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Golden Axe is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up video game released back in 1989 by Sega. The game was published for the System-16-B arcade and is the first game of the series. Golden Axe was later followed by various sequels and remakes. The game was developed by Makoto Uchida, mostly known for his creation of Altered Beast, and it was ported for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Master System in the following years after the original release date.

The story happens in a fictional high-fantasy medieval world called Yuria. The King of Yuria was captured by Death Adder, an evil entity, and holds the majesty captive in his castle. Death Adder finds the Golden Axe as well, which is a magical emblem of the planet, and threatens everybody to destroy it unless he will be accepted by the population as the new King ofYuria.

Three warriors start on their quest to rescue the land and to avenge their losses provoked by Death Adder. One of them, Gilius Thunderhead, had his twin brother killed by Adder’s soldiers and another one, Ax Battler, got his mother murdered by the same antagonist. The third one, Tyris Flare, had both her parents killed by Death Adder.

The player can progress to another level by fighting and defeating Death Adder’s soldiers, including men with clubs and maces, skeleton warriors and knights. The playable character can jump, cast spells and use their personal weapons. The magic spells are an important part of the game, being very effective on the enemies. The damage they can produce depends on how many “bars” of magic power the player has available. The bars can be filled by collecting magic potions during the game. Each character can cast different spells. Ax Battler can cast earth spells, Gilius Thunderhead casts lightning spells and Tyris casts fire magic.

The player will find during the game several steeds. One of the weakest is Cockatrice, who was also featured in Altered Beast, which can be used to knock down enemies using its tale. Dragon, which is a bit more powerful, can shoot fireballs or breathe fire.