Golden Axe
This is, quite obviously, the first in the series, and arguably paved way for the Streets of Rage series.
The game's story is set in medieval times. Death Adder, an evil warlord, has taken over the world and is terrorising everyone
with his brutal army, and has kidnapped the King and his daughter. The fate of the world depends on a group of three hero's
who fight for peace and prosperity. Here you can see the similarity to Streets of Rage in that three hero's are saving the
world.
The games controls revolve around the usual side scrolling beat 'em up controls; simply walk (or run) through
each level, fighting many an evil baddie along the way, and then at the end of the level inevitably facing the boss. The graphics
look basic by today's standards, but thats what you get with a first generation Megadrive game. The music is also very memorable,
and I love the soundtrack.
An absolute classic, and I urge all Megadrive owners to snap a copy up now, as you can find it dirt cheap
nowadays.
Golden Axe 2
The second in the series does not improve upon the original, but it is certainly on par with it regarding
quality. The story is basically the same again; an evil warlord has been resurrected and his tightening his iron grip on the
whole world.
The control is exactly the same, albeit the game is slightly more difficult. The graphics are marginally
improved, but you wouldn't notice any significant improvement in the visuals department. The music, however, is better here
than the original, which is very pleasing.
Another stone cast classic, adored by Megadrive fans everywhere. As before, if you own a Megadrive, get
this, as it is very cheap.
Golden Axe 3
This will be the first time I have to give negative comments on any game here and my very website. To start
off with, I don't know much of the story due to the simple fact that I played a Japanese version. I assume the story will
revolve around the evil warlord etc. business.
I am immeasurably sorry to any Golden Axe fans, and am sorry to be so critical.
My first criticism that springs to mind is the fact that they have overhauled the characters completely,
and the majority seem to be animals, which begs the question. Why? Why did Sega decide to absolutely destroy one of their
finest franchises? Anyway, the sound isn't memorable at all, and the graphics are poor (for Megadrive standards) for the era
they came out, circa 1993 or 1994.
Overall the worst in the series, and a very poor representative of the side scrolling beat 'em up genre.
Golden Axe: The Dual
To begin with, this game never appeared on the Megadrive, it reared it's head on Sega's ill-fated Saturn.
OK, this is a bizarre one indeed. After the appaling Golden Axe 3 (see above) Sega dusted off their age
old franchise and completely re-modelled it. Rather than have it as a side-scrolling beat 'em up, they opted for a 'normal'
beat 'em up, in the same vein as Street Fighter. This was due to side scrollers becoming increasingly un-cool.
However. Despite this new approach, the game was more or less an average affair, consisting of many medievel
style characters. The game was comical to say the least, with it's hilarious sounds effects and ridiculous slow motion KO's.
Although it was, in perspective, average, it was an enjoyable experiance as the controls weren't too bad, but it was the low
quality graphics and lack of moves that made sure this game sank without a trace.
To this day no more Golden Axe games have been created, so the series went out not with a bang, but with
a mere whimper. It is sad, as this series had promise, and in my humble opinion, Sega should once again re-introduce the series
to the new generation of gamers, and I'm sure it would become popular once again.
