![]() Some colors and animations were removed from the game, but in exchange, SEGA added two additional stages and a survival mode called Duel. When Golden Axe was ported to the Genesis, some changes were required but the overall essence of the game was maintained. It was the kind of thing that kept you putting coins in the slot, just to see what would happen next. The bizarrians don't last forever - it would totally throw off the game balance and keep quarters in your pocket - but their temporary appearance just enhanced the game's smart pacing. If you slash the enemy, they fall off the mount and you can temporarily take it over. Enemies stomp on-screen on the backs of monsters (called bizarrians) that attack with fire breath and tail swats. Golden Axe also introduced the concept of mounts, which is the central mechanic in the upcoming sequel Beast Rider. It was a cute scene, accompanied by good music and funny sound effects each time you smack one of the elves. The blue elf drops magic potions while the green elf drops health potions. Each time you pound an elf before the interlude, the elf drops a potion. Tiny elves sneak into the campsite and pilfer potions, but you have a chance to wake and fight back. Between stages, your heroes sleep in order to recover strength. The attack system itself was not deep, but the pacing of the game - and it's incredible locations and fantastic graphics - helped make up for it. Hitting the attack button at just the right time threw a shoulder that could knock an enemy backward, giving you an opening to hammer away with an attack combo. Double-tapping toward an enemy put your hero in a sprint. Giants with massive clubs stalked the scene. ![]() ![]() The majority of the game is just hacking and slashing through hundreds of enemies, both big and small. But the magic was actually just your sometimes-attack. It's hard to underestimate this, but the first time gamers saw one of Golden Axe's full-strength magic spell, jaws hit the arcade floor - the filthy, filthy arcade floor. At full strength, the magic spell fills the entire screen, violently shaking it, and eliminating every single enemy in sight. The fuller your meter, the more powerful your spell. Each hero's magic meter is a different length when full, which affects the power of their magic spell. While playing, you pick up blue potions that add a segment to your magic meter. Flare is fire, Ax Battler is earth, and Thunderhead is air. Each hero was aligned with a specific Greek element. You selected your hero based on a few factors, but none as important as that character's magic. Each player stepped up to the cabinet, dropped their quarters in the slot, and picked their hero. Golden Axe (Genesis) Despite the presence of three heroes, Golden Axe was a two-player game. These heroes power through wave after wave of Death Adder's troops, such as skeletons and dark knights, using not only their bladed weapons, but also some impressive screen-filling magic spells. Ax Battler (who strangely wields a broadsword) is flanked by the amazon Tyris Flare and the dwarf Gilius Thunderhead. A trio of heroes, lead by a muscle-bound hero named Ax Battler, must free their land of Yuria from the black grip of Death Adder. The game is somewhat inspired by Conan the Barbarian (which is indisputable due to the sampling of a scream from the movie for an enemy death and the snakes that form the Death Adder, an obvious nod to Thulsa Doom). Uchida and his team took a fantasy RPG concept they had been kicking around and molded it for an instant-play arcade experience. Uchida was directed by his superiors to craft something immediately accessible like Altered Beast. Hack 'n Slash Conceived by Makoto Uchida, the brains behind other SEGA arcade hits like Altered Beast and Die Hard Arcade, Golden Axe was produced by SEGA's AM1 division. With Golden Axe: Beast Rider about to drop on October 17, IGN Retro is taking a look back at a franchise that started strong and lost a lot of luster over the years before it was ultimately shelved for well over a decade. ![]() After a run that included sequels and side stories, SEGA let the series burn out for almost 13 years. Golden Axe would be quickly prepped for the then-new Genesis, giving it yet another stunning arcade translation that put further distance between the aging NES and SEGA's brand-new 16-bit machine. But more than just an arcade smash, SEGA saw the potential for Golden Axe at home. SEGA already had a successful action game inhaling quarters at the arcades, Altered Beast, and Golden Axe helped underline SEGA's continued dominance in the arena. Released into arcades in 1989, Golden Axe was an instant hit.
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