Golden Axe series review - Segadrunk
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 чер 2018
- Thanks to Jeremiah for the request via Patreon.
[0:03] Golden Axe
[3:47] Golden Axe Warrior
[4:32] Golden Axe II
[5:36] Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe
[6:16] Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder
[7:10] Golden Axe III
[8:04] Golden Axe: The Duel
New SNES-related video every Tuesday, and something else (Genesis, Game Boy, whatever) on Thursdays
Buy me a coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/snesdrunk
Binge watch SNESdrunk: • All Reviews (Newest to... - Ігри
I remember I got 1-3 at a garage sale. My friend and I played the entire series in one night at a sleepover. Not only was it fun, but because we were HUGE d&d nerds, we decided that next week we would have a Golden Axe themed d&d session. We were planning on making it a one-off game where my friend's character, Ax Battler, would kill Death Adder at the end and get a cool magic item (and maybe even level up). Long story short, it became an entire campaign with an overarching storyline. Gradually my friend levelled up Ax Battler to level 10, and killed Death Adder once and for all. It sort of became a tradition of ours to make d&d campaigns off off our favorite games. Hell, we even did it with DOOM (pun intended), albeit with some very modified rules. Good times.
About every one or two years we revisit Ax Battler, both in d&d and in Golden Axe, and we level him up some more, you know, for old times sake. GA, along with other games is why I pursued game development as a career. Thanks for not TL;DRing in the middle of this comment, I have to congratulate you on that.
You may or may not know this but DOOM was actually based on a D&D campaign that the developers played in their off time. One of the characters accidentally unleashed a horde of demons into their world and they all went "Hey, that's a good idea for the video game we're working on!"
2 things:
1.- Although this game may be seem simple today it is a huge achievement for Sega if we consider 1989's arcade standards.
2.- Sega did an awesome job with revenge of death adder, but sadly, it is a shame they didn't do anything important with the franchise after it
Couldn’t agree more, I would still play GA1 over the others grew up playing it and enjoying the heck out of it. I vaguely remember playing the arcade revenge of death adder but wish I spent more time playing it when I did. Later on levels and other characters look awesome
My favorite franchise on the Genesis/Megadrive played hours of it back in the day and still love it! :-D
The dwarf is the best character to play with.
absolutely
Fuck that, Tyris Flare for life.
@@Ponaru i liked to play as both he is more attackbased she has good attacks but can carry more magiclolthat blue guy was painfully average
The game should have just been four dwarves
definitely.
The soundtrack for Golden Axe II is just absolutely incredible.
These are the truest words in the comments.
First one has a better soundtrack. Just legendary
@@CosmicCosmo1 The first one has a good soundtrack but to me Golden Axe 2's soundtrack is the legendariest.
Yes, it was f-ing bad ass!
Just played it…you are correct,
Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder was an amazing game, which I played it on MAME emulator once. I hope it gets an official port either on PS4 or Switch. Some of the sound effects in the first Golden Axe game (and The Revenge of Death Adder) come from the Conan the Barbarian movies (which the game was inspired by). Also, the scream sound for the villager in the first Golden Axe game come from Rambo 1.
Neorevenant Arbeith XII do you mean mud duck 🦆 or Rambo Mud porno
Golden Axe II... I remember every detail of the first time I played it, where I was, the sound effects, the music, the bosses...so much nostalgia, all the feels.
They need to put Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder on Switch
The revenge of death ader. Golsen axe looks dope its 4 players. Where can i play it
This is exactly what I'm thinking.
Yeah, I can't believe it's not on the pandora saga console. I'm gutted.
This brings me back to a much cherished time. Thanks
GOLDEN AXE is & will always be A GREAT CLASSIC GAME! Plus the SOUNDTRACK IS AMAZING! Don't ever talk down on GOLDEN AXE!
As a Nintendo kid, with zero Sega attachment & next to nil gaming exposure, I always kinda admired Golden Axe for being a legit anchor franchise for them.
Revenge Of Death Adder is, in my opinion of one of the best and most complete 2D Beat 'em ups of it's era. This is just an Iconic series overall, minus the fighting and adventure style games.
This game is really something. The closest experience I could get was Dragon Crown .
It's been a long time since I've seen or played Revenge of Death Adder. Just looking at the clips of it here, I'm taken aback by just how much the visuals still hold up in 2019. It looks great.
