Golden Axe - A Legacy of Missed Opportunities

[@Gggmanlives]

Golden Axe on the Megadrive was legendary. So many hours spent in 2P with my mates.

[@SargeKot]

*I LOVE YOU GMAAAAAN*

[@ViralZen]

I still play it almost every Sunday evening with my friend 25 years later lmao

[@klashnacovak47]

I didn’t have friends so controlled both controllers and pretended to have friends.

[@MEDZFactor]

Don’t you mean “I spent so many hours in 2P with ya mum” SHWACKED!

[@Gaming_since_the_eighties]

The part of "give it to the developers, who made Streets of Rage 4" was my first tought too. It would be awesome, if Golden Axe can make an comeback like Streets of Rage 4 did. And a Shadow Dancer 2 and Shinobi 4, would be the cherry on the top.

[@demun6065]

Yeah, but it should have scan lines. And not that modern slick cartoony, anime-ish vibe that most reboots get.

[@micahiwaasa9304]

I'd rather it got the Dragon's Crown treatment. (And that lineage/relationship is even Sega!)

[@Napoleonic_S]

or the dev who made the new TMNT game that's going to release this year! heck let them compete and give them final fight and double dragon IP.

[@GrimRize]

@@demun6065 Yeah something different, Streets of Rage 4 was ok but like a lot of remakes it I dunno it looks too smooth and not in a good way.

[@AngryCalvin]

I've been playing beat em up games since Renegade and Double Dragon when I was a teenager. And Streets of Rage 4 is easily one of the very best beat em ups I have ever played. Golden Axe 4 would be great. I would even like to see a new Altered Beast or Shinobi from this same team.

[@donjohnson7768]

I remember playing the Revenge of Death Adder at Disney Land when I was a kid, blew me away, inexplicable why it doesn't have a home port.

[@shockwave.9749]

Inexplicable and inexcusable 😤

[@HexenStar]

@@shockwave.9749 But still can be played via an emulator.

[@grongy6122]

The most missed opportunity is obviously the absence of Revenge of Death Adder ports. Why Sega chose to make a new Golden Axe game from scratch for Megadrive instead of porting this one, even with some cuts due to cartridge space and other limitations is beyond me. I guess there were some really serious technical issues (I mean even Outrunners was still released, even though the port itself was not very good, mildly speaking). Also seeing it on Saturn would've been nice, considering that Sega loved doing all sorts of compilations of arcade games at the time.

[@Planag7]

I mean yeah that would have been the dream to have that on Saturn but there are a lot of weird decisions made.. I'm glad I got to experience it finally on the mini Astro city

[@shahrouh]

Revenge of Death Adder is by far my favorite GA game. The original also holds a special place in my heart. I just couldn't get into Beast Rider. They introduced Gilius and Ax Battler at the end only in a cutscene. I absolutely hated it after beating it. I couldn't even make out the last line said in the game, and not many can.

[@adamdenardis5438]

Nah. Port it to Saturn. Saturn can handle it. That would go great along with the fighting game. I'd buy a Saturn back then for that.

[@matthewnikitas2904]

If it was on the Saturn it would be a practically arcade perfect port.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

Revenge of Death Adder would've been better suited for Saturn or even a Dreamcast remake rather than try to fit RoDA on a 16-bit cart.

[@RengaBeats]

The team that did Streets of Rage 4 would be a great fit for a Golden Axe reboot!!

[@tunnocks]

I was thinking that exact same thing when I was playing SOR4.

[@kengoku3498]

Go play Takeover then play Street of Rage 4 💯 You will be surprised

[@tunnocks]

@@kengoku3498 In a good way??

[@TexasHollowEarth]

👎. SoR4 has a shit art style. Golden Axe isn't just another beat-em-up. It's weapons-based combat can't just be some copy-paste job of SoR4. This series deserves more respect than that. We need a WeaponLord dev or something.

[@Windavinci]

Forget Dotemu. The best company for handling any Sega remakes would be M2.

[@philwalkercuriousmind]

My first megadrive game was Golden axe. So good. Never been so excited for a Christmas present.

[@crosstie417]

I still remember the first time I saw a sega at my neighbors house his older brother had one with a helicopter game that looked so real to me back then and golden axe. I thought gaming had finally brought arcades home in the form of that first sega I saw.

[@philwalkercuriousmind]

@@crosstie417 Yes mate totally feel you there. It was a few years before I played my friends master system. It just seemed so amazing.

[@ghostoferlock]

Altered beast, ghouls n' ghosts, golden axe. My first three games. Super Thunder Blade was also good. Try going through the screens without breaks

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

I had the Mega Games 6 cart, Golden Axe was probably my least played of the collection lol (yes, I played the godawful port of Super Thunderblade more). It still has its place in history, for sure.

[@ghostoferlock]

@@THENAMEISQUICKMAN Super Thunder Blade was good. Took a lot to go through it and not stop.

[@leompk]

I live in Brazil and had a Mega Drive when I was kids. I played Golden Axe 1, 2 and 3 at home. Great games.

[@lucascasagrande4799]

Me too

[@Larry]

Still puzzles me why Golden Axe III was so terrible looking when Sega had access to the Streets of Rage 2 engine.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

I could forgive terrible looking, but boring too? What happened to flying on the back of a giant eagle? The turtle village? The backgrounds look like a Master System pirate original....except even those are usually more inspired. Hell, even Beast Rider's environments are more colorful than that desert. And the sad whimper of the magic attacks have lost even more dignity. It's pretty clear that either nobody cared, or the art team was led by a random number generator and a broken compression algorithm.

