After he was finished with making Altered Beast, Makoto Uchida went on to develop his next title, this time themed around action movies such as Conan the Barbarian. Rather then making yet another 2D-side-scrolling beat-’em-up, he wanted to make a game that could stand alongside Double Dragon and the Kunio-kun games. So, taking inspiration from, again, Conan the Barbarian, as well as wanting to make a game to compete against Dragon Quest (for some reason, I dunno), he and his team went on to make a beat-’em-up with a medieval setting, and a set of attacks that he compared to the original Street Fi- ok, hold on, we may actually be in trouble here. That sounds like way too much influence to combine into one, but nevertheless, after a short development time, they then released the original Golden Axe.
As I have mentioned previously, Altered Beast was an ok game, but it didn’t hold up too well upon revisiting, so, with this next title, did Makoto improve upon his craft and make a better experience? Eh… kinda? Again, Golden Axe isn’t necessarily a bad game, and it is an overall better experience then Altered Beast, with less issues then that title, but with the few issues that it does have, it is enough to hold it back from me considering calling it good. That being said, it does have enough of the standard beat-’em-up elements to make it not feel that bad, and I could see others getting into it if this was their first exposure to the genre.
The story is what you would expect from a setting like this, but it does have a little more to not make it too generic, the graphics and art style is serviceable, and it definitely gives those Conan vibes the main dev wanted, the music is good, although sometimes it can get a little annoying, the control is what you would expect from a beat-’em-up, and speaking of which, the gameplay is also what you would expect from a beat-’em-up.
You take control of one of three characters, each being basically the same, with little differences to make each stand out from the others, you move from left to right, defeating what feels like an endless supply of goons, get health and items along the way, and fight bosses. Again, pretty typical stuff for a beat-’em-up, with the special features the gameplay includes also being typical for beat-’em-ups. Animals that you can steal from opponents to ride on and do more damage with? Check. Bonus stages in between each level to gain even more health and items? Check. A special move you can pull off that damages everyone on screen as long as you have ammo for it? Check, check, and check!
All of that stuff is still enjoyable to a degree, but the main focus of the game, the combat, doesn’t carry the same amount of satisfaction or drive as a game like Double Dragon or Final Fight. It just feels more so clunky and like a gamble on if you are gonna be able to take out the enemy without them somehow breaking the combo to take you out. And really, the game is mainly banking on the medieval themes and settings to drive it forward, and while I will guess that was effective for a game like this at the time, it doesn’t really land as well nowadays.
The gameplay does differ, however, in terms of the various modes the game has. Aside from the main Arcade mode, there is Beginner mode, where you can play through the first couple stages to get a feel for the game before jumping into the main game, which seems pretty unnecessary, but I guess it does serve in, appropriately, helping out beginners with getting used to the game. There is also The Duel, a mode where you can either take on a bunch of one-on-one battles with groups of enemies from the game in a single arena, or you can fight another player to see who is truly superior. While it sounds like it could be fun on paper, it really isn’t all that exciting, and it doesn’t really give you any rewards for beating it, so it just seems like, again, a completely unnecessary feature. But, I guess it could be fun to battle it out with a friend… for one round, and then never touch again.
And of course, in good ol’ arcade fashion, this game suffers from arcade syndrome, even on the Genesis version of the game. Most of the game is doable when it comes to the difficulty, but towards the end of the game, it is painful to go through, with you having to fight very tough enemies while on platforms with not that much space to move around on, being able to fall off at seemingly every moment. This, coupled with the fact that enemies can just sometimes attack you and punt you off the edge with no warning or reason, makes the last few stages of the game lacking of any semblance of joy for the most part.
Finally, as one last complaint, the final boss is WAY too hard. It is fitting, having it be the hardest fight in the game, but I remember having way too much trouble actually taking this guy down. It seemed like, no matter what I could do, whenever I approached to attack, he would always manage to land an attack, whether it being a regular attack or one of those electric bolts he sends across the floor. In addition, you have to fight him alongside two skeleton enemies, which doesn’t sound that bad, but these guys get in the way CONSTANTLY throughout the fight, and they have an absurdly high health bar. Yes, you can kill them, but it takes a REALLY long time, and by the time you do, you are just thinking “come on, just let this be over, PLEASE”.
Overall, while the settings, ideas, and themes are endearing for 1989, it really doesn’t do anything to grab my attention or my recommendation, as a pretty generic fighter with no sense of gratification or reward, as well as brutally punishing in the later parts to the point where I almost gave up multiple times. Let’s just hope that the sequels improve on this more for me to actually consider it being somewhat good, and not just making me wish I was playing something else instead.