Revenge of Death Adder is too long in my opinion. It needs about two levels clipped from it or it needs some kind of extra doodads (like Shadows Over Mystara) to keep it compelling.
@@maltheopia I didn't like Revenge of Death Adder at first(I love it now), and I thought it was a bit too long as well. Turns out, in my case, I was playing the US version which makes you play all the stages in a session, making the alternate paths largely irrelevant. The other versions of the game are what I'd consider the right length since you only play the stages you choose when there is a choice of path. If you still think it's too long, that's fair, but it was just something I wanted to point out since it is a major difference that changes the length. I've found US versions of arcade games are usually not as good as other regions for one reason or another.
Revenge of death adder is awesome. I love it almost as much as the original golden axe. No3 was a bit of a let down though. The background was a bit too shabby for me.
Honestly, 3 is my favourite of the mainline games, though in all fairness I've never played Revenge of Death Adder. I found the first to be a fine, but pretty basic beat em up, while the second was like you said, pretty much just more of the first, but the third had more interesting characters, moves, a deeper fighting system, and was just more engaging I felt.
Something something opinions and whatnot.
The intro music is like techno hardcore Atari Teenage Riot, awesome! And the skeletons are the best of the series.
Absolutely agreed! I put Revenge of Death Adder above it because it has more variety. SNES Drunk pointed out that GA3 is the best console entry when it comes to gameplay, if I recall correctly. But like he stated GA3 doesn't feel like a GA game... Zero charm (even tho it plays great). Also the levels on that 1 seem empty
I still play golden axe 1-3 today
Search the arcade (mame) for golden axe death adders revenge. By far the best of them and just amazing shame no console port ever tho.
Death Adder's revenge is full of cheap deaths and is balanced around putting coins in for continues. Imo Genesis 2 is less ambitious but better balanced and more fun
David Huenecke me too!
@@DusBeforeDawn2008 Interesting take. I respect it but I would like to try the arcade version to experience it for the first time.
i complited 3rd the year ago, and never tried others, is it the worst of three? i m confused because i have eyes
I still pop in the Golden Axe series from time to time. Admittedly it hasn't aged that well, but I still love it. Another great video, my dude. Would love to see you make a video discussing the various versions of Ghouls n' Ghosts/Super Ghouls n' Ghost for the arcade/Genesis/SNES. As a kid before the internet, it confused the crap out of me having played Ghouls n Ghosts on the arcade, then getting Super Ghouls n Ghosts for Christmas one year. Even moreso when I went over to a cousin's house who had the Genesis port, having had no prior knowledge of its existence.
Wish revenge of death adder came out on saturn or dreamcast
David Huenecke It’s not too late, it should come out now for all platforms, i’d buy it for 50 bucks, would you? It should also include artwork, etc2
Yes!
micheal sierra id absolutely lay down fifty bucks for a revenge of death adder home port
Hell, the Genesis could have handled a port of the game too, albeit with some reduced animation perhaps yeah but it could have most definitely happened. The Gen can handle big sprites, as TFIV and Alien Soldier display. It can connect smaller sprites to create a larger one, it's awesome.
Boom. Right in the nostalgia. Another triumph Sir.
Golden Axe Beast Rider has the best parry and evade group fighting mechanic of any 3D beat-em up or 3D action game. If more games played like this than Batman Arkham or DMC I'd still be a gamer today. The critics were absolutely wrong about Golden Axe Beast Rider.
Golden Axe was awesome for game released on a console in 1989.
I still get excited when I hear that original intro music or the first level music play :)
It's maybe an unpopular opinion but I consider Golden Axe 3 the best of Genesis versions. I love the visuals(the muted colors give it more "realistic" and grounded feel that imho feet's this series well), they give this game a unique atmosphere.The moveset was greatly expanded, and it's pretty challenging to beat it, considering there's no unlimited continues. If you're a fan of GA I get why you don't really care for it, but I consider it one of the more unique beat-em-ups.
Golden axe 2 has my favorite soundtrack on the genesis. It's so fucking good. That hearing it in this video brought me back to my childhood ratatooie style.
I actually have a couple of the songs in my Spotify playlist & I've listened to them on repeat for like an hour straight while I play Overwatch online.
I've never before heard anyone say that Golden Axe 1 hasn't aged well.
