Golden Axe II

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Golden Axe II
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console, iOS, Steam, Nintendo Switch Online
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (JP, EU) Sega of America (US) Sega Corporation Sega Corporation
Developer: Sega CS1 M2
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Hent Gruppen (SE rental) Tec Toy (BR) Samsung (KR) Consumer Electronics (ZA)
Sound driver: SMPS 68000
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991-12-27 ¥6,0006,000 G-4062 US 1992-01 1122 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 1994 SUBsub EU 1991-12 1122 EU ▼ (Sega Channel) 1996 SUBsub PT 199x UK 1992-02-17 £34.9934.99 1122 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x AU (Gold) 1996 FGOL15SMC CA 199x BR 1992-02 KR 1991 GM4024JG ZA 199x JP 199x ¥? ? UK 199x £? ? JP ▼ 2007-06-05 600pts600 US ▼ 2007-06-11 800pts800 EU ▼ 2007-07-06 800pts800 AU ▼ 2007-07 800pts800 US ▼ 2010-10-26 $2.992.99 71112 EU ▼ 2010-10-26 €2.492.49 71112 DE ▼ 2010-10-26 €2.492.49 71112 UK ▼ 2010-10-26 £1.991.99 71112 AU ▼ 2010-10-26 $3.493.49 71112 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 71112 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 71112 DE ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 71112 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 71112 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 71112 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 71112 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 71112 DE ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 71112 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 71112 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 71112 JP ▼ 2011-04-22 ¥333 (350)350i 9+ US ▼ 2011-04-21 $2.992.99 9+ EU ▼ 2011-04-21 €1.591.59 UK ▼ 2011-04-21 £1.991.99 AU ▼ 2011-04 $2.992.99 JP ▼ 2022-12-16 SUBsub US ▼ 2022-12-15 SUBsub EU ▼ 2022-12-16 SUBsub UK ▼ 2022-12-16 SUBsub AU ▼ 2022-12-16 SUBsub

Golden Axe II (ゴールデンアックスII) is a 1991 beat-em-up and the direct sequel to the critically acclaimed Golden Axe. Unlike that game, Golden Axe II is a Sega Mega Drive exclusive, though it has since been re-released as part of numerous Mega Drive compilations. The game features Ax-Battler, Tyris-Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead once again, as they face a new foe, Dark Guld.

It is extremely similar to the previous game, with various changes. For this reason, Golden Axe II has received mixed reviews from critics; many claim the game is merely a re-hash of the previous entry in the series, and that very little is added to the core gameplay. Though some have praised the graphics and music, others have criticised the game's sound effects which are said to detract from the atmosphere of the game.

Story

Three years after the defeat of Death Adder, the land is once again in peril as the evil emperor Dark Guld has escaped his confinement. He has stolen the Golden Axe and raised an army of demonic followers.

Gameplay

The game is a belt-scrolling beat-'em-up, like its predecessor, and can be played by one player or by two players simultaneously. Once again, the heroes must recover the Golden Axe by fighting through multiple stages, each of which ends in a fight against a group of bosses.

Characters move in any direction using the D-Pad. They can run with or . They jump with and can jump higher when running. Characters attack enemies in front of them with and can attack while jumping. Attacking while running performs a charge attack. They can grab enemies in close range with and then throw them by pressing or . Enemies can be thrown onto other enemies or thrown off of cliffs. They can attack enemies all around them with + (replacing the "back attack" of the original game).

Magic books can be gathered along the way by attacking wizards. This increases the magic meter of the characters, giving them the ability to perform magic spells that attack every enemy on the screen at once. The power of the magic increases at certain marked thresholds, depending on how many books are possessed. The lowest-level magic spell can be cast by pressing . Higher-level spells can be selected by holding , which incrementally fills the magic meter, then cast by releasing when the meter has highlighted the desired level. This behavior can be changed in the options to mirror the original game, where the highest-level magic ability is always performed when is pressed.

Each character has a health meter and loses health points as the character takes damage from foes. When the meter is empty, the character loses a life but revives in place at the cost of an extra life. If there are no extra lives remaining, the game can only be continued if the player has credits remaining. The length of the health meter (between 3 and 5) can be set in the options, and there are three difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard). The highest difficulty setting adds new enemies to increase the challenge. At the end of the game, a rank is awarded based on the number of enemies defeated and lives lost.

Various balance changes have been made from the first game. Enemies could be trapped in endless charge attacks loops in the prequel, but this is no longer possible as two consecutive charge attacks trigger a short invincibility window. The previously exploitable jumping attacks have also been toned down in strength, as certain enemy types such as lizardmen and claw-wielding enemies can effectively defend against these attacks.

Characters

	Ax-Battler
	A fierce barbarian warrior. He fights with a two-handed sword, which gives him the strongest attack and medium range. He is a competent magic user and has four levels of wind magic.
	Tyris-Flare
	A ferocious Amazon warrior. She fights with a two-handed sword, which gives her the weakest attack and worst range. However, she is the best magic user and has six levels of fire magic.
	Gilius Thunderhead
	A fearless dwarf warrior. He fights with an axe, which gives him a medium attack but the largest range. He is the worst magic user and has three levels of earth magic.

