains it's fun after over fifteen years. A true gem in the genre of beat down.

The Bad
now for the bad.

The game only gives four credits. The game can be a trite hard if you're a newbie to this genre. Even I had trouble beating Death Addler who has the ability to combo into every hit. If he knocks you down then you face a fierce spell which takes one bar of health per hit. You get three bars of health per life. YOU do the math.

Not as good as the arcade version. Though it's a very close port it just pales to the arcade just a little bit. The music also isn't as good as the arcade version.

The game doesn't have any backup to keep your scores. Sure most games didn't have this but it's a little nitpick to add.

The Dwarf is the most unevened character in the game and has the weakest magic even though his physical attacks do the same or maybe just a tiny bit more then the other two characters.

The Bottom Line
In the end this game is recommended to anyone who likes beat em ups like Streets of Rage or Final Fight. A worthy game to anyones genesis collection. Plus at around five bucks money isn't a issue. Hell you'll probably waste that much trying to beat this game in the arcade.

Genesis · by Mr. Huh (105) · 2005

NOSTALGIA OVERLOAD RIGHT NOW

The Good
Yet another review-wannabe thing of this!? Of course, because it is GOLDEN FRIGGIN' AXE!

The MS-DOS PC version might be a little bit thin compared to the arcade game, but I didn't know that when I was a kid. It was one of the first games I got more into and eventually have beaten it. It is regarded by most DOS-age gamers as one of the best hack 'n slash action games. I don't want to describe the playing mechanics here, I'm too lazy. But who doesn't know it anyway? Oh yeah, and it has the advantage over the arcade original that it has plus two more levels from the Genesis/Megadrive port.

Beside the "story" there is a Duel mode, where you have to face a small group of enemies in each turn in an arena. It gets harder and harder, but after the last turn nothing particular happens, just a usual rating and then back to the main menu. First I had a buggy version which after a certain duel turn wanted me to insert disk 2 (even when the whole game was on hard drive), and it kept me excited what happens after that. There is even a little practice mode, which is like the main "story" mode but easier and only lasts up to the 3rd level.

There is three characters to choose from when starting a new game. I always pick the dwarf, "Gilius Thunderhead", he was simply the strongest with his axe, even when his thunder magic was the weakest of the three. There was a glitch that changed the colors on him on each level (but I only noticed that when I connected a color monitor to the computer, because originally it had a tiny monochrome SVGA display) Once I even manged to get the maximal A+++ rating at the end. The amazon, Tyris Flare looks soo sexy and she can summon a giant fire breathing dragon! (haha, her bikini and pantie wear isn't a little bit too leisure for a medieval setting?). And there was that barbarian guy... I don't think I have gotten past even the second level with him. The magic system in the DOS version was simplified as I see now.

On the keyboard, Keypad 5 was the weapon attack, Right Shift was the magic charge, at least for player one. There was even a mouse control feature... it was VERY awkward XD

The graphics looks good by 16-bit standards (I am talking about VGA mode of course). It does not use 256 colors, more like 16, or maybe 64 because the gfx was directly converted from the Genesis/Megadrive version.

To me, the most memorable feature of the game is the PC speaker music and sound effects. I had no sound card back then in my 386 PC and the game still delivered polyphonic music via fast arpeggio beeping, and violent death screams via PCM digitized sounds, all that during gameplay. The mild music with the Adlib is nothing compared to that. The beeper was raw, wild, and LOUD, ear raping awesomeness. The buzzing metallic case created a harmonic bass together with the music. I liked the game called "The Cycles" from Accolade too because of this. PC beeper music lacked percussion, but I didn't realized it until quite recently. The crunchy digi sound effects interrupted the music, but it was not all that disturbing. All these sounded on each computer a little bit differently. The tiny internal piezzo speakers and emulators nowadays can't do justice to that. Yeah, this is the feature of the game that definitely aged much,

On some places where are pits the enemies can be pushed into then, making that part easier.

There is two player mode in both story and duel modes. Me and my friend always argued over the dwarf because we both wanted to play as him, but it was not possible. Also, we could hit each other in story mode too, so the cooperation easily turned into a deathmatch. We never got to the giant eagle in 2 player mode.

I once discovered that each sprites are stored in different files, so with renaming those files you can play as the enemies, haha! It was really buggy although. I scammed my friend with this: on the start of a 2 player game he picked the dwarf and I picked the barbarian. That moment when he realized that the barbarian is Death Adder himself...

My friend liked to make fun of the sound effect when the skeletons rise from the floor, because it sounded like farting.

When running the game with memory hog resident programs, the lesser the memory was, the more features were stripped away. First, no two player mode, then the enemies were all the same. I managed to run it with so little memory that even the magic attacks didn't work.

The Bad
Even with the plus levels, it was too short :)

Jumping over the wider pits... first it was a nightmare before I discovered the headbutting jump attack.