Tea&Crumpets agreed. Still one of my favorite Genesis games to this day.
Revenge of death adder on arcade was the best
MultiTarded If an action game that takes 14 minutes to finish drags I have some bad news about videogames for you.
He doesn't know how to play it properly. The reverse attack or whatever you want to call it (B and C pressed together) and the "run, jump and drive cold steel through the head" attack both need to be mastered. Then you can fly through the game.
Golden Axe 3 had terrible graphics for its time. I've seen better looking NES games.
Golden axe is an old time favorite of me , remember when i used to play it on the arcades, but the drums at the beginnig gave me the chills .
Love that things are really taking off on your channel. You deserve it.
I remember playing this as a kid in PC with my brother. We found out, that you can play as every enemy from the game if you just rename the file.
So I played as the chicken (invincible) and my brother as the skeletton and we rocked it :)
Oh man, I had the Master System version (yes I was a Master System kid) of the first game and I loved it. The soundtrack is just as good but in 8-bit.
dude golden axe 3 deserves more respect
meh... not that much to be honest... I do think the one is the best of the series
thanks for covering this all-time classics man, I'm a huge fan of the series =)
First 2 Golden Axe games on Genesis are still great. They're must haves in any Genesis collection.
Golden Axe I is simple and slow paced but still pretty fun and pretty challenging actually. That last battle is not easy.
I played Golden Axe at a friends home because i never had a Sega Genesis. Loved the video to remember those great days of much fun ❤
Did you know that the enemy dying sounds were lifted from the Conan the Barbarian movies? One sound was even lifted from First Blood.
That intro music gave me permanent goosebumps ❤️
I may add that Golden Axe 3 was a very popular import for the system world wide, and while it wasn't a faithful sequel to the previous games, it was surprisingly fun, especially for the two player mode.
If you like the music of the original game, have a look (or an ear more precisely!) to the Amiga port. While the game itself its pure crap, the arrange music still sounds amazing.
I wanted to thank you because I've been binge watching these Golden Axe videos on UA-cam because I bought the Sega Genesis Classic bundle on the Nintendo Switch & I wanted to hear people's opinions on the game, especially yours because you're well versed in the 16 bit library.
Like you said the game seemed very basic & as I was playing it I felt it needed a certain mechanic to deal with double teams, particularly when you get "sandwiched" by enemies. I noticed in your review you said there was this weird roll that didn't hit anybody & the light went off in my head. First off I had never attempted it. I couldn't find a moves command list but the beauty of that move (it has a different aesthetic depending on the character you choose) is that attack hits the enemy behind you (you may need to space it out properly). I immediately tried it after seeing your video & the game feels exponentially more fun looking for ways to set it up.
Kudos to you for sharing that discovery.
And yes the music in part 2 is impressive.
Great video overall though.
Arcade 1up just released a Revenge of Death Adder arcade cabinet that has the original Golden Axe with Altered Beast, Shinobi, and Wrestle War. It also has RODA in it too with 4 joysticks. I preordered mine and it came in last week. It is an amazing cab and it looks great too!
Great review!
Omg love those screams really brings back memories
*Beginning of the video:* We want new characters to play.
*End of the video:* We just wanna play as the original three.
Make up your mind!
I only discovered the rolling attack as an adult. It gets you out a tight squeeze sometimes.
I used to play co-op with my neighbor. We spent so many hours on that. I loved that game.
I have golden axe 1 and 2 both are great games, I really was impressed how much fun both were and the second edition had such great music!! i highly recommend both!
I love me some golden axe!!! Takes me right back in time
Can't believe how abandoned this franchise was. It will always remain as a good memory from my childhood. Thanks for the video.
Its strength is its scenery and music. Very immersive
Wow!! I remember Revenge of death a
Adder!
Used to play that a lot. Gonna download. 👍🏻
I think Golden Axe 3 is the best one out of all sega mega drive ones.
"There's this Blanca-looking guy"...nice subtle burn.
The Revenge of Death Adder was really one of my all time favorite arcade game! Cool graphics, a dark atmosphere, a bad ass overall design and 4 players coop, the game sure has lot of assets...
Golden Axe is the medieval version of Streets of Rage.
Loved Golden Axe Warrior!!!
In any fighter or beat em up I always go for the fastest over the strongest. Great video again..
