Golden Axe

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.