Golden Axe 3

Written by Tom Clare in MegaDrive Game Reviews, Saturday 27 November, 2004

Sadly it's no Golden Oldie

Combining that oh-so-illusive fun factor with immaculate presentation and imaginative design, Sega's Golden Axe was a hit back in 1989. Mega-Drive gamers the world over consider the classic hack 'n' slash adventure to be among the highlights of the 16-bit era of gaming, and though Golden Axe wouldn't be considered a huge success by today's standards, Sega felt it deserved a sequel or two.

And so not long afterwards came sequel number one - the imaginatively-named Golden Axe 2. It was good fun, though somewhat crucified by the press for its failure to build upon (or even emulate) the original's good work. For European gamers, it would prove to be the last instalment released on the Mega-Drive format and a rather unfulfilling end to the series.

But whilst our press was moaning about Golden Axe 2 playing things too safe, Sega were still being worshipped in Japan, and so in 1993 the company treated its loyal native followers to Golden Axe 3 - a relatively low-key release that would complete the trilogy.

For anyone unfamiliar with the series; the games are side-scrolling sword-fighters, whereby you amble across a 2D landscape hacking away at a variety of soldiers, knights and goblins that cross your path, whilst also dabbling in a bit of magic. Think Lord Of The Rings, minus the dodgy dialogue.

Golden Axe 3 uses the very simplest of plots as an excuse for a good old-fashioned brawl. Ax-Battler, the dwarf hero of the previous two GA games, summons you to go on a crusade freeing 3 comrades from a dangerous curse, saving various captured villagers and eventually defeating the Prince of Darkness.

If first impressions really did count for everything, Golden Axe 3 would be in superb shape. Its introduction sequence is great - the heroes of the adventure demonstrate some of their more flamboyant attacking manoeuvres in slow-motion, and it's all rather snazzy. A sign of things to come?

Upon arriving at the main menu, three modes are open to selection; 1 player and 2 player modes are arcade-adventures (battling through a stream of enemies) and are essentially the same, though in the two-player adventure you get to battle alongside a friend rather than on your own. The other mode is Vs, a novel Street Fighter 2-styled beat 'em up section whereby the player takes part in one-on-one battles with either the computer or a friend, with a nice selection of locations too - nothing special but worth a mention at least.

Series' aficionados will be impressed and disappointed in almost equal measures with Golden Axe 3. It's curious how one half of it can be so wonderfully innovative and surprising, whilst the other so lazy and devoid of ambition. I must confess it's left me somewhat baffled as to its overall quality!

Well, on the plus side there are now four playable characters available for selection. The Barbarian (identifiable by his ridiculous blue underwear) and the Amazonian (identifiable by her ridiculous red underwear etc) both make a welcome return, and are joined by two newcomers - the blue wolf and a troll (sorry I can't give exact names - none are mentioned for these two). Each of the four feature varying speed, power and magical attributes - an enduring feature of all three Golden Axe games has always been the different styles the characters fight with. For instance, the Amazonian is physically quite weak but has devastating magical properties, the Barbarian is solid in all departments and the Wolf may not be too strong but has an excellent technique and is very quick to move as well. So different fighters will suit different players, and there is a character for everyone here.

Graphically it's adequate. Sprites move with great fluidity and are detailed and stylish, though the inconsistent backgrounds let the side down a little - ranging from quite nice to almost dire, depending on the level being played. The magic attacks that looked so special in the original Golden Axe just look a bit crummy here, with some truly underwhelming visual effects. Probably most disappointing about this aspect of the game however is Sega's apparent laziness in relation to the enemies you fight. Rather than facing different enemies as you progress through the levels, the developers decided to recycle the same few designs and use them in every level of the game, with the only difference being the colour scheme.

The soundtrack is the strong point - some fantastic battle themes drum along in the background, and really suit the action to a tee. The screams of the dead and the swishing of blades are also among the audio highlights on offer here.

Easily the best new feature the game introduces to the franchise is split-routes. At certain points in a level, you are given a simple choice of two paths that lead off in different directions. A basic idea but used well, as it makes for a huge amount of replay value discovering the mammoth selection of levels within.

The single-player mode is fair enough - controls are simple and effective, and the action is uncomplicated, though the few new tricks it does throw up soon run out of steam, which means it's up to the two-player mode to save the day. Like almost all of Sega's scrolling beat 'em ups (including the Streets Of Rage titles) Golden Axe 3 is at its best in co-operative mode, with two friends fighting side-by-side. But even this gets a little stale after a couple of goes as the lack of new gameplay features and the repetitive nature of the genre means there is little to come back for after a few goes.

Although fighting is the name of the game, Golden Axe 3 does not carry an age-rating as it is essentially based around cartoon-violence, and there is no blood content or gore whatsoever. In terms of difficulty, it's simple enough for anyone to get into initially, though proves very taxing in the later stages.

Golden Axe 3 ultimately proves a sad ending to one of Sega's premier trilogies that whilst delivering simple, addictive fun, fails to endear likes its predecessors. A little more effort from Sega with regards to new ideas and graphics could have made it great. As it is, it's merely average.

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