I plan on having a great day. Thanks for that.
Great video! Brings back memories...
Also, I love Golden Axe III. Even if everyone says it's kind of average, and it looks less visually inspired than the previous ones on genesis, I still personally prefer playing it over those ones. But that's just me.
Thanks for watching!
I found it weird at first, but it has some interesting fighting mechanics different from other bear em ups. I couldn't dominate them and finish the game, though.
6:14 It's the same hardware as the SMS besides a much larger color palette (larger than on MD), stereo sound and lower resolution.
the letters "DEATH ADDER WINS" and the background music at the end gives the video an evil ending
I'll say Beast Rider is a decent playthrough today now that it's cheap, I had fun with it, I'm actually a bit sad the game never got the multiplayer sequel it was hinting at in the end scene.
I think Golden Axe Beast Rider is sadly disliked due to people associating with the production that fell apart and promised concepts that didn't make it into the game. Personally, I love it, but wished all three characters had been playable to some extent.
I remember reading online that Golden Axe III was not well received back then. Why?! I really think it's the best in the series and a lot of fun!
G Truesdale agreed, but maybe it wasn't so well received because it was kind of late in the genesis' life (93)
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it came out six months after Streets of Rage 2, and it just doesn't compare at all...
That rolling attack works great on the knights.
Surprised to see you prefer GA1 over its Genesis sequels.
GA2 took everything from the first and improved on it. Graphics are only the slighest bit improved unfortunately. This was a miss by Sega opting to use the same 4-Meg memory for GA2 as the original. Didn't give any room for the developers to actually improve sprite size, animation, enemy, background or move variation to any significant degree. The soundtrack is incredible and meshes perfectly with the fantasy theme. Most importantly the gameplay is improved. GA2 plays smooth and fast without the slighest bit of clunkiness like the original had. Lastly the adjustable difficulty level is a welcome addition. Playing on hard adds much needed meat to the game.
GA3 is the most underrated beat em up of the 16-bit era. What it lacks from a visuals standpoint, it more then makes up for in variety. Easiest way to put it is casual beat em up gamers mileage may vary. That being (The Turtles in Time is or is one of the best beat em ups ever crowd) Beat em ups enthusiasts who love deeper movesets are going to fall in love with GA3.
DejaVoodooDoll Different strokes for different folks. I think the sprites are easily the best of the Genesis trilogy. Some backgrounds I actually like and some leave a lot to be desired. Definitely would have been better off cutting some out and adding a coat of paint to the backgrounds they chose to keep. Magic is a letdown for the most part. The team magic attacks are pretty cool though and sadly most people don't even realize they exist. GA3 is far from perfect but It still has the best A.I. out of the trilogy. Enemies don't commit suicide and they attack in different ways as the games progresses. By far the longest campaign with well done multiple routes and endings. There is finally some character diversity with Proud the Giant and Chronos the Panther. Also it has one of the most fleshed out move sets of any beat em up of ever. Lastly another stellar soundtrack. There are way more positives then negatives and I will be the first to admit GA3 doesn't make the best first impression.
@@supersexysega Yeah, I loved Golden Axe 3 and totally disagree with this video on that game. I loved that you could be a werepanther or a giant. I didn't even notice the bad graphics, but then I grew up playing NES and Atari.The backgrounds look the same as the first two games to me (Revenge of Death Adder looks a lot better, but this is the first time I've ever even heard of that game). I wish the rest had more than just the three characters. Still the first one is my favorite since that's the one I played when I was a kid in the arcades (and I still think it's funny that "Axe Battler" exclusively uses a sword).
Woah I had no idea there were so many Golden Axe games! I had only ever heard of/played the original!
Sonic For Hire has forever changed how I view the dwarf character.
That arcade sequel looked dope.
My favorite game of all time! I only play with the dwarf I’ve never played with the other characters. I refuse to play with the other characters!
I didn't grow up with Golden Axe so I thought the game looked too primitive and felt too simple at first... [Compared to other titles on the platform] Ahead of it's time with the creature riding, I gave it that- BUT after being able to sift through the Genesis' entire library, I gladly added all 3 games on my Mini. It's actually a good game and great series. It feels good to play and is one of the best [of the handful of] co-ops the system had to offer. It then earned my [very well-deserved] love and respect as one of the console's greatest additions!
