Golden Axe (video Game)
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is a 1989
beat 'em up A beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in Side-scrolling video game, scrolling, 2D c ...
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developed and published by
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for arcades, running on the Sega System 16B arcade hardware. Makoto Uchida was the lead designer of the game, and was also responsible for the creation of the previous year's ''
Altered Beast ''Altered Beast'' is a 1988 beat 'em up video game developed and published by Sega for arcades. The game is set in Ancient Greece and follows a player character chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the under ...
''. The game casts players as one of three warriors that must free the fantastical land of Yuria from the tyrannical rule of Death Adder, who wields the titular Golden Axe. The game was well received at the time of release. ''Golden Axe'' was later converted for play on many different home systems, including Sega's own Mega Drive/Genesis and
Master System The is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series ...
. The game's success spawned an entire franchise consisting of several sequels and various spin-offs.


Plot

The game takes place in the fictional land of Yuria, a ''
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...
''-style
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medieval world. An evil entity known as Death Adder has captured the King of Yuria and his daughter, and holds them captive in their castle. He also finds the Golden Axe, the magical
emblem An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...
of Yuria, and threatens to destroy both the axe and the royal family unless the people of Yuria accept him as their ruler. Three warriors set out on a quest to rescue the King and avenge their losses at the hands of Death Adder. The first is a
battle axe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were designed differently to utility axes, with blades more akin to cleavers than to wood axes. Many were suitable for use in one ha ...
-wielding
dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...
, Gilius Thunderhead, from the mines of Wolud, whose twin brother was killed by the soldiers of Death Adder. The second is a broadsword-wielding
barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...
, Ax Battler, looking for revenge for the murder of his mother. The last is a
longsword A longsword (also spelled as long sword or long-sword) is a type of European sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for primarily two-handed use (around ), a straight double-edged blade of around , and weighing approximatel ...
-wielding Amazonian, Tyris Flare, whose parents were both murdered by Death Adder. The warriors rescue the inhabitants of the ransacked Turtle Village, which turns out to be situated on the shell of a giant turtle. The turtle takes the characters across the sea, and they then fly to the castle itself on the back of a giant eagle. Once at the castle, they defeat Death Adder, who is wielding the Golden Axe, and save the land. In the Mega Drive/Genesis and PC versions, and in other ports, the characters also battle Death Adder's mentor, Death Bringer, as the true final boss. After the final battle, the warriors receive a magical golden axe that imbues the player with immortality. The arcade release of the game concludes with a
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-breaking end sequence depicting three children playing a ''Golden Axe'' arcade system in a closed arcade casino. The arcade game shorts-out and causes an electrical fire, which magically makes all the characters from within the game enter the "real world", and begin chasing the kids out of the building, while the three warriors that were the last to exit the arcade, run in hot pursuit to rescue them.


Gameplay

Progress in the game is made by fighting through Death Adder's henchmen, including men armed with
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and maces, skeleton warriors, and knights. Players are able to attack using their weapon, jump and cast spells that hurt all enemies on the screen. The force of this magic depends on the number of "bars" of magic power currently available. The bars are filled by collecting blue "magic potions" attained by kicking little sprites who then drop the potions. These sprites appear during regular levels and
bonus stage A bonus stage (also known as a bonus level, bonus round, or special stage) is a special video game Level (video games), level that awards the player a rapid windfall of benefits such as points, items, or money. The first bonus stage in video game ...
s in between levels. The dwarf Gilius is able to cast lightning spells. The barbarian Ax casts earth spells and the female warrior Tyris casts fire magic. Each character has a different maximum number of magic bars and varying ranges of attack. Various steeds known as bizarrians are found in the game. These can be ridden when the enemy rider is knocked off, or if one is found dormant. The least powerful steed is known as the
Cockatrice A cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon, wyvern, or snake, serpent-like creature with a rooster's head. Described by Laurence Breiner as "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans", it was featured promine ...
(which also appeared in ''
Altered Beast ''Altered Beast'' is a 1988 beat 'em up video game developed and published by Sega for arcades. The game is set in Ancient Greece and follows a player character chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the under ...
''), that can be used to knock down enemies with a swipe of its tail. The more powerful dragon, which can either shoot fireballs or breathe fire depending on its colour scheme, is found later in the game. In certain areas, skeleton swordsmen emerge from the ground, like in the film '' Jason and the Argonauts''. In addition to the main quest, some home versions of the game included "duel mode", a survival mode type game that pitted players against increasingly powerful foes in consecutive rounds of play. This mode also featured a two-player one-on-one option.


Development

Lead designer and producer Makoto Uchida was fond of action movies, particularly the '' Conan'' films, and wanted to create a game influenced by them. He said that the development team for the game was small and development of the game took about a year. Uchida's "idea was to come up with a ''
Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series originally developed and published by Technōs Japan. It began with the release of the arcade game '' Double Dragon'' in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight again ...
'' that was not a ''Double Dragon''… Technos was an experienced rival who had been working on the '' Kunio-Kun'' series, so there was no way we could compete if we did the same thing as them. I had a feeling that arcade games should be competitive against the great hit
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title ''
Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...
'' (created by
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) and therefore studied the world of magic and swords, combined this with the gameplay of ''Double Dragon'', and finally came up with the concept of ''Golden Axe''." Uchida also cited the original ''
Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
'' (1987) as an influence, particularly how players could combine button moves and stick presses to perform individual attacks.