[@thegloriousryius]

Larry, I was watch GYCW... did you do that Castlevania port episode...can't find it

[@Choralone422]

I'm sure infighting within Sega of Japan kept the team that developed Golden Axe III from being able to use the Streets of Rage 2 engine. GA III was probably treated as being a "lesser" game. Something that obviously happened again with the Sega Ages 2500 release in the 2000s.

[@FallicIdol]

And why did they never release Revenge of Death Adder on consoles? I get that the Genesis couldn't handle it, but why not put it on the Saturn/Dreamcast? It's such a classic.

[@laughingseal2282]

Strangely, Alien Storm used golden axe engine and golden axe 3 didn't use any asset from SoR.

[@jaredwhite200]

Anyone who had a Sega Genesis back in the Day played this awesome Game

[@3rdFloorArcade]

That original Golden Axe in the arcades brings back so many great memories 🔥

[@martinevans1206]

The first game I owned for the Mega Drive. None of that Altered Beast rubbish!

[@dududu5189]

@@martinevans1206 I purchased a *MD II* with a _3 in 1_ cart that had Golden Axe 1, Streets of Rage 1 & Revenge of Shinobi on it. 1993 as I recall. Those 3 great games kept me happy for quite some time until I could afford another cart.

[@VOAN]

@@dududu5189 Wow I happen to own a 6-Pak cartridge which had those three games in addition to three more games which includes Columns 1, Sonic the Hedgehog 1, and Super Hang-On 1.

[@mandurain7823]

Spent a lot of "Insert Coin" on this one..

[@tafnac75]

@@mandurain7823 if you turned the arcade machine off then on you got a free credit

[@balboa0621]

The first game still has one of the best soundtracks in gaming history. Perfectly captures that Conan vibe.

[@ryan.1990]

Occasionally catch myself whistling it to this day since playing it as a 6 year old kid!

[@HexenStar]

It does indeed, but there have been better in the Conan department. For example, "Daikatana" (Greek Episode only) and the recent metroidvania "Beholgar".

[@bonesjackson81]

A legacy of missed opportunities pretty much sums up all of Sega's ips. Had a buddy over to play in our arcade last night. Arcade1up Golden Axe RODA is one of the cabs. First time he had ever played it. Even he asked why it wasn't on Saturn or Dreamcast. A question I just can't answer.

[@maroon9273]

Worst part, majority of the systems 32 games were never ported to the saturn and dreamcast which were made for them.

[@williamdrum9899]

Shining Force is another one. Seeing as how popular Fire Emblem is now. Sega had a 10 year head start over Nintendo and they squandered it. To put this into perspective the first Shining Force was on Genesis, and nobody outside Japan knew what FE was until after the Dreamcast was dead

[@kaisarr7632]

@@williamdrum9899 fe only got popular cause of the 3ds games and smash bros it was just as obscure as shining force prior

[@VOAN]

@@kaisarr7632 Not really, I know a friend in Japan who says Fire Emblem was really popular there but that Nintendo didn't want the games to be known worldwide due to the series dark nature which I assume they meant the permadeath system. Kinda odd how two references in Smash Bros. Melee change everything. Sega would had the same success if they just know how to market Shining Force, I heard that even though the series is less popular than FE in Japan, it was mildly popular in Europe and Brazil.

[@GranMaese]

'Golden Axe: Beast Rider' had one of the best and most satisfying hack-n-slash combat systems ever, the parrying and dodging were just top-notch (particularly when you unlocked all the weapons for reruns), but it came at the price of being a very demanding and hard game to master, it really tested the players' concentration and skill to the limit, yet in a fair way. Heck! you even had to "listen" to the attacks off-screen to know how to react, literally, but once you get the hold of it, it was just so gratifying, as I said. You really felt you were making an effort to kick ass (not just pushing buttons, like many other games), and that effort was rewarded with pure joy and satisfaction once you cleared up an area unharmed, but I can see how it could've ended up scaring the more casual audience, resulting in such unfair "negative to mediocre" reviews ... But it deserves so much love.

[@claudiosacchi3720]

Golden axe 3 is underrated, once you learn the mechanics it gets very fun and satisfying. You can block attacks, have special moves, tag team moves and different combos. Gameplay wise is the best of the series on the genesis.

[@blastproces]

It’s the good version in my opinion the graphics are very nice dunno what people are in about

[@VOAN]

@@blastproces It was hated for the very fact that it never got a physical release in NA. It also came out after the very impressive looking Revenge of Death Adder so yeah can't say I blame the doubters either. When you realize you just got robbed of a very impressive version but they gave you this fugly version instead, it doesn't matter how deep of an experience it offer, it will get compare to the one that came before it and if it's worst then they will treat it as so. Sega did this on themselves though, not porting Revenge of Death Adder to console was a bad move.

[@djberryhardkore]

100% right, its actually the best mega drive GA game by far. i guess what it doesnt have is nostalgia cause it wasnt released outside asia. people need to stop hating and try it!

[@HexenStar]

@@VOAN I wager if Sega had tried to port The Revenge of Death Adder - it would've ended in disaster. Even their GA-1 MEgadrive port is only decent, - because all the other ports are plain shit, but when compared to the arcade original, it is nothing more than a lazy fake with a laughable execution. Especially, if you throw into the mix the fact that the CD version did pretty much nothing, and mind the recent fan-made rom upgrade "Mortal Kombat Arcade Edition", - which nearly surpasses the CD, while being a cartridge rom! This only emphasizes the level of things that were (and are) indeed possible with the cartridge, as well as the laziness and ineptitude of the big corporations (read:Sega devs). And since The Revenge of Death Adder is a game that is nothing short of a visual tour-de-force with mechanics that play like Final Fight on steroids, - Sega would've mutilated the home version to the point of it becoming a complete abomination. Perhaps, it is good that they didn't dare. However, why a more competent third-party devs didn't try, - now that's inexcusable.

