Golden Axe II is one of my favorite beat’em ups on the Sega Genesis. It is an improvement over the first console game, which is what you should expect. They didn’t completely reinvent the wheel, but Sega did make a few improvements.
This game is a sequel to the console game, but not the first arcade game. It isn’t a super complicated story, but it is a little strange. There was an arcade sequel called Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder. I’ve played this game on my Arcade 1Up machine, and I like it more than the console game.
For some reason, I had thought this was in the arcades. Much like the Streets of Rage games, that isn’t the case. This game came out before Revenge of the Death Adder. This meant that the arcade game was able to fix some of the mistakes made in this game. I’ll get to that in a bit. For now, let’s get into Golden Axe II.
TLDR: The graphics and gameplay are better, but the story isn’t anything different.
Narrative
Golden Axe II picks up after the events of the first game. It is set a few years later, and has the player fighting another lazily named villain. Our heroes from the first game are back. Sadly, there were no new characters added to the console game.
A tyrant named Dark Guld has been released from an ancient prison. He is joined by his loyal clan and lays waste to Yuria. Dark Guld also manages to get the Golden Axe. Ax Battler, Gilus Thunderhead, and Tyris Flare join forces again to defeat him.
After you defeat Dark Guld, you restore peace to the land. It isn’t all that different from the first game. This is one of the big issues I had.
The story is perfectly fine for a game like this. That is part of the problem. It doesn’t do anything different from the first game. There was a decent amount of time between the first and second games. It would’ve been nice if they had tried to do something new.
Gameplay
There were a few minor changes to the gameplay. While you still have to use some strategy to fight the bosses, the gameplay remains largely unchanged. Golden Axe II isn’t much different from the first game in terms of length. It is easier.
There are three difficulty levels in this game. That is a nice touch as it lets new players get used to the gameplay. I didn’t notice a significant difference between the levels, though.
You still have three playable characters, which is a disappointment. It would’ve been nice to see Sega add one or two more just to shake up the gameplay. The magic has been swapped around, but it works the same as the first game.
If you liked the gameplay from the first Golden Axe, then you’ll like the sequel. I think it is an improvement over the first game, but not a significant one. You’re going to be doing the same thing, and there isn’t much that was changed.
Compare this to Revenge of the Death Adder to see what could’ve been done. That game has more characters and a few more twists to the gameplay. There is nothing wrong with Golden Axe II; there simply isn’t enough new content in the game.
Visuals
This game is a slight upgrade over the previous game. I wasn’t expecting a drastic redesign of the game. It looks like the developers have learned how to get the most out of the system after a few years.
The character sprites and magic attacks look good. Each magical attack looks very cool. The mounts, enemies, and main characters are all well-detailed. It simply looks like there have been a few years between the games, and the artwork has improved.
Overall, the graphics are an improvement over the first game. The game’s visuals aren’t the problem with this game at all. Everything looks very good.
Reviews at the Time
Golden Axe II received positive reviews at the time of release. It was criticized for being too easy, but it was still a better-than-average game. I looked at three publications for this.
Sega Pro gave the game a 76/100. The reviewer likes the gameplay, graphics, and sound. They didn’t think the game was all that challenging. In an interesting move, they suggested skipping this game if you had the original. They told them not to “waste your money on bot [sic],” I’m sure they meant both.
Games X gave the game a 4/5. They gave the game high marks for gameplay and presentation, but were critical of its replay value. The biggest issue they had with the game was the difficulty level. It was too easy for them.
Advance Computing Entertainment gave the game a 781/1000. I had to double-check those numbers, but yes, that was the score. They called the game a “well-rounded slice of arcade-quality action.” The biggest flaw they pointed to was that this game was just like its predecessor. The reviewer went on to call it a “worthless sequel.”
Not all of these reviews are well archived. I had to turn to MobyGames for a few of them, which thankfully had links to them. It can get very frustrating to navigate the different sites to find these.
Some of the reviewers were harsher than others. The words they use don’t always match the scores that are given. I got the impression that some of them wanted to tear the game apart, but couldn’t.
8/10. This is better than the first game, but not a significant improvement. The graphics and gameplay are a little better, but you’re doing the same thing. At least other beat’em ups add or swap around their characters from game to game.
Pros
- Easy to play
- Fun with a friend
- Good Graphics and gameplay
Cons
- Short
- Fairly easy
- Not a big improvement over the first game
Conclusion
I like Golden Axe II more than the first game in the series. It isn’t as good as the arcade sequel, but it is better than the first game. The graphics are a little better, and the gameplay is an improvement.
This is another game that I didn’t know about until the late 1990s. I believe I first played it with my friend Alex, when we started collecting retro games. It was one of those games that would get messed up if you used the 6-button controller. For a little while, that was my biggest memory about the game.
When I revisited this game, I found it to be a lot of fun. I enjoyed it more than the first game, but not as much as Revenge of the Death Adder. I can see why some people wouldn’t like this game. The reviewers certainly had some interesting things to say about it.
If you liked this post, please check out some of my other posts on beat’em ups. Some examples are Golden Axe and Alien Storm.