Ports

The Mega Drive/Genesis version remained largely faithful to the arcade game, adding a level and a duel mode, along with a new ending. The
IBM PC compatible An IBM PC compatible is any personal computer that is hardware- and software-compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and its subsequent models. Like the original IBM PC, an IBM PC–compatible computer uses an x86-based central p ...
port released in 1990 is similar to the Mega Drive/Genesis version, but includes a 256-colour
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mode as well as support for EGA, CGA, and
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
modes.
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and
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...
ports released in late 1990 by Virgin Software are similar to the arcade. The Amiga port is similar to the arcade game, with some palette changes and without parallax scrolling. Variations of the original game have also been released. The
Master System The is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series ...
version of the game retells the original story from the perspective of Tarik, a barbarian with resemblances to Ax Battler (much like all the other barbarians in the entire series: Kain Grinder, Stern Blade and Kain Blade). While the game is only one-player, it features all of the levels and magic powers of the arcade version. In Japan, ''Golden Axe'' was released by Telenet for the PC Engine CD-ROM in 1990 with high-quality resampled music and
cut scene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
s.


Reception


Commercial

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Golden Axe'' on their 1 July 1989 issue as being the second most successful
table arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
of the month. It went on to be the 18th highest-grossing arcade game of 1989 in Japan.alternate url
/ref> In the United States, it was the highest-grossing arcade game of January 1990. The ZX Spectrum version went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind ''
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''. The
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
digital version of ''Golden Axe'' sold 167,935 units on the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
console, .


Accolades

Upon release of the home conversions, the game received the "''C+VG'' Hit!" award from ''
Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...
'', the "Star Buy" award from '' The One for Amiga Games'', the "''Zero'' Console Classic" award from ''
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'' magazine, and a Gold Medal from ''
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'' magazine. In 1991, ''
PC Format ''PC Format'' was a computer magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and licensed to other publishers in countries around the world. In publication between 1991 and 2015, it was part of Future plc's ''Format'' series of magazines ...
'' named ''Golden Axe'' one of the 50 best computer games ever, describing it as "deliciously animated hacking, slashing and generally whaling". In 1993, the
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...
version of the game was voted number 60 in the ''
Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', originally ''Your Spectrum'' or ''YS'', is a discontinued British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was commercially published between 1984 and 1993. History The magazine was la ...
Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time''. In 1995,
Flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications in physics. For transport phe ...
magazine rated the Mega Drive version 70th in their "Top 100 Video Games." In 1996,
GamesMaster ''GamesMaster'' was a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games. Dominik Di ...
ranked the Mega Drive version 100th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time."


Retrospective

Reviewing the game's appearance in ''Sega Arcade Classics'' for the Sega CD in 1993,
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commented that the game had become outdated in the years since its original release. Retrospectively,
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
gave the Sega Genesis version an aggregate rating of 69% based on six reviews published online in the 2000s.
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
gave the Xbox 360 version an aggregate rating of 68 out of 100. ''
TouchArcade ''TouchArcade'' (stylized as toucharcade) is a mobile games journalism website. It was launched in 2008 as a sister site of ''MacRumors'' by its founder Arnold Kim and Blake Patterson. ''TouchArcade'' also hosts a forum and a weekly podcast. ...
'' rated the
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version 3.5 out of 5 stars.


Releases

The Mega Drive/Genesis version was later released in other compilations–''
Sega Smash Pack ''Sega Smash Pack'' (''Sega Archives from USA'' in Japan) is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Sega. It features mostly Sega Genesis games. Pack 1 (Windows) The first pack titled ''Sega Smash Pack'' (''Sega Archiv ...
'', ''
Sega Genesis Collection ''Sega Genesis Collection '' (''Sega Mega Drive Collection'' in PAL regions) is a compilation of video games developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Sega for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The collection includes twenty-eight Sega ...
'' (''Sega Mega Drive Collection''), ''
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'' (''Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection'')–and on the
Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...
. A one-player only
Sega CD The Sega CD, known as in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory and format for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. Originally released in November 1991, it ca ...
version released as part of the '' Sega Classics Arcade Collection'', with
CD audio Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the '' Red Book'' technical specifications, which is why t ...
background music and voice-overs from the arcade version. The arcade version is also on the Virtual Console and
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
. A port of the game was released on PlayStation Network on 12 July 2011 and has been available free for PlayStation Plus users. The game was released as part of the
handheld TV game A handheld TV game or plug and play game is an integrated home video game console and game controller, usually battery powered, which connects directly to a television. The game software is built directly into the unit, which is typically desig ...
''Arcade Legends Sega Genesis Volume 1''. An
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with 3D graphics and orchestral music was released for
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as part of the ''
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'' line. In August 2017, the Mega Drive/Genesis version was released for
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
and Android. It is now part of the
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service. On 25 October 2021, The Mega Drive/Genesis version was released via the
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service.


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1989 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Aspect Co. games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Cooperative video games DOS games Fantasy video games IOS games Master System games PlayStation Network games Sega arcade games Sega beat 'em ups Sega Genesis games Side-scrolling beat 'em ups TurboGrafx-CD games Hack and slash games Tiger Electronics handheld games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in castles Virtual Console games WonderSwan Color games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games ZX Spectrum games Video games scored by David Whittaker Video games scored by Jeroen Tel Virgin Interactive games Golden Axe Nintendo Classics games Multiplayer and single-player video games