[@HexenStar]

Absolutely agree. The gameplay of the third Golden Axe is the best. Beyond any shadow of a doubt. With only exception being The Revenge of Death Adder, a game from another galaxy of quality. Unlike the original, Golden Axe 3 did not have a direct counterpart in the arcades, and thus could not be compared with the resulting inevitable disappointment, which usually accompanies such comparisons. In my opinion, that gave GA3 an edge, and once you get the grasp over its fighting arsenal, - AND try all the alternate routes (drawing a map of GA3 in the process) - get the full ending and try all characters, - it easily becomes far more replayable than any other home console version of Golden Axe. The only thing that truly kept it from sweeping the original title under the rug of time, - is the major letdown in graphics. You could literally see the wasted potential in each and every frame of it. If it had the proper graphics, - say like those of Splatterhouse 2 (or 3), or of Shadow of the Beast (either one), or that of Generations Lost / Pirates of the Dark Water - now that would've been a huge win. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Either way, the bottom line is that the best "Golden Axe" on Sega's 16 bit console - is a brilliant little game called "Blades of Vengeance". It is a perfect as a high fantasy action adventure can ever get. It's got action, exploration, tactics, strategy, atmosphere, music, sound ,magic, tons of secrets, RPG elements, graphics, beautiful Conan-style characters and whatnot. Highly recommended.

[@heilong79]

It was amazing seeing goldenaxe in the arcade and the magic drgon attack filling the screen. The was a cab with Golden Axe and Rastan at a cornershop and they were my first two arcade games I played. Up until then the Nes was the most advanced games I had played.

[@loki.odinson]

I will never understand why Sega did not bring Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder to the Sega Saturn. Even a Dreamcast port would have been fine. Sega just left a ton of money on the table with this one.

[@VOAN]

It's just bad timing is all. By the time the Sega Saturn launch, fighting games are all the rage and beat em ups are dead therefore when Sega had to choose between porting Revenge of Death Adder or The Duel to the Sega Saturn, they choose the Duel instead. It just make sense at the time. Beat em up games are dead after 1995 anyways. Why they never brought Revenge of Death Adder to any of their retro collection or any of their AtGames product I will never understand either, easy money is on the table now.

[@Lord_Deimos]

Let Dotemu make a 2D Golden Axe game, they will treat it with the respect it deserves... also add Revenge of Death Adder as an unlockable and I guarantee that people will be throwing money at their screens.

[@VOAN]

Or just released a Golden Axe Collection with all the classic games like what Konami and Capcom did with TMNT and the Capcom Fighting Collection would be way more awesome.

[@gazfletcher6534]

@@VOAN you can get Golden Axe 1-3 on the Genesis collection for PS4 (plays on PS5)

[@TimothyGay]

So glad you talked about Golden Axe 3 being a much deeper game than people give it credit for. I actually loved learning how to play that game and learning about the characters. I also loved the paths you could take and how much of that influenced the game's difficulty. Your videos are nothing short of spectacular.

[@cedric1138]

one of my most played games in the arcade back in the day, loved it then and still do.

[@mr.pavone9719]

I worked at the beach concessuon stand for a summer while in high school. We had a Golden Axe cabinet in the arcade there and I played at least a buck or two every morning before we opened.

[@TRJ2241987]

The original Golden Axe was my favorite arcade game as a small child. Everything about the cabinet was magical to me. Looking up at that screen and turning enemies to stone, battling giants with swords and axes, the screams and groans, the spells, the ending....it just captivated me like no other game.

[@Guernicaman]

'Golden Axe : Beast Rider' was originally meant to be an open-world, Grand Theft Auto-style game in the world of Golden Axe. While still single-player, the 3 main characters were going to be selectable & each have unique, interwoven stories. Unfortunately, the budget & its team was split in half, to meet the deadline for SEGA's Iron Man game, to coincide w/that movie's release. Such a decision ended up severely hurting Beast Riders' production. Personally, I feel like Beast Rider had a ton of potential, even if the final product ended up going in a different direction. A God of War-type game w/Golden Axe characters & lore could be something great, but it had to be given the time & budget for it to turn out that way.

[@adamdenardis5438]

See i heard it was gonna be multiple games.

[@Guernicaman]

@@adamdenardis5438 - At one point during its development, it was. However, during the very beginning of development, it was going to be an open-world, GTA-style game in that world. That's what SEGA originally greenlit, but that's not what Secret Level delivered - b/c of budget cuts & change in direction.

[@thecunninlynguist]

never got to play the arcade version, but uncle had the Genesis version. Would always love to visit and play the classic. Always wish a die hard fan would Streets of Rage Remake Golden Axe. Would be epic. The SMS Zelda-esque spin off has always been a favorite

[@shenglongisback4688]

Wasn't there a hiphop group with your name.

[@thecunninlynguist]

@@shenglongisback4688 lol they're still around. my avi is their logo

[@shenglongisback4688]

@@thecunninlynguist 🤣@myself im sorry i haven't listened too hiphop in years but remember the name as I thought it was clever.

