Golden Axe download

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A decent port

Golden Axe is one of the best beat'em up games for the DOS system. The graphics are fantastic for it's time, top notch sound effects. However there are mixed opinions about the controls. Some people hate it and others don't complain at all, but we'll get to that later.First, the story: an evil warrior, know as Death Adder, hsa taken over the kingdom and it's your job to take him down and free the people. The story is not very original, however the level design is indeed. There are a lot of creative levels like Turtle Village, which is a village situate on the shell of a giand turtle. There are other similar levels, but I won't spoil it for you.The gampeplay of Golden Axe is similar to other beat'em up games, such as The Simpson, but with a few diferences. At the beggining of the game, you have a choice of three characters: a dwarf, a barbarian and an amazon. Each play differently, due to ther special abbilities. Progress in the game is made by defeating Death Adder's minions. There are some gnomes in each level, who will drop potionsm when hit, used for charging up your special abillity. The more you collect the better. You can even ride some creatures in the game, like a dragon, which help a lot to defeat the enemies on screen. There are two game modes in the DOS version: an Arcadre mode, which is the standard game, and Duel Mode, which is bassicaly a survival mode. With that said, I can say what's wrong with the controls. Well, if you are like me, trying to play the game on a laptop without a keypad, your only option of playing is either a gamepad or the mouse, which is the worst type of control I have ever seen in a beat'em up game. Sega had put a choice of controls in the option menu, however without the possibility to chnge the input. Fortunately, this is a minor complaint.All in all, Golden Axe should be in everyone game collection, either on the Sega consoles or on PC and if you have a laptop with no keypad and want to play this game, you will have either buy one or play it on a normal computer, or if you prefer buying a gamepad.
(1 liked this review, 0 don't) written by Schumi | reply

General information

Screenshots

  • Golden Axe
  • Golden Axe: courtesy of Classic Gaming Network
  • Golden Axe: courtesy of My Abandonware
  • Golden Axe: courtesy of Home of the Underdogs revival
  • Golden Axe: courtesy of 486 Games
  • Golden Axe: courtesy of Dos Gamer

What H.O.T.U. used to say about it:

Decent conversion of SEGA's smash hit arcade beat'em up Golden Axe... decent for PC standards of that time, that is. At least the VGA graphics are faithful although gameplay is far inferior to the original.... "Inferior" is a relative sense, though-- if you have never played the arcade original (or SEGA Genesis version), you won't be disappointed with Golden Axe's addictive arcade fun despite a few cases of "sticky controls" problem. In Golden Axe you can choose to play as one of three characters, with each having their own characteristics. Gillius Thunderhead has great attack power but little magic, Axe Battler the Barbarian has average attack and magic skill, and Tyrus Flare has great magical power but weaker weapon attacks. Each character has standard attack moves where successive hits on an opponent generate a "combo" of several different attacks. Your characters also have a rear attack, a charging attack, a throw attack, and a jumping attack. Each character has a magic meter of various length which can be powered up by collecting "Magic Pots" dropped by elves that you smack with your sword at various points in the game. At various points in the game you encounter enemies riding on "Bizarrians" such as Dragons. You can knock the enemy from the beast and ride it yourself, which gives you access to the beast's attacks until you are yourself knocked from its back by an enemy. Overall, Golden Axe is fun in a 'classic' old-school sort of way. The setting, enemy and character design, music, pace, and gameplay are all very good and help to elevate it above its 'standard' gameplay and a banal fantasy plot. If you have played other versions of the game, you might be a little disappointed, though. Two thumbs up!
written by Home of the Underdogs