I think they should have implemented a save-able highscore feature in the PC version, because the rating screen was directly lifted from the console versions.

Occasionally, the midgets that held the power-ups, got stuck in the wall, and the game didn't let you further until they were gone, so it had to be restarted. Earlier I didn't even notice that with pressing Esc you can return to the main menu, so I restarted the computer.

It also lack many animations and small details compared to the Genesis/Megadrive and arcade versions. Like the little arrow on the speech bubbles that shows which character is talking, the floating feathers on the giant eagle level, the pen on the map screens, etc. Death Adder also lacks the underground fireball attacks so he is much easier to defeat.

The Bottom Line
Simple. Easy to get into. Addicting. Even if it didn't age well as a hack n' slash, it is still a very fun arcade action game. If you are new to it, I recommend you to look at the Arcade or Sega Genesis/Megadrive versions, or a remake, there must be one out somewhere.

DOS · by 1xWertzui (1135) · 2013

One of the greatest arcade to home ports ever.

The Good
Classic beat em up action. Excellent graphics and sound for its time. The gameplay is somewhat addictive and the controls on the Genesis version are tighter than the original arcade release. This version also contains an extra stage at the end which is moderately difficult, and the Duel Mode give a little extra added replay value.

The Bad
I guess due to hardware limitations the graphics are not as good as the arcade version, although for a Genesis game they are still great. It also would have been nice if back then you could have more than two players.

The Bottom Line
This is one of the best arcade to console conversions out there. The game it self is a classic and fun to play. The added features of the Genesis version also make it worth your while. This is a MUST have for any Genesis owner or classic console game collector.

Genesis · by Daniel Esquivel (1) · 2009

The king of a dead genre

The Good
The first time I caught a glimpse of Golden Axe was in an Arcade somewhere in France. I was really impressed by the marvelous graphics. On the PC the game still looked pretty marvelous, but unfortunately not on my PC (I had a 286 at the time). But Golden Axe’s graphics are among the best (maybe even the best) of it’s time. I like the creativity of the designers: the island that is a giant turtle, the huge eagle. The design of those stages is extremely well done. Moreover the magical spells are a joy to watch. The graphics are Golden Axe’s best feature. But there are some other things to like about Golden Axe.

  • Great sound effects & midi music. I can still hum some of those tunes.
  • You can knock enemy soldiers off their dragons and ride the dragons yourself.
  • It has a two-player cooperative mode, there nothing more fun than beating up some bad guys together.
  • It has a nice story twist. At a certain moment you think you have won the game but the toughest part is yet to come.



The Bad

  • It’s not complete! The intro and the cool ending that MAT is talking about are not included in the PC port.
  • The controls feel a little stiff.
  • Gilius is a lot better than the other two heroes because of the broad range of his axe (combined with his jump-attack). Not only would this cause arguments about who would get to play with Gilius, it also meant you virtually had to play with Gilius in order to win. I could beat the game easily when I played with Gilius but never succeeded with one of the others.
  • The “Duel” mode is lame and very difficult to complete.



The Bottom Line
A side scrolling beat ‘em up best remembered for it’s great graphics. Of course even great graphics look dated after a couple of years. In fact the whole side scrolling beat ‘em up genre is rather dated. Games like this one don’t get released anymore. In the early 90’s they were released in truckloads. Nowadays I find games like Final Fight, Double Dragon and Streets of Rage rather boring, but I still enjoy playing Golden Axe.

DOS · by Roedie (5239) · 2001

For those that crave something, *anything!* that offers some D&D-like action

The Good
The thing that will probably matter most when discussing this game is the conversion itself. Those that loved it's original incarnation only care about this, and those who don't really don't care anyway. Rest assured fans of Golden Axe, that the conversion is pretty accurate and save for some quirky details that make it more a port of it's 16-bit home incarnation rather than the original arcade one, this is flawless. The graphics are dead-on (at least as far as I remember) and the music sounded, well... "accurate".

The game offers a brand new duel mode that isn't exactly top notch but offers something different in gameplay terms, and most importantly: retains the 2-player co-op gameplay that is essential for these types of games.

The Bad
The only real downside to Golden Axe is that it isn't really that hot a game to begin with. I remember when it was around the arcades and it was interesting mainly because it was the first to offer a medieval-fantasy twist on the 2D -sidescroller beat'em up genre, but that was it. The sprites were pretty small making the action much less interesting, the gameplay was pretty unbalanced (tip: use the dwarf) and the amount of things you could do was pretty limited compared to other games that offered different throws, items, and more animations per hits. As far as I'm concerned It never even got close to the sheer genius that were Capcom's or Konami's 2D fighters like Captain Commando or the immortal Final Fight. And if the only reason that you cared about Golden Axe was it's fantasy-edge, then you still had better options like King of The Dragons or the pseudo 3d- Broken Sword.