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

I loved Golden Axe 3. It's one of my favorite Genesis games. The magic is weaker but the graphics and AI are better making the game more challenging than the first two games. It also has different paths to take within the game and additional characters and enemies. Why it wasnt released in the US at the Genesis' peak in 1993 is beyond me. Great game. Great series 👍

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Yeah and the characters themselves have more options as far as moves/techniques go. I get at the time gamers might've been disappointed in there not being a huge graphical improvement from the first 2 but as a new fan, it's very odd to see some hold onto that sentiment of it being a bad entry just for it's looks with how much the actual gameplay got improved

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

@@MagillanicaLouM I personally think the graphics in Golden Axe 3 are the best. The first 2 games are very similar in graphics, colors, and sprite sizes. Both games are great games no doubt but part 3 stepped the franchise up a notch in many ways. As I said, i admit the magic in part 3 is lame compared to part 1 and 2 but why this classic wasn't released North America is odd. 1993 was one of Segas peak years.

[@VOAN]

At the time Sega wants to focus on their game streaming service, the Sega Channel, so they hold the NA release of Golden Axe 3 hostage to that service instead. Other games like Zero Wing, Mega Man: The Wily Wars, Alien Soldier, Pulseman, and Duke Nukem 3D all end up getting the same treatment. It was a sad decision really. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles almost got the same treatment until fans complain and Sega finally release both as separate games instead with the latter having the lock-on feature.

[@captainbilgewater]

Great video, I agree with every word. It's criminal that we don't have a modern port of "Revenge of Death Adder", in particular.

[@jkajmo]

I recently played through "Golden Axe 3" off the PS4 Sega Collection release. I gotta say, the dated animations give the game an unprecedented charm, making it strangely hold up well in today's standards.

[@Windavinci]

I'll always associate Golden Axe with the smell of pizza as I use to play it in the local pizzeria.

[@DigitalHaze65536]

My arcade was next to a hair dresser..........lol. (yes, that is the smell I associate with Golden Axe....at least the game was worth it!)

[@thehellezell]

Revenge of Death Adder was a bloody masterpiece…. still scratching my head on how that one didn’t get a 32x or Saturn port.

[@VOAN]

The Sega 32X wasn't a smash seller so they simply didn't bother. As for the Sega Saturn, Sega had a choice of porting Revenge of Death Adder or The Duel and because fighting games are more popular at that time they just choose the Duel instead. Beat em up games seem to died off after 1995 anyways, the closest you get to one is either the Japanese only Princess Crown or the fugly Fighting Force games or that lame Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero garbage. A majority of beat em up games ended up becoming fighting games in the mid to late 90s anyways like Final Fight which became Final Fight Revenge and the Street Fighter Alpha series, Double Dragon had two different fighting games, one based on the cartoon and released for home consoles and one based on the movie and released for NeoGeo, TMNT which is a series of action and beat em up end up having 3 different fighting games for three home consoles, Batman Forever which was a beat em up game for 16-Bit consoles became a fighting game for Saturn and PS1, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which starts as a beat em up for Super NES had fighting games later on for Sega Genesis and Super NES, and X-Men and Marvel which had beat em and action games for Arcade, Super NES, and Sega Genesis ended up having fighting games on PS1, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, and PS2 by both Capcom and Activision.

[@TheExistentialNerd]

I love Golden Axe 1 and 2 so much. I appreciate 3 greatly. That unreleased arcade is just sex-ay af. I even think The Duel is under appreciated as it really was a solid fighter. We so definitely need a modern take on this classic in some fashion.

[@matthewchrist9082]

I have the Astro city mini and it is a crime death adder was never ported to Saturn.

[@kengoku3498]

I'm strictly SNES over Genesis but Goldenaxe, Shinobi Arcade, Shinobi Revenge and Alterd Beast holds a special place in my heart

[@Garrett316]

I was a Sega Fanboy during the console wars. I have to admit, the SNES is better overall, but Sega was way more interesting to me. The two greatest consoles ever made.

[@Steevy84]

Sonic3&Knuckles was dope. Also a few very nice games like mercs, streets of rage 2 etc...

[@kengoku3498]

@@Garrett316 found out 2yrs ago that Genesis had Twin Cobra a game i played a lot in the arcades and been playing Musha on my Switch from the online subscription and its really good 👍

[@joyasmusicales603]

@@Garrett316 Not for me!

[@joyasmusicales603]

Genesis for me!

[@stevesteve0521]

Streets of rage and yakuza will forever be well known as Sega’s best beat em up franchises but golden axe deserves just as much love

[@paulphoenix1669]

The golden axe soundtrack is absolutely stellar man, it was once my alarm tone and it woke up me at Rock Werchter festival 2017 from a drunken stupor and I'll never forget the fear I experienced waking up to the boss theme hahaha Also the village track from golden axe 2 is just incredible

[@vaevictis5178]

I love the relaxing music that plays while sleeping at the camp fire and the lil thiefs come and steal your shit

[@Guernicaman]

'A Legacy of Missed Opporrunities', huh? Not only does that apply to Golden Axe, but also applies to pretty much all once popular SEGA legendary ip's. Alien Syndrome, Altered Beast, Shinobi, Space Harrier, After Burner, Out Run, Alex Kidd, Quartet, Zillion, Wonder Boy, House of the Dead, Panzer Dragoon, Jet Set Radio, just to name but a few!

