Golden Axe
Description official descriptions
Golden Axe is an arcade beat-'em-up game that puts players in the shoes of one of three heroes, each with his own reason for trying to overthrow the evil rule of Death-Adder, who - along with his forces of darkness - kidnapped and imprisoned the King and his daughter and stole the legendary Golden Axe.
This is a horizontal fighting game, where you basically take one of the three characters (the barbarian Ax Battler, a dwarf named Gilius Thunderhead or the amazon Tyris Flare) and bash everything which stands between you and Death Adder himself. Each character has a special magical ability that can be charged by kicking small blue creatures that drop a potion. There is also a green variety off this creature that drops food that replenishes your health. Some enemies ride dragons and a scorpion like creature. The enemies can be knocked off and you can mount the creature yourself and attack the enemies with it.
The game allows to play up to two players on a same screen, however in the C64 version this option has not been implemented. C64 version was also stripped off in the other areas, such as: only one enemy can engage the player at a time or there are only two types of dragons instead of three.
Spellings
- 战斧 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
- 戦斧 - Japanese spelling
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Credits (Arcade version)
4 People
Designed by |
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Music Composer (uncredited) | |
"Wilderness" (first stage music (uncredited)) |
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 77% (based on 70 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 323 ratings with 13 reviews)
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 (8947) · 1999
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 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
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Canada? | Edwin Drost (7020) | Mar 31st, 2017 |
Trivia
German index
On May 30, 1992, Golden Axe was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.
Since August 31, 2005, the game is no longer on the index.
References
The Chicken Stinger is a creature you fight in the second stage of Altered Beast. This creature later showed up in Golden Axe as one of the Bizarrians that you can steal from the enemies in the game (it's now called a Chicken-Leg). The Chicken-Leg also showed up later in the arcade game Golden Axe: The Revenge Of Death Adder.
Sound
The death screams of the bad guys are digitized from screams used in the films First Blood (several) and one from Conan The Barbarian. Fans of the game who watch the movies will be able to pick these out easily.
Awards
- Amiga Power
- May 1991 (issue #00) - #96 in the "All Time Top 100 Amiga Games"
- EMAP Image's Golden Joystick 1991
- April 1991: Best coin-op conversion - 16 Bit
- FLUX
- Issue #4 - #70 in the "Top 100 Video Games of All-Time" list
Information also contributed by Big John WV, mark abrams, Tiago Jacques and Xoleras
Related Sites +
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Golden Axe — StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki
An illustrated guide to the game, complete with detailed platform comparisons. -
X360A achievement guide
X360A's achievement guide for Golden Axe. -
everything2 node: Golden Axe
A humorous take on the first game, the entire series, the conversions, the characters, villains and gameplay.
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 199
- Steam App: 34276
- Wikipedia (en)
Contribute
Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history!
Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Tomer Gabel.
Wii added by Corn Popper. Android added by GTramp. Atari ST, SEGA Master System added by PCGamer77. PlayStation 3 added by Lain Crowley. Arcade added by 666gonzo666. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. TurboGrafx CD added by chirinea. iPhone, iPad added by Sciere. Macintosh, Linux, Windows added by Foxhack. WonderSwan Color added by Kabushi. ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Genesis added by Satoshi Kunsai. Xbox 360 added by Ben K. Xbox One added by MAT. Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga added by Katakis | カタキス.
Additional contributors: Roedie, Unicorn Lynx, Alaka, Pseudo_Intellectual, masterthiefster, Hong Sik Jeon, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, GTramp, Jo ST.
Game added August 10th, 1999. Last modified August 17th, 2023.