Golden Axe and Streets of Rage represented two sides of the same brawler coin for Sega in the 90's: The garish, tactless Conan-derivative beat-em-up with sloppy mechanics held together by senseless guilty pleasures, and the suave, snappy Fight Fight clone with a more soulful take on the sights and sounds that defined the mold. Hindsight hasn't been as kind to Golden Axe as it has to good ol' SoR, but the nuances were probably a lot harder to see at the time. You'd be justified in saying each respective entry in their trilogy was doing their best for their time.
When the Sonic bucks started rolling in, it came to stand that Sega's other IP's deserved another shake with further passion and budget. Streets of Rage 2 enriched every idea from its predecessor, bringing the visuals up to the same pristine fidelity that anointed its SNES nay-sayers alongside expansions and refinement to the pre-existing format. It was everything a sequel should be - respecting the original while acknowledging the need to innovate.
Golden Axe II, released a year prior, was not so lucky. Its changes largely superficial, its improvements limited to extremely subtle differences in gamefeel, and its content and scope just as limited as the original. If anything, II's failure to innovate makes it come across as the weaker of the two, being 2 years older but retaining the original's issue of feeling like something is amiss. While Sega would later have the chance to right their wrongs with the arcade-exclusive Revenge of Death Adder, console owners would remain stuck in tunnel vision as the Genesis Golden Axe games failed to mature while their contemporaries graduated and moved on to bigger and better things.
When the Sonic bucks started rolling in, it came to stand that Sega's other IP's deserved another shake with further passion and budget. Streets of Rage 2 enriched every idea from its predecessor, bringing the visuals up to the same pristine fidelity that anointed its SNES nay-sayers alongside expansions and refinement to the pre-existing format. It was everything a sequel should be - respecting the original while acknowledging the need to innovate.
Golden Axe II, released a year prior, was not so lucky. Its changes largely superficial, its improvements limited to extremely subtle differences in gamefeel, and its content and scope just as limited as the original. If anything, II's failure to innovate makes it come across as the weaker of the two, being 2 years older but retaining the original's issue of feeling like something is amiss. While Sega would later have the chance to right their wrongs with the arcade-exclusive Revenge of Death Adder, console owners would remain stuck in tunnel vision as the Genesis Golden Axe games failed to mature while their contemporaries graduated and moved on to bigger and better things.
Pretty much more golden axe. Plays pretty much the same as the first one. I think you can charge your magic now in this one? or was that 3? The whole trilogy definitely blends together. If you weren't a fan of golden axe before, this game certainly won't change your mind. I however think the first game was neat, and by extension, this is pretty darn neat too. Def not essential tho
there's so little changed here from 1 and it's as barebones of a beat-em-up as you can get
BUT
i do get a lot of enjoyment out of this one regardless
the dash and jump attacks feel good to pull off and everything's just a little bit speedier. The difficulty feels just right too. This is the one Golden Axe game I think is worth your time.
BUT
i do get a lot of enjoyment out of this one regardless
the dash and jump attacks feel good to pull off and everything's just a little bit speedier. The difficulty feels just right too. This is the one Golden Axe game I think is worth your time.
This was the very first Sega Genesis game I've played and honestly, playing through this alone made me want to explore the console's game library even more.
Yes, it definitely has its annoying and frustrating moments that feel more difficult than they have any right to be, but the Conan-esque coating and the weighty but still pretty responsive controls definitely rightfully earned this title a special place and time in videogame history.
Yes, it definitely has its annoying and frustrating moments that feel more difficult than they have any right to be, but the Conan-esque coating and the weighty but still pretty responsive controls definitely rightfully earned this title a special place and time in videogame history.