Golden Axe II - MegaDrive.Me

Overview

Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead must have thought they’d earned themselves a well-deserved rest after sending Death Adder packing at the conclusion of the original Golden Axe, but there’s never any shortage of evil warlords hankering for power. The beastly Dark Guld has assembled an formidable army with the objective of capturing the titular Golden Axe and bringing the realm under his control. Once again, our brave trio must take up arms to defend the people and ensure that freedom is preserved.

Comment

The original Golden Axe was seen by gamers of the time as conclusive proof that the Mega Drive was an incredible piece of technology. An astonishingly close facsimile of the popular coin-op, it unsurprisingly won the hearts of Sega fans all over the globe with its addictive hack-and-slash action and two-player co-operative gameplay. Understandably, when the sequel was confirmed it was eagerly awaited, but unfortunately the end result wasn’t quite what everyone expected.

Unlike the arcade sequel – released in 1992 under the title Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder – Golden Axe II on the Mega Drive is little more than a retread of the first title. The play mechanics are almost identical, and with the exception of visual changes and new music, it almost feels as if you’re playing the original game.

The biggest change is the way in which magic is handled. In the first game, pressing the A button would unleash the full fury of your magic stockpile, no matter how many pots you had collected. In Golden Axe II, you have to hold the button down to determine the power of the eventual attack. It makes the use of magic a more tactical affair.

Once you’ve accepted the disappointment of discovering that Golden Axe II is barely distinguishable from its forerunner, you’ll discover that it’s actually a decent enough game. The music is especially good, with the opening level’s theme being one of the finest pieces of music on the Mega Drive. If you’ve played neither, we’d recommend you pick up the original over this, however.

Notes

Golden Axe II should not be confused with the arcade sequel, which is called Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder and is an entirely new game.

The game has been released (along with several other 16-bit classics) on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as part of the Sega Mega Drive Collection (known as the Sega Genesis Collection in North America). It is also available for download on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console and on iOS devices, such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.