GOLDEN AXE GRAPHICS COMPARISON | Arcade VS Genesis VS 32X

#goldenaxe #segagenesis #retrogaming
Is Golden Axe's home port as excellent as its arcade?
0:00 Intro
1:13 TITLE SCREEN
1:25 CHARACTER SELECT
1:39 OLD FIREWOOD KINGDOM
3:21 BOSS
3:37 CAMP
4:06 TURTLE VILLAGE
6:00 TURTLE ISLAND
7:47 FIEND'S PATH
9:33 ROYAL CASTLE
10:52 DEATH ADDER
13:10 KING'S RESCUE
13:27 EXTRA LEVEL
14:11 DEATH BRINGER
15:01 32X ENDING
15:22 GENESIS ENDING
15:46 ARCADES ENDING

[@ENFDO]

Arcade ending is present in Amiga 500 version.

[@playnalisis]

That is good news. Maybe one day I’ll do a video on it.

[@aztekno2012]

Thank you for this!

[@GinisisDroid]

Great and interesting video of my childhood game, keep up the good work

[@playnalisis]

Thank you. 😊

[@dyscotopia]

It would have been nice to get some sprite scaling in

[@boilingmanTV]

Great video, i hoped you might cover the weird labels above some dwellings in the genesis version 🤔

[@playnalisis]

I don’t understand.

[@boilingmanTV]

@@playnalisis In the genesis version, in the later levels, some doorways and windows in the bg have strange street numbers and things written above them. Thought you might have some answers as to where these came from or what they're in reference to. As far as I'm aware, these didn't appear in the other versions of the game.

[@playnalisis]

The extra level but it’s not in the other version to compare it to. I did mention it but didn’t cover it.

[@agirotto1]

I quite like the more saturated colors on the Genesis. Too bad there's so many cut scenery.

[@gpfmiller1977]

My best friend in grade 4 got a Genesis WAY before it was available in Canada, and this was his first game (aside from the pack in Altered Beast). I know the 32X is a far newer system and can do some really neat tricks... but playing this on the Genesis on day 1 was something I won't ever forget. It was the arcade.

[@playnalisis]

Yep it was a great port. I am sure with a bigger cart they would of done more

[@denozed6554]

I loved tge comparison thank you.

[@playnalisis]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BearKlaw]

I laughed out loud when the level with the tortoise shell was compared to a giant toe nail with fungus. 🤣

[@playnalisis]

I mean it looks Like a huge fungus toe. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Sinn0100]

The Sega Genesis port of Golden Axe was incredible in 1989. It has more content than the arcade original but is invariably constrained by a much smaller ROM size. I see no viable reason the Sega Genesis couldn't play an almost arcade perfect version of Golden Axe without a 32X or any helper chips.

[@playnalisis]

Yea it was for being a 4 megacart game

[@CoolCoyote]

oh man thts rery gg 5 dorrah

[@glennshoemake4200]

Excellent job, i can now really appreciate the differences with the 32x version.

[@playnalisis]

Thank you.

[@kevinhoward5520]

Awesome vid

[@playnalisis]

Thank you. 🙏

[@theflightfile9578]

My version of 32X includes the arcade background in the warrior select screen

[@playnalisis]

Weird.

[@theflightfile9578]

@@playnalisis watch some longplays of it on KZbin. It has the arcade background and also the clouds on the title screen!

[@rodrigoc.teixeira5242]

Pensei que o de 32X teria fase extra igual ao do Mega Drive. Decepcionei.

[@NoSpamForYou]

Great analysis. They should have just done a 32Mbit Genesis conversion. It would look almost identical.

[@playnalisis]

I don’t think it would have. Maybe close but not perfect.

[@RockRedGenesis]

Ah, Golden Axe, great game. Ported to anything with a hamster wheel! (talking about the micro computers, obviously, especially the Speccy!)

[@playnalisis]

Which micro computers? Speccy?

[@RockRedGenesis]

@@playnalisis ZX Spectrum

[@xcoder1122]

The game was fun to play but disappointing how short it is ... and that's even though I just played the Genesis version and didn't know the Arcade version is even shorter.

[@playnalisis]

The extra level is just a big room. No big deal.

[@paultheretrogamer]

Top video

[@playnalisis]

Thank you 😊

[@grongy6122]

great analysis, but i'm confused. you do know 32x version is homebrew right? because throughout the video i hear stuff like "why did sega removed it from the 32x version"

[@playnalisis]

Oh i did. I apologize.

