Old-School Challenge Pt. 4 ~Golden Axe (Genesis)~

Hey folks, Krismas here continuing my exciting and perilous journey through the magical land of classic masterpieces and screw-ups that the newer folk are just too frail to try. Today you are in for a treat as I’m dishin’ out a special two-part article for you guys with the second installment coming very soon.
While I am still walking through the Sega realm I thought it fitting to play through these next two titles. Of course, in the spirit of brotherhood and good friendliness, Phire has been accompanying me in my fight for peace and revenge against the mighty Death Adder in our playthrough of both Golden Axe I & II. Let’s get started, shall we?
Originally released in 1989 as an arcade side scrolling beat-em-up game, Golden Axe saw enough success to get it ported to home consoles, with the most recognized being the Genesis and the Master System. In this game you are placed in the fantastic world of Yuria where the evil Death Adder has kidnapped the king and his daughter, as well as the symbol of Yuria the Golden Axe, and threatens to destroy both unless he is accepted as supreme ruler of all. Nice guy, isn’t he? I mean he has to be nice because should everyone refuse, all they’d be missing were a royal family and an emblem. I’d say that’s a way better deal than the whole total annihilation routine so popular with the baddies in those days. To combat this evil scheme you take on the role as one of three warriors, each having lost someone they loved dearly at the hands of Death Adder.
Being an earlier game, GA didn’t utilize a complex control scheme nor did you have oodles of techniques at your disposal, but that was totally fine and dandy. The three buttons you had access to were quite enough with access to a magic button, an attack button, and a jump button. Other actions included the incredibly useful dash and dash attack, back attacks, and a running jump that allowed you to jump about twice as high as normal. You were able to freely walk along the different planes very much like Streets of Rage.

To better demonstrate the way the game plays Phire and I bring you this little tidbit from our playthrough.

This game can really catch ya by surprise in the difficulty department. The enemies all have the capability to do some stupid things but the standard AI doesn’t take advantage of it very often unless you are at a boss. One of the most painful things is that once you get hit and are in the animation for taking damage you have to wait incredibly long before you are able to move again. What that means is that if you take a little knick from random enemy #23423 with the low damage potential, that minotaur-human hybrid with the giant damaging mace can totally get a free whack at you as all you can do is sit there and cry for half a minute as he closes that distance. This free damage that you are taking becomes a big problem over time because you only get one chance to heal at the end of the stage and it’s never a guaranteed full recovery. The enemies in the game aren’t too troublesome for the most part. The bosses are really the only ones able to take you down, and as long as you are smart and careful, they can be fought with minimal bloodshed on your end. They all seem to have a lot more reach than you and can swat you out of the sky faster than an activated trap card. Oh but there is one particular group of enemies that will proceed to make your journey an aggravating one, and that group is the skeletons. The game is pretty consistent with the strength of the enemies in proportion to how far you are in the game. This seems to fly right out the window as soon as you encounter a skeleton however. Even in the lowest strength version of the enemy, he can still combo you for a large portion of your health. As long as you don’t get hit that’s fine right? Well that’s where the fact that they never roll alone comes in. Last but not least the damned things refuse to die. Hack and slash them all you want skeletons will get up again and again with no sign of weakening. Fighting a group of skeletons is like running a marathon, except that marathon can fight you, has more reach than you, and likes to bullshit you out of a third of your life.

Despite all the previously mentioned difficulties, the rest of the game seems like a basket of chocolate flavored rainbows compared to the final boss stage. It’s not a widely known fact, but the console port of Golden Axe features two whole extra stages one of which is the final stage where you fight the mentor and boss of Death Adder. The final stage is strewn with tough enemies who know not the meaning of death. Previous bosses make appearances as normal enemies, and yes your best friends the skeletons are back in full force. Assuming you made it through all of that the final boss awaits you. Guess what? He comes equipped with more skeletons. As you fight him he randomly has the ability to use the same magic that the three playable characters can use against you for absolutely free an unavoidable damage. What he likes to do is activate his magic right after he hits you with his very own character-tracking power waves, which will camp over your body if you are knocked down for more free damage. Remember how bosses all have extra range? Well this guy is no exception and one swing from his axe means one life bar down the drain and a possible combo. It is impossible to avoid damage in this fight so extra lives are a necessity. Heck I don’t even feel safe with a continue in the bank. Be prepared for lots of hickory smoked horseshit.
I love this game. I really do. I don’t care much for the visual department of many games and the fact that this title doesn’t have the greatest graphics for the time doesn’t faze me in the slightest. For its time it was a damn pretty thing to look at. The soundtrack for this game is both very fitting and very enjoyable and I love every second of it. This game is a must play, and for you new-age pansies out there it even comes equipped with an easy mode.
Stay tuned very soon for my adventure with Golden Axe II, accompanied by my trusty friend Phire. Until next time folks! This is Krismas temporarily laying down his sword and shield.