 SEGA DRUNK That's some of the most recognizable music and gaming right there. It kicks off one of SEGA's most well-known franchises in Golden Axe, and the first game in particular represents one of gaming's biggest gaps between playing it back when it was released and playing it now. It started off as an arcade game back in 1989 and was ported to the Genesis shortly after. Now remember, this was at a time when the Genesis was in direct competition with the NES. We were still a couple of years away from the Super Nintendo, and Golden Axe was a huge feather in the cap for SEGA because it was easily one of the best arcade-to-home console transitions the gaming industry had seen. Sure there were some limitations here and there, like a few missing voice samples, but the visuals and music were very similar. It was two-player co-op, and most importantly, the feel of the controls was spot on, the moves, the bosses, the cool looking creatures you could ride. It was all here, and it was a significant step ahead of the kind of arcade port the NES could pull off. Hell, they even added an extra level and an extra boss fight after the final boss. Okay, that's all well and good for 1989, but what if you wanted to play Golden Axe on Genesis today? Well, that's where your mileage is going to vary significantly, because Golden Axe is a really simple beat-em-up. Three characters, three varying attributes, and strength, speed, and magic. There's a red Sonia rip-off who's the quickest with the strongest magic, a dwarf who's physically the strongest of the three, and a Conan the Barbarian type who's the most balanced. And you slowly move to the right as you kick the crap out of each enemy that comes your way on the way to fight the Evil Death Adder. There's also a one-on-one fighting mode here as well, but it's the same as Double Dragon. It's the same moves as the regular game, making it kind of useless. Most infamous about the presentation here is when you defeat an enemy, their screams are so intense that they disrupt the soundtrack to communicate their agony. Another thing that sets Golden Axe apart is the ability to ride monsters, and it's not just you, either. Enemies can kick your sorry ass off of whatever these things are and get back on themselves. I've always liked that touch. Other than that though, the combat is as basic as it gets, sure you can vary your attack combos by throwing an enemy or just choosing to beat their heads in with the blunt end of your sword, that's pretty satisfying. You can also double tap forward to run into a charging attack and this weird rolling attack that I can never seem to hit anyone with. Normally the running attack in particular would be a nice addition to a beat em up because it speeds the game up, but here you're locked into an automatically scrolling landscape, that's a major bummer. Even with the second player, this game can really drag. It's slowly paced and the gameplay just doesn't have enough variety to make things a little more interesting. The magic system is something different I guess, you have to collect these little blue jars to get a stronger attack and you gotta pick your spots if you want to use it in small bursts or save up for a boss fight. Plus beating the crap out of these little guys with this creepy music never gets old. The thing is though, Golden Axe is very static, just seven levels plus that extra boss fight I mentioned earlier, three lives per continue with three continues, no password, no battery save, and what you see is what you get. I will say the fantasy motif here, but with both the visuals and the music is really well done, I still love how this game looks and sounds. Also both the arcade version and the Genesis version have great endings, but Golden Axe is a simple slow game. It was great for its time because it was such a good arcade port, but playing it today, your mileage varies big time. There's a gazillion ports of this one out there that you can choose from and this one even got a remake that I'm not even sure I should mention since it plays like a completely different game. But speaking just for the original arcade and the Sega Genesis version, it hasn't aged that well because it's too slow and too limited. The visuals and music are great, but this one's kind of tough to play these days, especially compared to better options like the Streets of Rage series or sticking with the fantasy theme, King of Dragons or Knights of the Round on Super Nintendo. Interestingly, the next Golden Axe game wasn't released for arcades or even for Sega Genesis, it was for the Sega Master System, Golden Axe Warrior, is a spin-off instead of a sequel and it's surprisingly more of a Zelda clone. Of course there's crystals you have to recover, the story is the usual ho-hum adventure stuff, but the overworld features 200 unique screens and there's nine different dungeons to get through, so there's a lot to this game. There's all sorts of different characters you can meet, items, weapons and armor to buy, and special weapons that grant you new abilities. This game is surprisingly really good and yeah, while it may be a blatant Zelda clone, that's not a bad thing because it's a really good Zelda clone. Golden Axe Warrior is pretty expensive and hard to find, so if you want to play this one now, you can play it as part of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis collection for the PS3 and 360 as one of the unlockable extra games. Back to the main series, Golden Axe 2 skipped the arcade altogether and went