The land of Yuria has been invaded and is now ruled by the iron fist of Death Adder, who secured his throne by seizing the Golden Axe™. Three brave warriors now rise to the challenge of defeating Death Adder and his soldiers and returning peace to the Kingdom.
The game takes place in the fictional land of Yuria, a Conan the Barbarian-style high fantasy medieval world. An evil entity known as Death Adder has captured the King of Yuria and his daughter, and holds them captive in their castle. He also finds the Golden Axe, the magical emblem of Yuria, and threatens to destroy both the axe and the royal family unless the people of Yuria accept him as their ruler. Three warriors set out on a quest to rescue the King and avenge their losses at the hands of Death Adder. The first is a battle axe-wielding dwarf, Gilius Thunderhead, from the mines of Wolud, whose twin brother was killed by the soldiers of Death Adder. The second is a broadsword-wielding barbarian, Ax Battler, looking for revenge for the murder of his mother. The last is a longsword-wielding Amazonian, Tyris Flare, whose parents were both murdered by Death Adder.
The warriors rescue the inhabitants of the ransacked Turtle Village, which turns out to be situated on the shell of a giant turtle. The turtle takes the characters across the sea, and they then fly to the castle on the back of a giant eagle. Once at the castle, they defeat Death Adder, who is wielding the Golden Axe, and save the land. In the Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega-CD/Sega CD, Game Boy Advance, and WonderSwan Color ports, the characters also battle Death Adder's mentor, Death Bringer, as the true final boss. After the final battle, the warriors receive a magical golden axe that imbues the player with immortality.
The arcade release of the game concludes with a fourth wall-breaking end sequence depicting three children playing a Golden Axe arcade system in a closed arcade casino. The arcade game short-circuits and causes an electrical fire, which magically makes all the characters from within the game enter the "real world", and begin chasing the kids out of the building, while the three warriors that were the last to exit the arcade, run in hot pursuit to rescue them.
Progress in the game is made by fighting through Death Adder's henchmen, including men armed with clubs and maces, skeleton warriors, and knights. Players are able to attack by using their weapon and casting spells that hurt all enemies on the screen. The force of this magic depends on the number of "bars" of magic power currently available. The bars are filled by collecting "magic potions" attained by kicking the blue thief character who then drops the potions. This character appears during regular levels and bonus stages in between levels. There will also occasionally be a green thief character that drops food which replenishes health. The dwarf Gilius is able to cast lightning spells. The barbarian Ax casts earth spells and the female warrior Tyris casts fire magic. Each character has a different maximum number of magic bars and varying ranges of attack.
Various steeds known as bizarrians are found in the game. These can be mounted when the enemy rider is knocked off, or if one is found dormant. The least powerful steed is known as the Cockatrice (which also appeared in Altered Beast), that can be used to knock down enemies with a swipe of its tail. The more powerful dragon, which can either shoot fireballs or breathe fire depending on its colour scheme, is found later in the game.
In certain areas, skeleton swordsmen emerge from the ground, like in the film Jason and the Argonauts.
Golden Axe was re-released and is no longer abandonware. You can purchase the game from:
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