Love Golden Axe.
My joint favourite arcade game ever, along with TMNT.
It's also one of my favourite mega drive games, along with NBA jam and NBA jam tournament edition, and TMNT hyperstone heist.
I loved golden axe 1 as a kid. With the rolling move you need more distance between you and the enemy.
I like your review. But, I disagree with your opinion on how it's aged. I STILL love this game to this day. I think it's aged well.
Amazing
Golden Axe III has that Egyptian cat character though, which is pretty cool.
Use to love playing this game when I was a kid
Golden Axe is a really simple beat em up, but it's presented perfectly.
Golden Axe is the inspiration for the Vanillaware masterpiece: „Dragon‘s Crown“
my favorite part was rather than just getting items.. you had to assault and rob those little gnome/elf creatures. I always suspected that they had stolen all their items anyway... they have a shifty look about them
Oof, don't agree that this game is slow. It has a more deliberate pacing, than some other beat-em-ups, but its hardly slower than Final Fight or even Streets of Rage 1. I think this game has aged as well as any good game from this early stage in the Genesis' life. As you say, few other games have as good a soundtrack and that is the primary element giving this game a good fantasy atmosphere!
There is also a remake of Golden Axe 1 on the PS2. I think it was part of a collection if I remember right.
Never knew about GA warrior. Nice. Age aside... I have such fond memories of GA in the arcade as a kid... I could never speak poor of it. Death adder is my gaming name to this day
This was one of my favorites at the arcades back in the day. But it was a little harder to find than some other games, like say, turtles.
I agree that the best parts are the graphics and sound
I loved the first Golden Axe back in the day. It was one of my favorites, and one of the few instances where I liked the console port better than the Arcade. But admittedly, the only reason I can still play it today is because of the nostalgia factor. So many beat-em up have far surpassed what it does. Although, you gotta give it respect for laying the ground work of future beat-em ups.
Unfortunately, the rest of the series never lived up to the greatness of the first game.
The Golden Axe Arcade1up Machine is available! So tempted just for Revenge of Death Adder
I agree. I played the first about 26 years ago and I played it again this week. As far as I am concerned it didn't age very well. I loved it back then, but I found it a very tedious experience this time. The first time the game was too short for me and this time I was glad when it was over. It is not bad, but unfortunately I couldn't get back into it.
Ax Battler theme sound really familiar to Dragon Quest lol
Fun fact. The soundtrack was composed by Jack Wall, who later went on to compose music for the Myst series.
Jack is a genius!
God I love the music to the first 2 especially second game.
I've never played Golden Axe until a few months ago on the mini Genesis. I'll agree it feels slower than other beat 'em ups I've played, but I'm not too picky when it comes to that genre so I can't complain.
Thinking about buying an Analogue because of these videos.
Literally one of the best channels on UA-cam your a Game God bruh big ups to you love the work. #Swerve
I was trying to figure out what looked odd about it. The sprites don't have any shadows beneath they're feet and it makes it look awkward.
The fighting game looks so sick
I still ocassionally play the Amiga port. And it's one of my favorite games to this day. It feels aged, but for me that's part of the games simple charme.
I guess the Genesis port is still better in general, although I haven't played it so far.
I also recall being underwhelmed by Golden Axe II the first time I popped it in.
The one thing I remember from this game is Thunderhead because of Sonic for Hire
revenge of death adder is an amazing beat em up. most of my quarters in the nineties went to that game
I never minded the pacing of the 1st game. But i have nostalgia for it. My dentist had an arcade in the waiting room and he had golden axe. I also played it at home through collections. I love it, and still play it a lot. Golden axe 2 is awesome, and i do like 3 but i dislike the scenery in it. I wish theyd make a golden axe collection that includes the arcade games and the spinoffs.
Best intro ever
One of the GOATs
MAN, please do Rings of Power! It's Naughty Dog's 90s 16bit open world fantasy sandbox for god's sake! Looking at this one makes me nostalgic of old times sooo much...
I know I have a ROM of Golden Axe 2 and I am so going to play that soon!
I'd love to hear you talk about my two favorite Genesis games that have the best video game music I've ever heard: Sword of Vermillion and Alisia Dragoon.
Also the death scream is taken straight from Conan the Barbarian when the big bastard gets impaled in the end skirmish