Ah, Golden Axe, how many hours have I spent wailing away at fat dudes with axes and reanimated skeletons because of you? Good times.
I have found it hard lately to encourage purchasing Sega’s Virtual Console releases to those with a PlayStation 2 or PSP because of the Sega Genesis Collection. At $20 for the PS2 and $30 for the PSP, the Collection contains pretty much every title Sega has put out on the Virtual Console, and now the same is happening with the Live Arcade releases Sega is putting out under the Vintage Collection line. Previously, paying $5-6 for something that comes in a collection of around 30 titles, including unlockable interviews and other goodies, for $20 just didn’t make any sense. But there is something different about the Vintage line.
Sega has brought their older titles over to Live Arcade in the same fashion as previous updated rereleases, with things like achievements, enhanced graphics and sound, as well as Live co-op play. The enhanced graphics come in the form of smoothing, turning the game into an oil painting of sorts. The effect is interesting but can’t touch the original, and this is an option so that it can be turned on or off. The sound effects are revamped, though they still sound the same to me, including the great ‘thump’ when something hits the ground that sounds strangely like it’s taking place inside a wrestling ring. One thing I did notice a marked improvement of over the Golden Axe in the PlayStation 2 collection is that the controls are noticeably smoother – a definite plus.
The story of a trio of adventurers, Golden Axe follows a dwarf fighter, a female Amazon warrior, and a male barbarian on their (short) journey to put down Death Adder. Adder has the king and queen imprisoned and is terrorizing the land with his soldiers. You’ll walk through crowds of fleeing villagers into the danger, defending wounded citizens and clearing the enemy out of town. There will be giant turtles and birds to traverse, the undead to dispatch, and giants to scorch with the aid of various mountable animals. And it’s all nestled just so in a Conan the Barbarian style.
Golden Axe isn’t a game has aged particularly well, as much as that pains me to say. The ability to attack, jump or body check is an assortment no doubt lacking by today’s standards. The lack of real diversity beyond magic allocation and range of the Amazonian, barbarian, and dwarf Fighter takes the replay value down a few notches. And surprisingly, unlimited continues is the only way to go, with the ability to limit lives and bars per life being the only tunable difficulty options, which are mute considering you can keep plugging away regardless; and there’s also a rapid fire setting, as if it wasn’t easy enough. Due to that, the game can be finished in about 15 minutes, solo. The real fun though comes in multiplayer, via local and Live co-op, as you and a friend toss monsters about, tromp around on the back of a giant bird, and give Death Adder a good whatfor.
At $5, particularly with Live co-op, I find it worth the price. I also have friends more than willing to go on the adventure with me, numerous times, due to the nostalgic value and the game’s underlying awesomeness. That’s not a bad price for those of us who were psyched to finally plug the cart into our Genesis way back when, but with such fierce competition for even $5 on Live Arcade and the fact that the game is so short, the demo should suit most newcomers just fine.
