Golden Axe Series - Retro Playthrough - July 2015

[JerryGreenwood]

First attempt
http://[img width=640 height=480]http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/JerryGreenwood/2015-07-01%2019.09.40_zpsaovm4uyp.jpg[/img]

Second attempt
http://[img width=640 height=480]http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a420/JerryGreenwood/2015-07-01%2019.48.43_zpsphkthxlc.jpg[/img]

[singlebanana]

Russlyman, your pics remind me of something I always wanted to know,  how is the level of class determined? And, what effect does it have on your character?

Yeah, this is something were going to need to look into before the podcast.

[JerryGreenwood]

how is the level of class determined? And, what effect does it have on your character?

Long story short....how far you get and how little you die.

As you can see from my photos above, I scored more points with Ax Battler than I did Tyris Flare (I think that's her name). BUT, with Ax, I beat the game with 11 deaths for a B grade. With Flare, I beat it with only 6 deaths for an A++ grade.

My guess for the "total score" at the top is related to how many enemies I killed. When I played with Flare, I let some of them fall into a pit.

[Fokakis79]

Thanks Jerry, but when your strength number goes up, is that just a score or do your attacks become stronger?

[JerryGreenwood]

Thanks Jerry, but when your strength number goes up, is that just a score or do your attacks become stronger?

Oh no, it's not that sophisticated. I would think Strength is some kind of equation based on how far you get, how many times you died, and your Total Score.

The Total Score is probably similar to how they keep score in Double Dragon and Double Dragon II, i.e. - 5 points for a jumping attack, 10 points for a down-thrust (for those who don't know, run > jump > attack), 10 points for a power attack (for those who don't know, press B+C at the same time), 15 points for a combo, etc.

[Fokakis79]

Gotcha, thanks for the info. I guess that mystery has been solved.

[Fokakis79]

I played through some Golden Axe I yesterday and today, was able to complete it on beginner. Still working on getting through the normal game. Made it to the last stage but was just a bit short.

I was able to complete Golden Axe II today.

Here are some pics of my playthrough. Shamefully, I have submitted my pics of playing by myself.

[MetalFRO]

Okay. Woah. I forgot how hard this game can be! I've been playing the last hour with Ax Battler on the 1st Golden Axe, and I'm getting slaughtered. For some reason, I get overzealous with trying to hit things (standard for beat-em-ups), and then I either get juggled, or the enemies do that annoying shoulder run thing. At times, doing that maneuver myself, or the jump slash, but that gets repetitive and annoying itself. I did this one move where I turned around and did this sword slash thing, but I don't remember how I pulled it off, so obviously I need to look at a manual scan 

On the bright side, I remembered the technique where, if you can get just one enemy engaged at a time, you can slash twice, bonk on the head twice, then pause slightly and repeat. That allows you to milk an enemy until they're dead. Unfortunately, it seems that being surrounded means not being able to do that very often. I don't remember the game being quite this hard. Anyone else have battle tips for a wounded barbarian? 

[Ikariniku]

After a busy start to the month, I got to play some Golden Axe.  I made it to level 6 before running out of continues.  However, I didn't know about the down strike or the two-button reverse attack.  Both would have been a big help.  I should have known better than to go in without knowing all the moves.  You usually have to be proficient with every move in your arsenal to make it through a beat 'em up.

The reverse attack is more necessary than it is in Streets of Rage 2.  Your character's default speed is glacial, so enemies always find a way to get behind you.  Without effective grappling for crowd control, the reverse attack is your only hope.

Since I couldn't control the crowd, I took advantage of the dash to turn the tables on the baddies.  I would zip across the screen to escape a double team, then charge back in to take out the trash.  The dash attack was also more forgiving than your standard attacks.  Your reach isn't as far as it looks, leading to some nasty surprises, especially against the skeletons.  Your character is also extremely narrow vertically, meaning you have to line up with foes precisely to hit them.  The baddies seem to know this, too, as they attack mercilessly on diagonal, a tactic usually employed by the player in beat 'em ups.

This lead to me constantly moving to the top and bottom edges of the screen to force enemies to line up properly.  It also helped to try and stay near the middle of the screen, as enemies seemed to be able to exploit the left and right edges even more than in standard beat 'em ups. 

I started out saving my magic for the bosses, but this was probably a mistake.  The large bosses are easily taken out with stick-and-move dash attacks.  Magic would be better used for when you're swarmed with small enemies.  That's a far more dangerous and out of control situation.