[@SegaLordX]

Would make a great series of videos, huh? ;)

[@Guernicaman]

@@SegaLordX - Indeed! 😉👍

[@zanegandini5350]

I'd argue that Quartet and Alex Kidd probably didn't need to continue. Quartet was just an okay arcade game, and Alex Kidd was only there because Sega didn't have a better mascot at the time, and after the Master System ended, the market was flooded with mascot platformers.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Speaking the truth. There was always lots of anticipation when Sega brought out an arcade title, I would always hope they'd make their way to a home system. They released Planet Harriers in the arcade which was a sequel to Space Harriers, but it never made the jump to a home system, Panzer Dragoon which had a recent remake, is kind of an evolution of the Space Harrier concept... After Burner had its sequels (G-Loc, Sky Target) and a reimagining (Afterburner Climax), Outrun got the ultimate sequel in Outrun 2/SP/Coast to Coast, Wonder Boy had the Dragons Trap remake, Monster Boy and the Wonderboy 4 remake.. There was an Alex Kidd fan sequel made not to long ago that picks up after the Master System original as well as a remake of Miracle World(DX). The Bayonetta games also have a lot of fan service, with levels inspired by Space Harrier, Hang On, Outrun, as well as revisiting some the music from those games. Quartet was ok back in the day, but they would have to flesh it out more for today I think... Zillion was tied to an Anime series, so I don't know if they would go through the licensing trouble. Some of these were revisited more recently than others, but no one would be upset if Sega came back to these and other IPs.

[@Guernicaman]

​@@lazarushernandez5827 - It's my understanding the Zillion license is owned by SEGA themselves, tho that may have changed at some point. Alien Syndrome & Alien Storm (not to mention Shinobi) could also use more sequels, re-makes & re-imaginings. While it's true that some of these games have gotten amazing sequels (OutRun & After Burner, for instance), these games should be available on modern platforms, either thru backwards-compatibility or re-publishing.

[@gurgamous]

IMO, the revenge of death adder is the best beat em up I’ve played in an arcade

[@NaldzHobbySide]

Golden Axe III is my introduction to this Franchise and i loved it!! its so fun & addicting 👌👌

[@EvandroACruz]

I love Golden Axe,is one of my personal favorites Sega franchises along Shinobi and Streets Of Rage and is so sad that Sega mistreated the him so much in recent years.Golden Axe deserves a worth revival.

[@JavierrMelian]

Thanks for this video, I love Golden Axe. I must say Golden Axe III is one of my favourite games ever, apparently an unusual opinion. I also think Revenge of Death Adder should have been ported to Saturn and PC, I just dont get what were they thinking. Even I am aware it is not official, I think you should have included at least a 10 seconds cut about Golden Axe Myth, a PC fangame that is pretty nice and fun to play. SEGA went after them so just for that they deserved to be in the video. I hope Dotemu brings back the Golden Axe franchise as they did with SoR 4 and soon with the Turtles too 🤩. I will buy everything they do!

[@jkajmo]

Lord X has one of the most solid retro gaming channels ever. I look foreword to every upload with anticipation.

[@salvadormendoza5045]

Being a Sega fan is painful 😖 they have so many great ips I'd like to see new AAA games from... Panzer Dragoon... House of the Dead... Sega Rally Championship... Virtua Cop... Shinobi... Nights...

[@adamdenardis5438]

Panzer Dragoon did come to PS2 but only in Japan. House of The Dead 2 kept getting rereleased while the first one was pretty much forgotten UNTIL the recent remake. Sega Rally had some lackluster sequels in later years which is why Sega forgot about that one. As for Virtua Cop, that would have been perfect on Wii. Virtua Cop 3 never even saw a home release!

[@adamdenardis5438]

Nights was on Steam, PS3, and XBOX 360. It even got a sequel for Wii.

[@adamdenardis5438]

Shinobi arcade game is on Switch under Sega Ages. It's pretty much arcade perfect.

[@610Hobbies]

I keep wondering how Sega is not bankrupted after so many, many, bad decisions, not necessarily saying their games are bad, but it's undeniable that Sega has made an incredible amount of bad choices through the decades, like, even Capcom has been on the verge of bankruptcy.

[@danielkwong9051]

I really appreciate your unbiased and informative perspective in your videos…you’ve kept it legit since day 1…keep it going 👍

[@amancalleddanger]

Just found your channel. I'll be here awhile. Lots of great videos. Thank you for making an in depth video on Golden Axe. I used to go to Alco department store, just to play the cabinet they had at the register area. Lots of fun memories for me.

[@michaelh.8945]

The Streets of Rage 4 developer doing Golden Axe 4... just imagine!

[@bashirjohnson4120]

I really hope so 🙏 😔 Dotemu did an a amazing job 👏 with S.O.R:4

[@adamdenardis5438]

Well they're finished with TMNT Shredder's Revenge so they can do just about any beat em up.

[@kordelas2514]

@@adamdenardis5438 Nope. TMNT is made by Tribute Games. Dotemu is a publisher.

[@mathewdeering]

I'm subbed to half of the good retro gaming channels on YT - how is it that the algorithm is just showing me this channel now?? Great video - you have earned yourself a sub, sir! Excellent work.

[@gonschor7dleven]

To be fair, you could make a whole video called "Sega: a Legacy of Missed Opportunities." That's just gotta their bag, and how it is being a Sega fan.

[@SegaLordX]

Golden Axe was given more chances than most Sega properties. They still couldn't get it right.

[@mysega]

I really like when you take a full series like this video. It could be the full Shinobi story as well, or Space Harrier: first the arcade version of Space Harrier, then the Sega Saturn, Dreamcast and Master System version, Space Harrier 2 on Genesis, on Sega Ages 2500 and the spin off Planet Harrier and games like other games inspired like Panorama Cotton and the homebrex Xenocider on Dreamcast😊

[@cbkirby6199]

Hope Golden Axe sees the light of day once again soon. Especially since Sega is doing their whole Super Games idea. Hope we see Shinobi come back too!

[@jmullner76]

Mark from CGR had the best description of Beast Rider: "you get to burn people with monsters, and cut them in half."

[@6sKi6z6]

Before I bought my own Genesis, I used to go over my buddy's house after school 2-3 times a week and we'd play through Golden Axe 2. What a game that was. That boss music is still chilling to me.