[@playnalisis]

Btw what part of the video is the “why Sega removed it from 32x”

[@marcos-lq2nh]

This 32X emulator is not good, you could notice in the game's intro that the sky with the clouds was missing and in SELECT PLAYER that the background is completely dark. Not so on original hardware and decent emulators.

[@almeidachannel7121]

Nice Video ! Sub & Big Like ! Love Retro Genesis Games !

[@playnalisis]

Thanks I got more videos coming.

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

The 32X has no hardware accelerated sprites and scrolling capabilities. The fact that the background scrolls smoothly is already a feat in itself. Most devs back then did it the other way around and let the Genesis handle backgrounds because it's more demanding while having the 32X dealing with sprites. This is probably why there's no paralax, the 32X simply can't handle it on its own. On the other hand the absence of paralax on the Genesis version is probably another side effect of trying to cram the game in a 4Mb cartridge.

[@playnalisis]

Thanks. So you think that the drive was just a waste of hardware?

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

@@playnalisis The 32X was good at doing what the Genesis couldn't: basic 3D (Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Doom) and sprite scaling games (like Space Harrier, Afterburner). In conventional 2D games the Genesis still had to do most of the heavy lifting. They could have shipped the 32X with some more 2D capable hardware, but then if the Genesis wasn't needed that much to make it run why sell it as an add-on and not a stand alone console in the first place? It was too niche to actually work. The only two options were either an add-on that still needed to rely heavily on the host console's hardware to keep costs down with all the limitations it implies or a more powerful system that would question its own the relevance as an add-on and not a stand alone console and that would also compete with the Saturn on top of that. They went with the former which is the lesser of two evils, but still a pretty bad solution. If we're playing "what if", I would have done what NEC did with their PC Engine: no 32X, just a RAM expansion for the SEGA CD instead and call it a day. Most CD consoles back then were held back by a lack of memory. Way less wasted R&D resources, much cheaper to produce, more affordable and no internal competition with the Saturn.

[@playnalisis]

@kathleendelcourt8136 I wished they didn’t release it and stuck with the SVP Chip for a little more games.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@playnalisis So do I, but it would have been fatal, financially. Sega couldn't get a good deal on chips the way Nintendo could. It's why they had to charge so much for Virtua Racing and games like Phantasy Star IV, just to turn a profit. And why they preferred add-ons, which were just a one time investment for a future library. But it's worse than that makes it sound. Leaked financial documents reveal retailers overestimated demand for late release Genesis titles, and Sega had to both meet that demand and buy back any unsold stock. They were bleeding money, and Sega of America's generous contracts were to blame. Perhaps this helps to explain why Sega of Japan wasn't their biggest fan...though they'd soon have their own chance to screw themselves over with American retailers.

[@damin9913]

Sega Genesis is the only console that has all the greatest games on😊

[@playnalisis]

Sorry but I disagree.

[@damin9913]

@@playnalisis it's my option

[@playnalisis]

@damin9913 that is fine by me.❤️

[@ButcherGrindslam]

Those are King and Princess, not Queen.

[@playnalisis]

Yeah, I noticed that when the video went live. Sorry. 😞

[@playnalisis]

Totally forgot when I got to the end as I was editing the video. They look like king and queen.

[@xTerrySunderlandx]

taking in count the 32x version is not oficial but fanmade... you could compare the hackrom version of genesis (which looks better and closer to the arcade version than the original version) kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXnOYYFpfbqUhac

[@xTerrySunderlandx]

7:02 the reason the doors are not circular is very easy to answer... they are saving space and memory by not adding different pixel tiles, they simply rehuse the same sprite and utilize less memory (even when the cartridge can hold a LOT more space than the space they used for golden axe, this is an early genesis game in a small rom).

[@lNFERNO]

Update the 32X versión to v0.9.1: This hack enhances the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version of Golden Axe by using the 32X’s graphics capabilities. The maps are reworked based on the arcade version of the game and displayed using the 32X. Eye animations for the turtle and eagle are back in Uses the arcade version of the door open/close animation Demo/Attract mode resembles the arcade game more closely The cast screen had been moved to the main menu and is now interactive Credits are skippable The duel mode had been removed (for now).

[@playnalisis]

Awesome. Need to check out this update

[@chazzw5388]

The 32x is fully able to run its own sprites and backgroun and polygond! Note virtua racing and mortal konbat! The 32x goldenaxe is lazy programming period!!! The sprite power of 32x can produce over 3,700 sprites! There is no reason to make genesis sized sprites!!! Thats lazy!!! And static sound of genesis!!! True programmers made 32x games with real 32x sprites, polygons, and scale rotatio sprites and background!

[@playnalisis]

The 32x relied on Genesis. So it can’t work along. Maybe for 3D games