Golden Axe
Description official descriptions
Golden Axe is an arcade beat-'em-up game that puts players in the shoes of one of three heroes, each with their own reason for trying to overthrow the evil rule of Death-Adder, who - along with his forces of darkness - kidnapped and imprisoned the King and his daughter and stole the legendary Golden Axe.
This is a horizontal fighting game, where you basically take one of the three characters (the barbarian Ax Battler, a dwarf named Gilius Thunderhead or the amazon Tyris Flare) and bash everything which stands between you and Death Adder himself. Each character has a special magical ability that can be charged by kicking small blue creatures that drop a potion. There is also a green variety of this creature that drops food that replenishes your health. Some enemies ride dragons and a scorpion-like creature. The enemies can be knocked off and you can mount the creature yourself and attack the enemies with it.
The game allows to play up to two players on the same screen, however in the C64 version this option has not been implemented. C64 version was also stripped off in the other areas, such as: only one enemy can engage the player at a time or there are only two types of dragons instead of three.
Spellings
- 战斧 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
- 戦斧 - Japanese spelling
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Credits (Arcade version)
4 People
| Designed by |
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| Music Composer (uncredited) | |
| "Wilderness" (first stage music (uncredited)) |
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 76% (based on 69 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 325 ratings with 13 reviews)
The Good
It was a really good game when it came out. I had fun playing it.
The Bad
Nothing I can remember.
The Bottom Line
One of the first good games of its genre, but below average compared to today's standards. I would play the more recent titles from AD&D before going to this one. But if you do it in "reverse chronological order," I think you would also agree to just take a pass at Golden Axe. Put simply, Golden Axe couldn't hold a candle to games in the same genre today.
DOS · by Yeah Right (50) · 2000
The Good
We all remember when Golden Axe came to the PC world. In those old DOS days, a lot of game lovers where happy to find this arcade game and playing in their home. The convertion was excellent, and we loved to play it. And, when I discovered that it had mouse support, it was better. Some movements, especially long jumps, became easier. I always liked to play with the old dwarf, it was my favorite character of the game.
The Bad
In those days, there was nothing to criticize against Golden Axe. Nowadays we can complain about the graphics, the gameplay, and a lot of thing, but there were a little ahead of a standard in that time.
The Bottom Line
An impressive arcade, that older PC gamers can't easily forget.
DOS · by Emepol (212) · 2015
The Good
It can be said that they don't make games like they used to. It's true! Not since Golden Axe was released onto home consoles have people started having no social life! Myself included. I love the levels, the characters, the music.... Even the enemy AI is decent! The difficulty level is not unbearable. The overall aura surrounding this game is superb. The control rocks, too.---- *1/2 ----
*The Bad
The only thing that rang in my head was some of those annoying multi-death jumps you take (there's only like one or two). The inability to change characters between continues is kind of annoying. Otherwise I was sold when I first played it.
The Bottom Line
Supreme side-scrolling action that will last for ages. Great play mechanics, characters, level variation. Fun with a friend or alone. A game for the history books.
Genesis · by aaron pridemore (10) · 2003
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Canada? | Edwin Drost (7872) | Mar 31st, 2017 |
Trivia
German index
On May 30, 1992, Golden Axe was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.
Since August 31, 2005, the game is no longer on the index.
References
The Chicken Stinger is a creature you fight in the second stage of Altered Beast. This creature later showed up in Golden Axe as one of the Bizarrians that you can steal from the enemies in the game (it's now called a Chicken-Leg). The Chicken-Leg also showed up later in the arcade game Golden Axe: The Revenge Of Death Adder.
Sound
The death screams of the bad guys are digitized from screams used in the films First Blood (several) and one from Conan The Barbarian. Fans of the game who watch the movies will be able to pick these out easily.
Awards
- Amiga Power
- May 1991 (issue #00) - #96 in the "All Time Top 100 Amiga Games"
- EMAP Image's Golden Joystick 1991
- April 1991: Best coin-op conversion - 16 Bit
- FLUX
- Issue #4 - #70 in the "Top 100 Video Games of All-Time" list
Information also contributed by Big John WV, mark abrams, Tiago Jacques and Xoleras
Analytics
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Related Sites +
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Golden Axe — StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki
An illustrated guide to the game, complete with detailed platform comparisons. -
X360A achievement guide
X360A's achievement guide for Golden Axe. -
everything2 node: Golden Axe
A humorous take on the first game, the entire series, the conversions, the characters, villains and gameplay.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Tomer Gabel.
Wii added by Corn Popper. Android added by GTramp. Atari ST, SEGA Master System added by PCGamer77. PlayStation 3 added by Lain Crowley. Arcade added by 666gonzo666. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. TurboGrafx CD added by chirinea. iPhone, iPad added by Sciere. Macintosh, Linux, Windows added by Foxhack. WonderSwan Color added by Kabushi. ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Genesis added by Satoshi Kunsai. Xbox 360 added by Ben K. Xbox One added by MAT. Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Commodore 64 added by Katakis | カタキス.
Additional contributors: Roedie, Unicorn Lynx, Alaka, Pseudo_Intellectual, masterthiefster, Hong Sik Jeon, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, GTramp, Jo ST.
Game added August 10th, 1999. Last modified January 23rd, 2024.