Bizarrians

Rideable monsters called Bizarrians appear in the stages, ridden by enemies. After dismounting the enemy riding them, a character can hop onto the creature to ride it by moving onto it. Each Bizarrian has its own unique attack. They cannot attack while jumping but can perform a charge attack while running. Characters are knocked off of them when attacked.

	Chicken Leg
	Attacks by whipping its tail.
	Green Dragon
	Attacks by kicking with its hind legs.
	Red Dragon
	Attacks by spewing a stream of fire.

Items

Items are dropped by wizards when they are hit. Items are picked up by touching them.

	Bread
	Restores one point of health to the character.
	Meat
	Restores one point of health to the character.
	Magic Book
	Adds another point to the character's magic meter.

Stages

	Ravaged Village
	Ruins
	Tower
	Dragon's Throat Cave
	Castle Gates
	Castle
	Dark Guld's Chamber
	The final boss can only be faced when playing on Normal or Hard difficulty.

The Duel

The Duel

There are two separate Duel modes, depending on whether one or two players are playing.

In the single-player mode, the player chooses any character and fights a series of 15 battles in a single-screen arena against progressively harder enemies. Enemies sometimes appear alone or sometimes in groups. At the end, the player's performance is graded and given a rank.

In the two-player mode, each player chooses a character (and cannot choose the same character), then they fight a single match against one another, using the same controls and moves as the regular game.

History

Development

The game's sprites were drawn using a touchpad drawing tablet. The tablet used positional sensor technology developed by Sega. The same technology was used as a controller interface for the earlier 1987 arcade game World Derby and the later Sega Pico console.

Legacy

Golden Axe II was followed by Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder in arcades in 1992 and by Golden Axe III on the Sega Mega Drive in 1993.

Comic adaptation

Sonic the Comic included few "The Legend of Golden Axe" comic strips the plot of which take place after Golden Axe II, the first story arc dealing with the resurrection of Dark Guld. The story arcs are "Citadel of Dead Souls" (issue #1 to issue #6) and "Plague of Serpents" (#13 to #18).

Versions

Emulated versions of the game were released for the Wii Virtual Console, Steam, and iOS. The iOS version was removed from sale on iTunes in 2015.

Version history

Main article: Golden Axe II/Changelog.

System	Version	Size	Date	Comment	Ref	Icon
	0000020000000000000000000000002.0.0	5.2MB	201211292012-11-29	iOS6 Support
	0000010000000000000000000000001.0.0	4.3MB	201104212011-04-21

Production credits

Main article: Golden Axe II/Production credits.

Digital manuals

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  Steam manual

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  Mega Drive Mini 2 US manual

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  Mega Drive Mini 2 EU manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Golden Axe II/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

File:GoldenAxeII MD JP TVAdvert 1.mp4

JP TV advert

File:GoldenAxeII MD JP TVAdvert 1.mp4

Print advert in Mean Machines Sega (UK) #11: "September 1993" (1993-07-30)

Print advert in GamePro (US) #31: "February 1992" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-01: "January 1992" (1991-12-07)

Print advert in Hobby Consolas (ES) #6: "Marzo 1992" (1992-0x-xx)

Artwork

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Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 ACE (UK) NTSC 78 Ação Games (BR) 75 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 68 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 73 Console XS (UK) PAL 75 Cool Gamer (RU) 50 Computer & Video Games (UK) 78 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 73 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 60 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 9 (RU) 80 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 61 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 68 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 80 Gamers (DE) 67 Games-X (UK) 80 Génération 4 (FR) 86 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 60 Hobby Consolas (ES) 90 Joypad (FR) 78 Joystick (FR) 82 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 65 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 65 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 77 Mega (UK) PAL 92 Mega (UK) PAL 62 Mega Action (UK) 90 Mega Force (FR) PAL 80 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 58 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 70 Mean Machines (UK) 69 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 69 Player One (FR) 86 Play Time (DE) 93 Power Play (DE) 74 Sega Power (UK) PAL 81 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 76 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 78 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 75 Sega Force Mega (UK) 88 Sega Force (UK) PAL 84 Sega Mega Drive Review (RU) 70 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 72 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 55 User (GR) PAL 87 Video Games (DE) 74

	74
Based on 46 reviews

Golden Axe II

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart Manual EU Manual

Mega Drive, SE rental (Hent)
Cover

Mega Drive, SE rental (HENT; Alt)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, AU (Sega Gold Collection)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, CA
Cover

Mega Drive, ZA
Cover

Mega Play version

Mega Play,
Cover

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,

Technical information

Main article: Golden Axe II/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: Mega Drive
• Nintendo catalogue pages: US, UK, AU
• Golden Axe II on iTunes: JP, US (offline)
• Golden Axe II on Steam