GAME CLEAR No. 31 -- Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder

Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (1992, Arcade)

Developer: SEGA AM1
Publisher: SEGA
Clear Date: 5/30/2021
Clear Platform: Astro City Mini

Perhaps the primary selling point of the Astro City Mini for many is the inclusion of Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder, which had never seen a home release prior. While I always found the Genesis version of the original Golden Axe to be just okay, this game was sufficiently hyped to have me excited to try it. I’m happy to say it did not disappoint. I started and finished this right after Alien Storm, and it definitely felt like a step up.

Just like the original, this game is a fantasy beat ’em up in which a varied cast of characters team up to defeat the evil Death Adder. I can’t say much else about the story because it’s in Japanese, but fortunately the game is plenty fun without understanding the underlying motiviations of the protagonists and Death Adder. Players can select from four fighters: “Goah the giant, Stern Blade the barbarian, Dora the Centauride, and Little Trix, a young elf lad who carries a pitchfork” (lifted directly from Wikipedia). Like several other SEGA beat ’em ups, each character obviously has their standard “mash the punch button” combo along with a magic attack (that requires magic potions) that behaves as a super move. Familiar stuff. Although I wasn’t able to figure out exactly how, it seems the game also responds to different punch timings and maybe directional inputs in determining exactly how you pummel your foes. This goes a bit deeper than some other games of the genre at the time and is neat, even if I was mashing most of the time anyway. Additionally, there were also some aerial options that I didn’t fully figure out but were welcome also. Finally, like the original, players can knock enemies off their mounts and ride them themselves, adding some variety to the gameplay.

The heroes travel across the land to free the people enslaved by Death Adder and ultimately confront the man himself at his castle that is in the shape of a bust of the man himself. As with Alien Storm, this was a largely effortless endeavor thanks to infinite credits, but punching guys really did feel good, so it was far from boring. Plus, as always, the point of beat ’em ups to me is as much the opportunity to hang out with a friend as anything, and it serves that purpose well. Co-op is a lot of fun and helps make the nutty amount of enemies on screen manageable. If you’re lucky, you can even gang up on enemies and perform a co-op suplex for huge damage (even on bosses!). Fun stuff.

Another thing I have to rave about is the graphics. Benefitting from arcade hardware, Revenge of Death Adder looks really good. The protagonists and enemies alike are animated very well. An example that struck me was that when finishing off an enemy, they’ll often stagger back a bit before falling dead. An ordinary beat ’em up would usually just feature a canned knockback animation and then have the enemy flicker and vanish. It’s a small thing, but it gives the game a nice sense of polish. The game can handle a ton of enemies on screen at once too without missing a beat. That’s all to say nothing of the environments as well, which are detailed and gorgeous. The sound design compliments this too, with great pummeling noises and screams alongside nice environmental effects like flowing waterfalls or crackling fires. The solid OST on top makes for an audiovisual treat.

If you want a solid, pretty beat ’em up to pass the time with a vaccinated friend, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder. The game has a couple diverging paths too, which means I’m almost certain to give it at least one more go at some point in the future. Definitely recommend.