Article 23952 of rec.games.video: Path: uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.edu!umd5!is-next.umd.edu!rogata From: rogata@is-next.umd.edu (Richard Scott Ogata) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Golden Axe II review Message-ID: <10609@umd5.umd.edu> Date: 14 Dec 91 16:36:25 GMT Sender: news@umd5.umd.edu Organization: Comp. Sci. Ctr., Univ. of MD, College Park, MD 20742 Lines: 73 Originator: rogata@is-next.umd.edu Well, I purchased Golden Axe II last night, and after about 5 hours of play, here are my impressions. OVERVIEW : The same trio of characters from the last game are reunited to do battle with a new threat, Dark Guld. There are 6 levels of hacking and slashing to contend with. MECHANICS : Much the same as before. Each character can hit, jump, run, throw, etc. The only major change in character moves is that the special moves for each character have been changed and improved. Gilius Thunderhead (the dwarf) for example no longer does that stupid roll of his; he now plants his axe in the ground and whirls around it, knocking down all opponents in range. Hard to describe, but it looks neat. There are now two ways to use magic, normal and special. Normal magic behaves exactly as it did in the first game. With special magic, you can choose how many of your magic points you wish to use, rather than just automatically using them all. The duel section of the game works the same as before for two players, but a one player aspect has been added. In the one player version, you fight 15 battles against various beasties from the game. If you win all 15 battles, you win the duel. Fighting has been improved somewhat. Monsters seem a bit more intelligent. Some will step out of the way when you charge them, for example. Also, you can no longer throw all opponents, and some can pick you up and throw you! When you do manage to throw monsters, you can hit and knock down other opponents with them. (A favorite tactic of mine). The options screen allows you to choose how much health you will have during the game, and there is now a difficulty setting as well. Gone are the thieves, and in their place are wizards. Although these behave the same as thieves during the bonus (sleep) stages (ie. they helplessly run around until you've whacked them for all their worth.) these guys are not so willing to give up their magic when they appear during regular play. They swing their staffs and cast energy balls at you. You earn your magic here. There are some new riding monsters which are a lot of fun, including an update "chicken leg". Gotta love that name. GRAPHICS: Good, but they didn't wow me in any way. The characters look nearly identical to the first game, although they changed Tyris Flare's costume a bit. The monsters are interesting, and there seem to be a lot more BIG monsters than before. The backgrounds are in the same style as before, with a little improvement. In the first game, I don't remember ANY use of multiple scrolling backgrounds, but in this game I do remember one scene where there is a river of lava flowing by, complete with heat distortion, and that looks pretty good. Graphics for magic have been changed, with mixed results. SOUND: They changed all the sound effects from the first one. Once you get used to the change it's an improvement, with the possible exception of the "swinging weapon" sound. The music is very nice, better than before, but cannot be turned off. Oh, well. COMMENTS: A nice sequel to Golden Axe, overall. Still a very fun two player game. My major gripe is that, like it's predecessor, it's too short! I bought it last night, and I got to the final screen on normal level after about 5 tries. Haven't killed Dark Guld, but give me an hour. If it weren't for the fact that the Golden Axe games are the only games my wife likes to play two player, I would have rented this and mastered it in the three days Blockbuster would have given me. Still, it is fun to try and improve your grade on you final "report card", and this game is a little more challenging than the first one, so there is some replay value. Here's how I'd rate this one, with my ratings for the first game shown for comparison: Golden Axe II Golden Axe Gameplay 8 8 Graphics 8 7 Sound effects 7 6 Music 8 7 Difficulty 6 5 -- Rich Ogata * Highlander 2: There should only have been... rogata@umd5.umd.edu * ONE!!! Article 23955 of rec.games.video: Path: uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!midiline!jared From: jared@midiline.la.ca.us ('286 Highlander) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Golden Axe II Message-ID: Date: 14 Dec 91 18:31:22 GMT Organization: MIDILine BBS - Altadena, CA - (818) 797-3285 Lines: 21 This game is harder, and although not technically BETTER than Golden Axe, it does have it's strong points. The music is fairly well tempoed to the era you're in and overall, I'd say this game is worth buying. Some of the creatures in the game are REALLY interesting -- for example... Dog-men, back-kick dragons, lizard-men, and... (gasp) bodiless suits of armour!!! And few techniques used in GA (Golden Axe) will work in GA II, so find other techniques! The thing that bothers me is that a Sega re(1-800-USA-SEGA) said that Golden Axe II wouldn't be out until after Christmas... a bit into January! Hmmph! Either he didn't know what was going on, or he was outright lying to me just to build up my anticipation! Oh, and I also go Sega's list of games for the Genesis and Master System. Wanna know how much they want for Golden Axe (not Golden Axe II, mind you)... $70!!! What a rip! Ha! Enough rambling... go out and buy GA II... a worthy successor! Jared (Reply in Email, if you want... I like Email!)