[@SubaruMalibu]

THANK YOU. I've been trying to talk people into trying Golden Axe: Beast Rider for over a decade now. It had a seriously troubled production and gimped budget, but still managed to eke out a surprisingly solid little action game. Yeah, it's got plenty of issues, but is still remarkably entertaining considering everything working against it during its development.

[@penismightier9278]

Back when Classic Game Room was still doing videos on KZbin Mark did a video on Golden Axe: Beast Rider that was honestly the closest to a glowing review I'd ever heard for the game. Mark always had a way of finding a way to make poorly received games look more fun than most people had given a chance to.

[@SubaruMalibu]

@@penismightier9278 Agreed, Mark is the best. Kinda one of the big reasons I got into this whole KZbin thing, to be honest. Glad to see he's posting again.

[@darktetsuya]

I did play the free Golden Axed prototype (after hearing the devs' reaction I do find that name super disrespectful, though) it was fun! definitely disappointed it never saw the light of day. at the very least it turned out better than that abysmal 'SEGA AGES 2500' version... never really took to golden axe 3 but my wife has had the sega channel in her teenage years so I may have to ask her if she's seen it!

[@JosephJordan]

Just found your channel and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorites

[@Champion2D]

I'm totally with you on this. I'd also like to go one further. Like with the turtles games I'd welcome a Golden Axe compilation with GA 1-3, Revenge of Death Adder, The Duel as well as Master System and GG games. I'd buy this in a heartbeat.

[@UnBuenJugador]

I remember playing the DOS version back in the day. Spent countless hours on that game.

[@kami3701]

Surprised you didn’t show any footage of Golden Axe 3’s “depth” you mentioned, like moves or combo & other such mechanics?!?

[@Patsfan1987]

From the arcade to my Sega, so many great memories with the original

[@EhrisaiaOShannon]

I never got why everyone hated Beast Rider so much. It was fun as hell. I loved it. Still do.

[@grongy6122]

I suppose the main reason for negative reception was the lack of multiplayer, but I would also name the overall change of atmosphere. Nowadays everyone's trying to ride the wave of nostalgia and to appeal to old gamers as much as possible. But back then in the late 2000's developers really loved to take an old IP and to change it drastically, making it darker and edgier for no apparent reason. Konami did the same thing with Bomberman, and so did Capcom with their Final Fight. I guess if Sega did made a new Streets of Rage game back then, it would've been a really drab and gritty beat'em'up without any neon-bright colors and upbeat music. Luckily Golden Axe: Beast Rider isn't as bad, but it still suffers a bit from those weird trends of that time.

[@zanegandini5350]

Beast Rider was a good game, but just didn't feel like Golden Axe. It's like Resident Evil 5 and 6, nowhere near as bad as reviewers made them out to be, but they just don't feel like the other games in the series.

[@EhrisaiaOShannon]

You both have very good points! I agree. But I like it for what it is. And that Bomberman game was ATROCIOUS!! Lmiao. Defies all comprehension.

[@MONSTERGABhorror]

I actually enjoy the Sega Ages Golden Axe. Yes, the polygon graphics are something to be desired and the controls/mechancs are not traditional to previous entries, but once you get used to them, I think there's a fun time to be had. I completed it a couple of years ago and was pleased overall. You can't beat the original trilogy though. Golden Axe II may be my favourite

[@KingOfMadCows]

Thank you. I'm glad that Golden Axe 3 is getting some appreciation. I never understood why it was disliked.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

me either, it was tougher and that may have rubbed some people the wrong way, but i loved what SEGA was trying to do with the third game.

[@armdrk3233]

Golden Axe 3 was great and actually one of my favourite games on the system.I had the Japanese version.the music was really good too and gameplay and level designs had more variety compared to 1 & 2.

[@becomeanolive1637]

Golden Axe 3 is a much deeper game and people should give it a chance. Blocking, different t paths, co-op moves and magic...

[@armdrk3233]

@@becomeanolive1637 yes,those KZbinrs who bash the game never played it in its time then come and play 10 minutes and talk shit about it without giving it a chance. it’s a GREAT game and I’d go as far as to say it’s the best in the series. great music,very good graphics,more advanced animations,multiple routes,different characters,unique levels,it has everything.

[@iconofsin4578]

I always liked Golden axe 3. Its nice that you can choose your route and have different characters with variable strenghts

[@VOAN]

Yes, the issue is it's not widely available to anyone at the time and came out after the impressive Revenge of Death Adder.

[@theeveshamgamer]

If your seeing this SEGA, listen to Lord x. Make a Golden Axe compilation (with every game in!)

[@zanegandini5350]

Except the Sega Ages 2500 release. That can be excluded.

[@VOAN]

Sega will never listen, if they had we would had gotten a Sonic Adventure 3 by now instead of this Sonic Frontiers that nobody ask for.

[@megagrey]

I remember seeing Top Hat Gaming Man go over Golden Axed and I'll still perplexed. That was during the time Sega was making GOOD decisions with Sonic (Sonic 4, Generations, Lost World) yet they brushed that under the rug?

[@mich722]

A bootleg version of Golden Axe III was available in PAL territories and could run on the PAL Mega Drive. A friend of mine had it and that was how I first experienced the game. It is identical to the NTSC version except runs at 50hz and has slightly slower game speed and music as a result.

[@andrecastro1980]

Great SEGA series.

[@matthawkins2974]

Would love a golden axe game with a diablo style player progression,loot and endgame system but keep the side scrolling beat em up style

[@dexocube]

That pretty much describes Dragon's Crown

[@timsohn7057]

@@dexocube Was just gonna say this. I think Golden Axe would make a terrific Dragon’s Crown / D&D arcade like game with its Conan inspired world.

