Retro Review: Golden Axe II
Retro Review: Golden Axe II
- Released: 1992
- Platform: Sega Megadrive
- Publisher: Sega
- Developer: Sega
It’s well documented that Golden Axe is one of my favourite games of all time. I love everything about it, except for those sneaky skeletons who always seem to get an extra hit on you. I even wrote a review of Golden Axe back in 2016, which you can check out here
Being such a big fan of the original game, the sequel had a lot to live up to. Released in 1992, I remember going into Electronics Boutique (remember them?) and spending my money on the sequel. Honestly speaking, I don’t have that many strong memories of it, so I thought, why not play it now and see if it matches up to the original?
The three heroes from the first game return, and this time, instead of facing off against Death Adder, they face off against Dark Guld.
The combat is very similar to the first game, where you can attack enemies with basic combos, do a shoulder charge, and pick them up to throw them. There is a nice range of different styles of enemies, from your basic sword fodder to slightly larger enemies. They look different enough from the first game but are also very similar. For example, instead of facing off against a giant bald bloke who wears blue pants and laughs at you when he hits you with his sledgehammer, you now face off against a minotaur-style enemy with a massive spiky mace who wears green pants. The skeletons make a reappearance, but this time they come in different colours: the standard bone-coloured skeleton and, curiously, a pink-boned skeleton who carries a red shield.
Instead of hitting little pixies that would steal your magical items when you’re resting, you now fight magicians who carry books and food to refill your health. The main difference here is that the magicians aren’t defenceless and can attack you with spells if you don’t hit them quickly enough.
There is still the section between levels where you are resting by a bonfire and are attacked by these magicians. There’s a nice touch where the magicians are disguised as snails and frogs before transforming into their normal shape. It adds a bit of character to the proceedings.
I kind of miss the original little pixie-style gnomes that you hit to get an item, as they made a nice squeaking noise when you kicked them to get a potion.
There are still creatures that you can mount to give you an advantage over enemies. There’s one monster similar to Chicken Leg, where it swings its tail to attack enemies, as well as a fire-breathing monster that can incinerate the bad guys.
Your magical attacks return, but this time you can hold the button down to determine how much magic you want to use. As in the first game, Ax Battler has medium magical attacks, Gilius Thunderhead has weaker magical attacks, and Tyris Flare has the strongest magical attacks.
The graphics haven’t improved massively over the original game. As I mentioned earlier, there are different enemy types, and the levels look decent. Like a lot of side-scrolling beat ’em ups, they do reuse the same enemy types but give them a slightly different colour to signify that they are slightly harder than their counterparts.
There’s some good music in the game, and it feels fairly epic, matching the fantasy settings.
Golden Axe II can be completed in about 30 minutes, much like the first game. There is another mode called The Duel, where you face off against enemies one at a time, and you have a certain amount of health to try to make it to the end.
Graphics: Some new enemy types and the locations are ok. Not a massive improvement over the original. 7
Sound: Decent music, but not as good as the original. 7
Playability: Again, not much has changed since the original and it plays well enough. 7
Re-Playability: You can probably sense a theme running in this summary. It still plays well, but nothing to get too excited about. 7
Overall: Golden Axe II isn’t a bad game, but it just feels a bit like more of the same. It lacks a little bit of the charm that the first game had, and that’s possibly why I don’t have any real strong memories of it. For example, when you complete the original Golden Axe, the enemies jump out of an arcade machine and chase the player down the road. When you finish Golden Axe II, it just shows the heroes returning back to the village, and the credits roll. So, overall, good but not great. 7
Retro Review by Chris.