Despite being a popular gimmick in the game, I'm pretty sure the mounts are noob traps, much like weapons in other beat 'em ups.  While the mounts' attacks are powerful, they are also slow and require very precise positioning to use correctly.  The mounts also make you a huge, slow target for enemy dash attacks, which was how all my rides on the mounts came to an end.  I say leave them be.

I hadn't played Golden Axe in a while, and I found myself pleasantly surprised to see that it had deeper gameplay than I remembered, though it's not as refined as later beat 'em ups like Final Fight or Streets of Rage.

[singlebanana]

Great points all around! I'd like to discuss these points more when I'm back home from the holiday and have better access.

[Fokakis79]

To me Golden Axe I is more difficult than II.  These games are all about timing your attacks and keeping the enemy hordes on the screen in check. I defeated a few of the bosses by careful timing of the charge attack. I barely used the down thrust as most of the time it proved to be ineffective although it is very powerful if you can perfect it.

I think the beasts can be noob traps, but they can be great if you can properly use them. I was able to complete most of a stage using one beast. Some beasts have better attacks than others, so its good to know which ones to get.

Can't wait to hear more experiences from everybody. I haven't heard from anyone about Golden Axe III, so I would be interested to hear from those that can play it.

Great first week for this play through so far

[MetalFRO]

I have found that if you use the beasts effectively and can avoid the dash attacks, you can indeed complete a level with them almost entirely once you have them, even taking out the bosses.  Up until now, I've been saving my magic for bosses, but taking out groups of enemies makes sense, especially if your magic is entirely powered up and you can just dispatch them immediately.  I'm not sure I've been very successful at pulling off the down-thrust, but I have got the reverse attack down (B+C together), and that did save me in a pinch a couple times this afternoon.  Is the down thrust more powerful than just a jump and slash?

I've been able to make it to and defeat Death Adder once or twice, but haven't reached Death Bringer quite yet.  I've been using Ax Battler exclusively so far, though once I can get the game beat with him, I'll probably go back and try to do the same with the other 2 characters.  The limited number of continues really makes you work hard to be able to not take much damage, and really try to conserve your continues until the end, in case you need them for either Death Adder, or Death Bringer.  I did find that the strategy Ikariniku mentions above works well for most bosses, but did anyone find that didn't always work for the large sword and shield guys?  I found that sometimes the dash attack worked well, but other times, I got slashed a lot, so it seemed very inconsistent.

[JerryGreenwood]

The reverse attack is more necessary than it is in Streets of Rage 2.

I started out saving my magic for the bosses, but this was probably a mistake. 

Despite being a popular gimmick in the game, I'm pretty sure the mounts are noob traps

The reverse attack is very important in this game too. It does a lot of damage.

Magic is best used on the bosses, especially if you pick Flare. It's probably not as important with Thunderhead. His max magic damage is probably equal to one attack combo.

The Chicken Leg mount is garbage, but the dragons are very, very good.

Is the down thrust more powerful than just a jump and slash?

did anyone find that didn't always work for the large sword and shield guys?  I found that sometimes the dash attack worked well, but other times, I got slashed a lot, so it seemed very inconsistent.

Yes, the down thrust is more powerful.

The dash attack ALWAYS works against the large sword and shield guys (I think their names are Lt. Bitter and Col. Bitter), but you have to press attack EARLY in your dash and do it from a decent distance. If you do press attack too late (or close), he'll swat you out of the air. But overall, they shouldn't be a problem. The gray one is a joke, the red ones can be defeated by the Dragon you pick up in that stage, and the gold ones you can knock off the ledge.


All of the characters in Golden Axe I have the same health, walk speed, jump, and attack power. The only thing that separates them is magic and attack distance.

[russlyman]

ok after playing again a bit over the weekend and reading some of the post on here, I think I need to find out how to do the reverse attack and a down thrust. ha  I kept getting bullied and would end up losing a few lives just fighting regular guys on the screen.

I will say Golden Axe one from what I can tell all the attacks were the same damage amount. I tried each character and they didn't seem to be any different. Also the beast in there don't seem to do any more damage as well.

I have played through more of Golden Axe two, where it seems more balanced. I mean it makes sense since it is the squeal giving them time to fix the bugs.

[JerryGreenwood]

I think I need to find out how to do the reverse attack and a down thrust.

attack + jump

run > jump > attack (maybe hold down? I hold down anyway from Zelda 2 habit, but I'm not sure if you need to)