3ERMS Golden Axe Warrior

When Golden Axe Warrior was released in 1991 it was met with much
ambivalence. For the most part, the media criticized it for being a Zelda
rip-off and casually cast it aside. But fortunately there were some
gamers willing to jump off the Nintendo ship and sail with Sega. Those
intelligent enough to do so discovered that Golden Axe Warrior was far
from being just another mediocre clone.

Now, I'm not saying that Golden Axe Warrior is the most original game
ever developed. There is no doubt that Sega was trying to capitalize on
the success of Nintendo's Zelda. They did what every other gaming
company does in this industry---build off other companies successes
and innovations. And while it's usually other company's ripping off
Sega's creations, even Sega couldn't pass up the opportunity to
improve on one of the greatest videogames ever created.

But what so many of the gaming magazines overlooked about Golden
Axe Warrior is that Sega actually did improve upon Nintendo's original
adventure RPG. And while I'm not trying to claim that Golden Axe
Warrior absolutely destroys Zelda (after all, it was the original), it
certainly is a better game in a lot of areas.

Gameplay

Golden Axe Warrior, as you might have guessed, plays very similarly to
the original Zelda on NES. You take control of a young hero trying to
end the reign of the evil giant, Death Adder. Armed with a small sword
and a shield you set out trying to collect the nine crystals that Death
Adder has hidden in separate labyrinths. Although I must add that the
story does go deeper into themes of betrayal, revenge, and heroism.

Each new labyrinth brings about a new special item that allows you to
reach new areas of the world map. As you progress in the game you will
continually upgrade your weapons, armor, and shields to allow for you
to battle against the stronger enemies. You will also receive special
items such as the magic rope (to climb mountains, a canoe (to cross
rivers), and a ship (to sail the seas to other continents) to reach the
later labyrinths.

Gameplay involves the standard RPG requirement of traveling around to
different towns and getting hints and clues from villagers. However, you
must also search other areas of the world map (there is practically a
hidden area on every block of the map) to find those overly helpful cave
dwellers who will assist you in your task of world salvation.

At first glance, Golden Axe Warrior seems to have an almost identical
fighting system to Zelda (just run around the screen and stab enemies
repeatedly until they die), you will quickly see that it is actually much
more advanced. With multiple weapons to choose from, Sega forces the
gamer discover when using the axe is advantageous to the sword (and
vice-versa). The axes sweeping attack motion, while less powerful than
the sword, allows you to hit enemies from an angle (instead of always
having to be lined up with them as in Zelda).

But best of all is the inclusion of magic! That's right, Golden Axe Warrior
has four magic techniques to learn that drastically improves the
gameplay over Zelda.

In sum, while at first Golden Axe Warrior just appears to be Zelda clone
with its similar story and gameplay, a deeper look will reveal that Sega
added improved the overall formula enough to greatly increase the fun
of the genre.

98%

Graphics

Golden Axe Warriors' graphics blow Zelda away. And while this is too be
expected as it was released years later on a more powerful system, the
graphics really are that much better. Colors shine more brightly, areas
are more detailed, there are more battle animations, and the close-up
pictures of the villagers in the dialogue mode are pure gold. There
really is nothing to complain about here. Golden Axe Warrior is one of
the best looking games of the 8-bit era.

100%

Sound

Although not necessarily bad, the sound in Golden Axe Warrior is one of
its weaker points. The theme music is catchy at first, but after awhile
becomes tiring (unlike Zelda's, which I would glady hum for weeks
straight).

And while I give props to Sega for giving each different weapon and
spell its own unique sound (the sound of the axe sweep even changes
when you chop down trees), I wish they would have done the same
thing for the different types of enemies. Nevertheless, on a system that
was always criticized for its sound capabilities, Golden Axe Warrior
doesn't do that badly (but it doesn't too that great either).

80%

Replay Value

RPGs tend to offer little for replay value---you know the story already,
you've tried out all the weapons and know all the secret areas, and you
aren't willing to invest dozens of hours to experience it all again.
Golden Axe Warrior is no different, which is quite disappointing. The
game is good enough to make you want to play more after you conquer
it, but Sega just didn't give you much of a reason too. In my opinion it
would have been cool as hell to repeat the game with all your items and
weapons carrying over. Sure it would be a breeze, but it would have
been a blast watching all the enemies die with one swing of the might
Golden Axe. Unfortunately this is all just a fantasy and there is little
reason to play the game again.

50%

Overall

Despite critics premature dismissals back in the early 90's when this
gem came out, Golden Axe Warrior is a great game. It's one of the best
games of the 8-bit era. If Nintendo hadn't monopolized the 8-bit U.S.
market back in the late 80's, this game might have been as popular as
Zelda was (though it should not be ignored that this game came out five
years after the original Zelda release, and this is part of the reason it
was so ignored). So, is Golden Axe Warrior just another Zelda knock-
off? Absolutely not. And while I'm not claiming it's a better game than
the original Zelda, I will say that Golden Axe Warrior adds enough to the
genre to make it an excellent adventure RPG. Too bad nobody noticed.

93%