[@dexocube]

@@timsohn7057 Yeah I'd buy that in a heartbeat

[@ihaveallthecoins2785]

I'd love to see Golden Axe get the Streets of Rage 4 treatment.

[@SpaceCowboy64]

First time i'm seeing the new intro, and i loved it, congratulations. Also, the title of the video sums up how sega fans feel about Golden Axe and some other sucessful titles like Nights, Eternal Champions, Gunstar and Guardian heroes, Dragon Force. Even titles like Alex Kidd, Streets of Rage and Toe Jam & Earl took decades to receive a sequel. Since this is my first comment, i also would like to say thank you congratulations for the amazing content

[@slamrobot6584]

This feels like old Gametrailers videos from back in the day. Awesome.

[@voodooturbo]

I'm sure I've commented this before, but my mom always considered buying my sister and I a Sega Genesis as an investment in her sanity. It had so many great 2-player co-op games that kept us from fighting each other. Among them was Golden Axe and Golden Axe II. Awesome games!

[@arnmrs1660]

Totally agree! Toe Jam and Earl, Rolling Thunder 2, X-Men 2, Gunstar Heroes, Bonanza Brothers, Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3, Alien Sorm, Altered Beast, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Pit Fighter, Contra, Batman and Robin, Biohazard Battle, Fogotten Workds, Sunset Riders, Two Crude Dudes, Joe and Mac, Blades of Vengeance, Shadow Blasters, Zombies, Ren and Stimpy, Toe Jam and Earl 2, Snow Bros., Zoom, Ms, Pac Man, Aero Blasters, The Lost Vikings, Thunder Force 3 and 4, Yu Yu Hakusho and many others

[@M3troid.]

A Golden Axe collection would def be good. The main reason for me buying the ACM was Revenge of Death Adder. Sometimes (more almost all times) i don't know what Sega thinks.

[@adamdenardis5438]

They did have merchandise for Golden Axe on their online store, but most of it isn't sold on there anymore. Same for Altered Beast and Shinobi.

[@McBerts522]

The fact that Revenge of Death adder hasn’t been ported to modern Consoles and PC is a crime. Like it’s by far the best Golden Axe game. There’s no competition. Sega needs to port it or add it to a Golden Axe collection.

[@VOAN]

They recently include it on the Astro City mini so I think they knew the game exist, why they still hadn't port it on anything outside of that is anyone's guess. Sometimes it strange how company like Sega who kept losing profit on things couldn't accept free money by just giving us these awesome lost gems.

[@AnthonyRiddle]

I've only recently played a Golden Axe for the first time. I played through the arcade original followed by Revenge of Death Adder. Idk why I waited so long to ay them, they are masterpieces

[@zanegandini5350]

Wow, I didn't even know Golden Axe: The Duel existed. Sega really didn't have much faith in this series, so many good games that they barely acknowledge.

[@kellymoses8566]

I'm 42 and still remember the first time I beat Golden Axe on the Genesis with my brother when I was like 13 or so.

[@MaidenHell1977]

Excellent video, dude. Revenge of Death Adder was the biggest reason why I imported an Astro City Mini. Also, thanks for reminding on Golden Axe Warrior, forgot all about how it's an unlockable, definitely want to play that gem.

[@MoonshineSazerac]

I can still hear every sound effect. Every swing, every head-smash, the chime of hitting those little blue squirrel bastards. Ugh gods I loved my early videogaming years.

[@matiasd.7755]

Golden Axe: what a f*cking great game!! It was that quality of titles in the arcades that made me change from the NES to Sega Genesis.

[@VOAN]

Did you ever came back to Super NES though? Cause then you just miss The King of Dragons, Knights of the Round, and Magic Sword, the trio of Golden Axe inspired games exclusive to Super NES and Arcade by Capcom.

[@matiasd.7755]

@@VOAN Actually, I didn't read games magazines. I didn't know about the catalog of games each console offered. I first met videogames in arcades. Then I had my NES in 1993, something relatively new in my region or at least to me, I mean, I didn't know of home consoles except for the Atari 2600 which I saw on display and hated it (I didn't read magazines) ... with my NES I had a love/hatred relationship. I mean, I saw a game in the arcades and I wanted it. Then I had my NES cartridge and it was so cut down that I always ended up believing it could have been a little more close to the original. Back in those days, really, Nintendo was not popular in arcades here in Argentina. I didn't even know that Nintendo existed. So then I had some Nintendo games but they just were not what I used to see in the arcades. In the arcades I saw the names Sega, Capcom, Konami... Of course, there had been a Capcom console, it would have been a sale for me. But there was none. (Yes, there was but not in my zone). Same with Konami, no console around... But Sega was there. I had no resources to own both 16 bit platforms, so I played those games long late in emulation when I had my first Pentium 3 PC. Long games, I felt kind of exhausted. Pretty nice graphics. Nice sound effects and music. But to me Golden Axe is Golden Axe.

[@jw6588]

Thanks for letting me know about Golden Axe Warrior!

[@pittsburghboyertown3821]

Finally! A reviewer that recognizes Golden Axe 3's merits!

[@FlagshipFighter]

Awesome vid! Can't believe I never knew about this channel till now you do so much amazing coverage!

[@globalvermin]

I so agree with SegaLordX: The old, handdrawn, 2D Golden Axe games were by FAR the best ones, and yeah - give it to Dotemu and Lizardcube and Guard Crush to make Golden Axe 4!

