Golden Axe Is Revived...And this Time With...Multiplayer?
Gameplay
Golden Axe simply consists of choosing one of 3 warriors and embarking on a quest throughout a fantasy world in an ultimate quest to eliminate and purge the land of the evil and malicious Knight and King. The gameplay consists of a continuous brawler and beat-em-up as you rely on one-two button attacks to bring down your enemies. It's fun, simple and highly addictive and this time can be enjoyed with the use of co-op and online co-op mode. No longer does your friend have to bring over his Genesis controller to join the fray as 2 player online-co-op mode prolongs the life of this finely aged game
Graphics
Run of the mill 2D sprites exist here. There is nothing too fancy-faced to look for here. The graphics for it's time were passable, but the real girth is the gameplay in this title. Some nice animations on some attacks and decent looking enemies and boss fights, but that's about all it's cracked up to be.
Sound
The monotonic sounds are indeed forgettable, but the punching, kicking and slicing sounds and audio will keep you amused for the most part. The sound of projectile attacks from enemies are somewhat engaging as they put you in alert mode, but there is really nothing memorable about the sounds and score.
Control
Controling your character, whether you choose a gladiator, wizard, or troll (midget) class, you'll find yourself finding the control scheme to be dated and sometimes impossible to perform some simple tasks. For example, jumping over a gap to progress shouldn't take more timing than positioning a condon on an erect penis. You got one shot, take it or leave it, or you inevitably fail (or don't get laid). Other than that, using attacks on foes is done with some ease, and UBER cheese mode exists if things get too rough.
Overall:
Golden Axe was enjoyable years ago and with the adaptation of online co-op play you experience your venture with a friend extends the life of this game and can rake you up an easy 250 cheeve points. The only downfall is the lack of HD graphics and some inexcusable control points halt this from getting a higher score. But nevertheless it should be experienced by all fans of old school gaming or anyone jonesing for a beat-em-up adventure.