You family is dead and your entire village is in ruins. There's only one creature evil enough to slaughter and destroy an entire town of innocent civilians, the Death Adder. In Golden Axe, its up to you to exact revenge rid the world of one of the most vile and heinous beings to ever walk the planet. As either Gilius Thunderhead or Tyris Flare, you'll journey through a world full of dragons, undead skeletons, and brutal barbarians as you seek out Death Adder. Utilize your impressive axe skills or your mastery of magic to destroy any foe that dares to challenge you, and enlist the help of several animal friends that will make you an unstoppable force. Whether youre alone or with a friend, Death Adder must pay the consequences.

There are two modes of play in Golden Axe: Arcade mode and Battle mode. Arcade mode pits you against the minions of the evil Dark Adder in numerous levels. This mode is identical to the arcade game, you go through numerous levels vanquishing enemies of various types. You can use magic to aid you, or you can just beat the crap out of everyone ala-Streets of Rage or Final Fight. This mode is a blast to play and is simple, mindless fun. Battle mode is a rather unique (for it's time) one-on-one fighting mode pitting you against one of Dark Adder's many minions.

The character designs were pretty cool for their time (hey, who can't love a game with an elf in it?), and they were all packed with details, and rather large in stature. Even the enemies in the game have tons of details, you'll be able to distinguish snouts on some of the enemies, as well as mouths. The in-game environments were beautiful, all of them featured a unique look and feel that set them apart from the rest, and they were all full of tiny details that added to the level.

The music fits the game's mythological theme perfectly, all of the songs have a heroic sound to them. The sound effects are, for the most part excellent.

Golden Axe features:

• Based on the arcade hit
• Two playable characters
• Use weapons and magic to defeat your enemies
• Recruit animal friends to help your cause
• One or two players

Golden Axe is a side-scrolling arcade fighting game released by Sega. Makoto Uchida was the primary developer of the game and also was responsible for the creation of Altered Beast. The game places the player in control of one of three warriors each bent on revenge against the vile dictator Death Adder. Death Adder has taken over the once peaceful land of Yuria and murdered their friend and partner, Alex.

The game focuses on three heroes. One of them is an axe wielding dwarf, Gilius Thunderhead, from the mines of Wolud whose twin brother was killed by the soldiers of Death Adder. Another is a male barbarian, Ax Battler, wielding a two handed broadsword looking for revenge for the murder of his mother. The last is a long-sword wielding Tyris Flare, a female amazon, whose parents were killed by Death Adder.

The forces of Death Adder have descended upon your village, slaughtering your family and causing a ruckus amongst the populous. With hordes of muscled warriors, dragons, skeletons, and other unpleasant undead fellows, it looks like the forces of darkness are going to have their way unless you do something about it. Armed only with a sword or axe, you head into Death Adder's stronghold, ready to put the hurt on these villains.

Everything from the arcade game is here. All three of the characters have made the translation, their magic, and their enemies. All stages remain and they have even added an extra one at the end since the arcade game was disappointingly short. Two players can play co-op or settle their differences inside an arena. There's a survival mode too.

Golden Axe. I am 10 ithink that it will keep you playing for a day.