[@ludicrousfool7953]

You’re the first person I’ve ever heard give some praise to Beast Rider. Never played this series myself, but it looks interesting and I agree with you it would be nice to have all the games in the series available in one package on modern systems.

[@chevalierkraken]

I also like beast rider ,the game is really unique and have some interesting gameplay. But the game was wasted by Sega who asked to the team to make Ironman game in same time. With only half of their team many gameplay idea were scrapped. The original game idea was an open world game with mission and rpg éléments similar to Assassin creed serie, Ax battler was also mean to be playable. They also thought to some online multiplayer but had no online staff at this time.

[@Paulafan5]

I think it got bad reviews because it was a vastly different gameplay style and didn't have any other character.

[@ikeyasector]

I absolutely love Golden Axe. I remember me and my friends at the local skating rink beating it when it first came out. How the arcade game ended, it showed kids playing the game in an arcade with the machine rumbling with smoke and the bad guys jumping out of the game chasing the kids through some city streets, then the heroes jump out chasing the bad guys. We were left with the impression that a sequel was going to be made with all the same characters but in a modern city setting. That would have been awesome. Sadly, that never happened.

[@djberryhardkore]

Golden Axe 3 is a real hidden gem. Combat is so deep, moves list is huge and adds a lot more strategy and nuance. Improves on GA 1 and 2 in so many ways.

[@rodrigosimas1980]

My first time ever when i played Golden Axe it was in Commodore Amiga 500 and Spectrum in 1990... Good old days and memories! Thank you for your nice vid

[@lennybrewster4673]

I play the original on Xbox these days, what a franchise. Would love to see Sega give it the love it deserves. Sadly seems like they're treating a lot of their IPs like Konami does.

[@damikki]

Another video on a long dead yet much missed series of Sega games covering every aspect and Sega platform you could think of. I really love these videos and your research is fantastic. It's like being smacked in the head with a golden nostalgia axe. Now I need to dig out my old copy for a game. Awesome thank you :)

[@RicardoSavino]

I watched your content for years, man, and only today I noticed I wasnt subscribed. Blame YT recommendations that always shows me your videos!!! Glad to be finally here.

[@actionvestadventure]

I remember stumbling upon Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder in a bowling ally as was all "wait... whaaa... they made a sequel!?". Never saw the cabinet anywhere else, which was very odd, not even in arcades... maybe there wasn't very many released or maybe my state just got shafted. So naturally i frequented that place quite a bit... it was a sad day indeed when they replaced it. Love that game and it would have been a prefect one to have ported to the Saturn at the time.

[@VOAN]

I first play it at a laundry station, it was the third Golden Axe game I play so far back then.

[@GettinReal]

Golden Axe and Gauntlet were my favourite arcade games as a kid. I am yet to find a port of them to enjoy again. Thanks for the memories.

[@zenitpro]

I'm pretty sure Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder would've been too tall an order for the Genesis back then, but maybe the Saturn would've done it justice, even with some cuts here and there. The fact is that the world was focused on 3d polygon graphics and this game was a 2d romp that wasn't particularly new... but it was a missed opportunity indeed. Thank goodness emulators exist, so we can experience this gem.

[@radbuster4403]

FromSoftware could make an awesome Golden Axe souls game, I think that genre would be a perfect fit for a modern Golden Axe, heck theres already a Golden Axe wielding boss in Elden Ring lol

[@VOAN]

Yeah, the issue is it will anger the Soul fans more since that Golden Axe game could had easily become Elden Ring 2.

[@vaevictis5178]

Nepheli Loux would fit in the Golden Axe world perfectly.

[@ThatOldTV]

It's my understanding that the Golden Axe game for the SEGA AGES series started off as a Playstation One game. The exact assets were just ported to PS2. Secret Level intended for Golden Axe Beast Rider to be much more than it was. During developement of Beast Rider, SEGA split the team to work on Iron Man. Having only half the team, Secret level did what they could to make it playable for SEGA's release schedule.

[@l1uchill]

Just beat Golden Axe last night. What an amazing adventure! I had a blast and it was fun. This was an amazing review! Great job SLX!

[@Nixxx2000]

Golden Axe DOS version is one of my first games I've ever played in the 90s after my father bought 286 PC. I've was playing coop with my brother on keybord and finished it multiple time. This is still one of my favourite experience including phenomenal soundtrack.

[@garym6315]

A lot of people seem to misinterpret it when we say "give it to the team who did SOR4." They're all saying "I don't like that animated cel shaded look." Obviously they wouldn't use the exact same graphical style with a completely different game - that was specific to SOR4 - but they do know their stuff when it comes to recreating what works and what doesn't work in the old ganes.

[@Nathan-rb3qp]

Did you know that the main programmer of Golden Axe Reborn (Who would later go on to make Assault Android Cactus) got lifelong carpal tunnel from overworking himself on Reborn. Even after that the Sega Of Australia higher ups laughed him out of the room when they saw the vertical slice and stated that he should've just made a cutscene instead.

[@Axehilt]

I enjoyed Golden Axe a lot in my early arcade experience, but I also wasn't tied to any given IP back then. What mattered more was the gameplay. I feel D&D: Tower of Doom would've been an _amazing_ direction to take Golden Axe IP, with the same iso perspective and combat, but adding leveling and items to loot/buy. Even a bit later on with Gauntlet Legends I'd end up dumping _tons_ of money on that sort of a RPG dungeon crawler in the arcade (despite the combat not being _especially_ great, if memory serves; I just wanted to be at the top of that level leaderboard at my local arcade, and be able to join others with that strong character to help them out).

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

The amiga version was pretty cool - they mention the death adder by the end as I recall … “you have defeated the death adder” but I think it was pretty close to the original arcade …