A game that dominated my youthful arcade-going but its dotage has somewhat lessened my esteem.
User Rating: 8 | Golden Axe GEN
As an arcade experience, Golden Axe was excellent multiplayer fun - one which I happily sank quarters into day after day. But after replaying the game in numerous repackaged forms, namely the 3d remake for the Sega Classics Collection [travesty!] and its re-release on the Genesis Collection, I no longer love this game. For one, the hit detection and the controls are horrific and painful. That alone on the somewhat lacking d-pad of the PS2 controller makes this a nightmare to play. On such a lackluster control setup Golden Axe is never going to shine, and to make it even worse was I had no one to join me for multiplayer. It's a difficult enough game that without any support the game itself is terminally boring and painful. The game is much better suited to an arcade set-up.
The story is not particularly interesting in any way, shape, or form. I had much more fun with Altered Beast's bizarre purple images that tied the levels together. Furthermore, the sound is rubbish, although the music is pretty decent. Golden Axe is on some level deservedly a classic, but it's a game that I find is more of historical or nostalgic interest than genuinely good; if I find an original arcade machine I might change my mind.