Game #178
As I have mentioned previously, Altered Beast was an ok game, but it didn’t hold up too well upon revisiting, so, with this next title, did Makoto improve upon his craft and make a better experience? Eh… kinda? Again, Golden Axe isn’t necessarily a bad game, and it is an overall better experience then Altered Beast, with less issues then that title, but with the few issues that it does have, it is enough to hold it back from me considering calling it good. That being said, it does have enough of the standard beat-’em-up elements to make it not feel that bad, and I could see others getting into it if this was their first exposure to the genre.
The story is what you would expect from a setting like this, but it does have a little more to not make it too generic, the graphics and art style is serviceable, and it definitely gives those Conan vibes the main dev wanted, the music is good, although sometimes it can get a little annoying, the control is what you would expect from a beat-’em-up, and speaking of which, the gameplay is also what you would expect from a beat-’em-up.
You take control of one of three characters, each being basically the same, with little differences to make each stand out from the others, you move from left to right, defeating what feels like an endless supply of goons, get health and items along the way, and fight bosses. Again, pretty typical stuff for a beat-’em-up, with the special features the gameplay includes also being typical for beat-’em-ups. Animals that you can steal from opponents to ride on and do more damage with? Check. Bonus stages in between each level to gain even more health and items? Check. A special move you can pull off that damages everyone on screen as long as you have ammo for it? Check, check, and check!
All of that stuff is still enjoyable to a degree, but the main focus of the game, the combat, doesn’t carry the same amount of satisfaction or drive as a game like Double Dragon or Final Fight. It just feels more so clunky and like a gamble on if you are gonna be able to take out the enemy without them somehow breaking the combo to take you out. And really, the game is mainly banking on the medieval themes and settings to drive it forward, and while I will guess that was effective for a game like this at the time, it doesn’t really land as well nowadays.
The gameplay does differ, however, in terms of the various modes the game has. Aside from the main Arcade mode, there is Beginner mode, where you can play through the first couple stages to get a feel for the game before jumping into the main game, which seems pretty unnecessary, but I guess it does serve in, appropriately, helping out beginners with getting used to the game. There is also The Duel, a mode where you can either take on a bunch of one-on-one battles with groups of enemies from the game in a single arena, or you can fight another player to see who is truly superior. While it sounds like it could be fun on paper, it really isn’t all that exciting, and it doesn’t really give you any rewards for beating it, so it just seems like, again, a completely unnecessary feature. But, I guess it could be fun to battle it out with a friend… for one round, and then never touch again.
And of course, in good ol’ arcade fashion, this game suffers from arcade syndrome, even on the Genesis version of the game. Most of the game is doable when it comes to the difficulty, but towards the end of the game, it is painful to go through, with you having to fight very tough enemies while on platforms with not that much space to move around on, being able to fall off at seemingly every moment. This, coupled with the fact that enemies can just sometimes attack you and punt you off the edge with no warning or reason, makes the last few stages of the game lacking of any semblance of joy for the most part.
Finally, as one last complaint, the final boss is WAY too hard. It is fitting, having it be the hardest fight in the game, but I remember having way too much trouble actually taking this guy down. It seemed like, no matter what I could do, whenever I approached to attack, he would always manage to land an attack, whether it being a regular attack or one of those electric bolts he sends across the floor. In addition, you have to fight him alongside two skeleton enemies, which doesn’t sound that bad, but these guys get in the way CONSTANTLY throughout the fight, and they have an absurdly high health bar. Yes, you can kill them, but it takes a REALLY long time, and by the time you do, you are just thinking “come on, just let this be over, PLEASE”.
Overall, while the settings, ideas, and themes are endearing for 1989, it really doesn’t do anything to grab my attention or my recommendation, as a pretty generic fighter with no sense of gratification or reward, as well as brutally punishing in the later parts to the point where I almost gave up multiple times. Let’s just hope that the sequels improve on this more for me to actually consider it being somewhat good, and not just making me wish I was playing something else instead.
Game #178
Reviewed on May 19, 2023
2 Comments
The final boss wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't use magic every single time he knocks you down. Who thought that was a good idea? I have to wonder if this is maybe why they decided to include a hidden options menu to up the life bar...I can't think of any other console beat 'em up where any boss has a one-hit KO technique they can use numerous times like this. It's funny because not even Death Adder's arcade form can do that, and it would've made more sense in that context since arcades were supposed to make you burn thru quarters.
aCidHatter
10 months ago