Of course, since none of those titles where converted to the pc it's really pointless to compare them, right? Still... why should we settle for less??

The Bottom Line
For nostalgic medieval fantasy lovers only. Real action gamers come join me at the local arcade for a one-two of Final Fight, or heck: even Double Dragon!!

DOS · by Zovni (10504) · 2002

Classic!!

The Good
We all remember when Golden Axe came to the PC world. In those old DOS days, a lot of game lovers where happy to find this arcade game and playing in their home. The convertion was excellent, and we loved to play it. And, when I discovered that it had mouse support, it was better. Some movements, especially long jumps, became easier. I always liked to play with the old dwarf, it was my favorite character of the game.

The Bad
In those days, there was nothing to criticize against Golden Axe. Nowadays we can complain about the graphics, the gameplay, and a lot of thing, but there were a little ahead of a standard in that time.

The Bottom Line
An impressive arcade, that older PC gamers can't easily forget.

DOS · by Emepol (212) · 2015

A travesty of the original.

The Good
One of the best soundtracks I've ever come across on the C64. The tunes here really do have atmosphere. The graphics are good for an 8-bit machine, and the characters look like the ones in the arcade version (albiet smaller).

The Bad
Let's be honest, it was mainly the graphics and music which made the 16-bit versions of Golden Axe playable. Without those, the raggedness of the gameplay is clear for all to see. Added to that is the problem that only one enemy is on the screen at a time, and that there's only one type of enemy and one type of boss in each level (though as they all behave in identical fashion, I don't suppose it makes any difference). What you have to do, as one of the three heroes, is wait for a baddie to come on the screen, walk up to him and press the 'attack' button until he falls over. Repeat this until he dies. Then another identical baddie will appear. Then another. After you've dealt with several of these villains, an arrow will instruct you to move a bit further along the level until another bad dude appears. Then you must repeat the procedure of killing the naughty folk who come onto the screen, one by one. I think the challenge must be to see if you can reach the end before you die of boredom. Quite often, as you're slashing away with your sword or axe, the baddie you're fighting will suddenly start hitting you back. Your character will then fall over and lose some energy. There isn't really anything you can do to stop this happening. You just have to hack away and hope for the best. The original batch of C64 Golden Axe tapes apparently had the last two levels missing. Frankly I wouldn't have noticed. Backgrounds apart, they're all identical.

The Bottom Line
As with the arcade version, the evil Death Adder has filled the land with his villainous minions. So it's up to you, as one of three heroic figures, to make your way through several levels of hack-em-up medieval horizontally-scrolling fighting action. The characters all have some personal grudge against Death Adder. He pulled the arm off Ax Battler's teddy as a child, hid a spider in Tyris's pencil case and blew a raspberry at Gillius Thunderhead. Or something like that. Anyway, during the level you will sometimes come across little figures with bags containing either food or magic. The food replaces lost energy, whilst the magic can be used to destroy or injure enemies. The more magic pots you have, the more powerful your magic. In Tyris's case, possession off a full magic bar will allow you to summon a dragon to incinerate foes. Enemies include knights, club-wielding brutes and even skeletons.

Commodore 64 · by Gary Smith (57) · 2004

This game will always have a special place in my heart.

The Good
Although the PC version doesn't hold a candle to the arcade version it's still the most successful converstion ever made. The graphics are very detailed and well-drawn, the gameplay is (albeit easy) very addictive and the music is very well done (for the time).

The Bad
Well, the Duel is simply too hard (I never completed it). The game itself, however, is rather too easy.

The Bottom Line
A true classic which you will not regret playing.

DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 1999

Passe Classic--Skip it

The Good
It was a really good game when it came out. I had fun playing it.

The Bad
Nothing I can remember.

The Bottom Line
One of the first good games of its genre, but below average compared to today's standards. I would play the more recent titles from AD&D before going to this one. But if you do it in "reverse chronological order," I think you would also agree to just take a pass at Golden Axe. Put simply, Golden Axe couldn't hold a candle to games in the same genre today.

DOS · by Yeah Right (50) · 2000

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by chirinea, Patrick Bregger, S Olafsson, GTramp, Kohler 86, SlyDante, Jo ST, RhYnoECfnW, Alsy, Hello X), Big John WV, Stelios Kanitsakis, Martin Smith, Wizo, Riemann80, Crawly, FatherJack, Tim Janssen, Terok Nor, McTom, Yearman, lights out party, Kayburt, jaXen, Spenot, Alaka, 666gonzo666, Игги Друге, RetroArchives.fr, Gianluca Santilio, Dario Lanzetti, yenruoj_tsegnol_eht (!!ihsoy), Jeanne, Mr Creosote, Ritchardo, Tomas Pettersson, Kabushi, firefang9212, CalaisianMindthief, LordAndrew.