straight to Sega Genesis and it's more Golden Axe. They did change up the special moves, the visuals are even more impressive and the magic system allows you to control how powerful you want a spell to be depending on how long you hold the button down, but other than that it's the same three characters, a lot of the same enemies, although you do get to beat up these sorcerers now and yeah, it's just like I said, more Golden Axe. The controls are the same, the feel is the same, the dual mode is still there, it's still two player co-op and it's six stages, three lives and three continues, no battery saver passwords. I will say I think the controls are a bit smoother in Golden Axe 2, but other than that, I'm really out of losses what to say about this one. It's the same stuff, just a little bit different visuals and of course a different soundtrack, which is great. So if you like Golden Axe, then you'll like Golden Axe 2. It's not a bad game, but I still prefer the first game and I will say to its credit, this is one of the all time great boss themes ever. Later that year came yet another spin off, Axe Battler, a legend of Golden Axe for Sega Game Gear and this is a pretty interesting one because it's another adventure style game where you wander into random battles and the game transitions into a side scrolling beat them up so it's a lot like Zelda 2. There's nine areas you need to clear as you fight your way up to Death Adder's Castle and there is a password system here so you don't have to beat the game in one go round. One touch I like here is the inclusion of training dojos in each town where you can learn new attacks. This one isn't nearly as deep and interesting as the other spin off Golden Axe Warrior but if you're into Game Gear games, Axe Battler is okay. Just, you know, keep your expectations in check. It's a friggin' Game Gear game so it's kinda limited and outdated. Another Golden Axe game was released in arcades but strangely nowhere else. It's Golden Axe the Revenge of Death Adder came a year after Golden Axe 2 and this is more like it. There's new characters with larger sprites. It's four player compatible, complete with special moves where you team up. There's better enemy design and smarter AI. There's fire breathing mantises. There's these smooth transitions to other viewpoints which are all really well done. There's branching paths. There's crazier settings like this dungeon or this weird glowing cave. There's scorpions you can ride that can electrocute enemies. This one really feels like an evolution of the series. It's faster, quicker paced and more intense all while keeping the feel of the original Golden Axe. So I like this one a lot more as a follow up than Golden Axe 2. It's a lot of fun and the best game in the series but unfortunately it was never ported anywhere so the only way to play it right now is in an arcade emulator. Still even then this one is well worth checking out. Golden Axe 3 was only released in Japan and was only made available in the US via the Sega channel. We've got all new characters again and the visuals are washed out looking. The controls have a much different feel and as a result Golden Axe 3 loses what made the series unique. Instead of a Golden Axe game it plays just like another beat em up. It's still got some good qualities. For instance the music is still great. There are branching paths which make the game interesting. There's all new special moves and a grappling system and it's still two player co-op. But the fantasy motif that's so strong in the earlier games in the series comes across so plain and flat here. It can't be overstated how blah this game looks especially when the earlier games look so great. I can only imagine playing Revenge of Death Adder in arcades and then waiting for a home console release only to be met with this. Golden Axe 3 definitely isn't bad. It's just not really a Golden Axe game and looks or by feel. So keep your expectations in check with this one. Regardless it's still a decent beat em up with some good qualities. Finally we have Golden Axe the Dual a one on one fighting game released in arcades and then ported to Sega Saturn. There's nine different characters to choose from but once again it's all new characters that are descendants of characters from previous games. Geez what is with this series? All anyone wanted was just to see the original 3 again but with a visual upgrade. You do play as Death Adder at least so that's pretty cool. Anyway this is pretty standard as far as mid 90s arcade fighting games go. There's the smaller quicker character, there's a block of looking guy, there's wizards and it's a weapon based fighter so it probably compares closest to something like Samurai Showdown. One twist I like is that just like in the older Golden Axe games these little gnome guys show up and drop magic jars in the middle of battle. You collect them, max out your magic meter and go into a super mode. Golden Axe the Dual is pretty good. It definitely looks and sounds great but it doesn't touch the other fighting games of the time like the Street Fighter games, the Tekken series or even X-Men Children of the Atom. Alright that's all for now. I should mention quickly that there is one other Golden Axe game released for PS3 and 360 called Golden Axe Beast Rider but I don't have any way of playing that and besides it got panned by critics and fans alike so it's probably a good idea to avoid that one. But I want to thank you for watching and I hope you have a good rest of your day.