Which Version of Golden Axe Did I Rank No.1?

[@JustJamie1983]

More Arcade Port Rankings Here: kzbin.info/aero/PLJVdlhzi-kR9pLkunb1GD7Orc8zLw8VrH Please consider supporting my work: paypal.com/paypalme/justjamie1983

[@TheMastercho23]

The Sega CD version had great music but for some reason it cut the two player option! I’d rate the regular Genesis version better for this reason.

[@JustJamie1983]

Ah I get you..no probs 😀

[@stevesteve0521]

You’re 100 percent right

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Yea id love to know the reasons for this. I had a mega cd and remember spending about 6 hours tryin to get 2 player mode and thought i was going crazy as i knew id played it 2 player on my late mates japanese import megadrive

[@Parms]

I prefer the music on the Megadrive version.

[@raymiecall]

Agreed. Removing two player co-op makes this far inferior to the MD version.

[@xxFORDIExx]

Getting this on my Amiga in 1990 was a total dream. It felt like I had the arcade at home. Lol. Cracking conversion. Excellent video.

[@JustJamie1983]

Hey? Thanks very much. Unusual to rank an Amiga arcade conversion so highly.

[@bradallen8909]

No it didnt. The Amiga version sucked. Didn't feel anything like the arcade at all. Especially on a PAL Amiga running at 50hz. Garbage conversion that didn't feel like the ''arcade at home'' in any way.

[@fnagdungdagint]

@@bradallen8909Not to you 😊

[@drunkensailor112]

​@@bradallen8909 the amiga version was fantastic and was pal optimised like pretty much all amiga games. I don't think you know at all how these formats work

[@prototrongames]

Agreed! The Amiga version was by far my favourite.

[@jasoncouplanduk4003]

I had the master system version. It was the first game I ever completed. I was 9 years old.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Fun fact. The reason why the master system version is so jitter like: is because those are not sprites... Notice zero flickering and the so say sprites aRe probably twice the normal size... Thats because as opposed to sprites they are actually background tiles. The whole game is all background tiles. Advantages include no flickering and can make bigger size but the draw back is they can only move 8 pixels across minimum as opposed to 1 therefore giving the game a choppy feel. All games made that way are jittery. Just search 'cyber shinobi' on master system thats made the same way... It moves very similar.

[@JustJamie1983]

It's just easier to the layman if I say sprites.

[@jeradsmith445]

I love these comparison videos! My current KZbin obsession!

[@JustJamie1983]

Aww, thanks. Make sure to tune in for tonight's video at 8pm.

[@danielchilton9056]

In 1992 I was at a Haven holiday park in Weymouth and played a Golden Axe machine. Must have been the same one!

[@JustJamie1983]

Haha 100%

[@lukehinkle9614]

It's funny how Sega used to use screams, grunts, and other sound effects from movies. In Golden Axe they use a few soundbites from Rambo: First Blood.

[@JustJamie1983]

Woah. I didn't know that.

[@EpicLebaneseNerd]

i need to say it, the IBM DOS PC port was really much better than i expected. After playing the altered beast game, i was blown away how good it was, really the start of good things for dos gaming.

[@JustJamie1983]

Haha, I agree. It kinda surprised me too.

[@PikaStu666]

One of my favourite Megadrive games from my childhood. MegaCD version lost the 2 player option which was a bit odd, so for me the cartridge version gets first place. The 8bit versions look surprisingly reasonable, considering!

[@DirkDierickx]

loved the pc msdos and sega mega drive versions! my bedroom wall had a huge golden axe poster, such a classic.

[@JustJamie1983]

Proper old school with the mega drive games poster

[@TheCoopsCorner]

Ah Golden Axe. I passed on the Genesis version at first, because it just didn't appeal to me. But one day while I was browsing the shelves of a used game store called Gamers, I spotted a copy of it used, but complete, for $18. This was during one of the fabled dry spells in the Genesis' release schedule, so I grabbed Golden Axe because there just wasn't anything else getting my attention... and I'm glad I did. Great game. Simple, fun, and with extra content not in the arcade game. Yeah, it got toned down a bit in terms of the visuals, but at the time, it felt like it was damn near arcade perfect. Been a fan of the series ever since... which hasn't been easy after what Golden Axe: Beast Rider did.

[@BroadcastingCN]

ZX Spectrum finally isn't on the last place, whoever even had thought or dedication to make that deserve some respect Wonderswan was an underrated handheld, it has so much potential, great port too

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Always enjoy a battle of the ports type video

[@JustJamie1983]

They are fun to make too 😀

[@megadruretrogames]

The Wonderswan version was great, it was awesome having a quality handheld version to play at the time. I spent a lot of time with the C64 version, found it very frustrating but had a superb soundtrack. Great video!

[@JustJamie1983]

Couldn't agree more!

[@JemyM]

The Amiga version was among my very first own bought games ever and I learned how to beat it without losing life. A big issue however is that there is a big chunk of the game missing compared to the SEGA Mega Drive version making it shorter.

[@JustJamie1983]

Awww that's a shame.

[@jimkrom]

No chunk of the game is missing. The whole arcade is there. The Mega drive has extra content, it was not part of the arcade. As far as conversions go, Amiga has the whole game there, right down to the monsters escaping from the arcade machine to chase the kids in the end...

[@JemyM]

@@jimkrom That makes sense. I just remember learning the Mega Drive version having more. I did not beat the Arcade version until much much later.

[@mikejgrif]

Great video of one of my favorite arcade games of all time! I have the Amiga version, but for whatever reason, the game would always lock up at the end just before you battle Death Adder. I have an Amiga 500 and later on I expanded the memory, but it didn't correct the lockup issue. Disappointing issue with an otherwise solid port. 😖

[@JustJamie1983]

Thanks for watching. Was the 512k RAM upgrade?

[@mikejgrif]

@@JustJamie1983 I don't remember the exact amount. I upgraded the video ram to 2 megs so I could play PAL games and the system ram to 3 megs I think, but it didn't help the game any, locked up at the same spot everytime. I even installed a friends copy of the game in case my copy was messed up, but it still locked up in the same place.

[@JustJamie1983]

@mikejgrif if you love Amiga, watch this review I did here for AmiKit: kzbin.info/www/bejne/raPThYZmZ56noZo

[@bradallen8909]

@@mikejgrif There was a total of like 2 non-AGA PAL games which required 2MB chip. That wasn't the reason you upgraded the machine, or if it was, you were misled.

[@mikejgrif]

@@bradallen8909 No, that wasn't the entire reason why. But this was over thirty years ago, so my memory is a bit foggy on it. It certainly wasn't to just get Golden Axe working, my copy was the US release of the game.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

I had the Genesis/Megadrive version, it was a very solid conversion, while some minor details were missing (the eye animations of the Turtle and the Eagle or the snakes forming Death Adder), it made up for it with an extra level. If you have the time I believe there is a homebrew 32X version in the works out there. Shows off what that add on could do.

[@JustJamie1983]

Hey, thanks very much. I'll take a look at the 32x version.

[@bigrobotnewstoday1436]

Total forgot about the Sega CD port version. Thanks now I know what version to play.

[@JustJamie1983]

No worries. Enjoy 😉

[@Gildog77]

The first arcade game I ever beat. I'd play this game any day.

[@JustJamie1983]

It was one of mine too.

[@brendansheehy8124]

I owned Golden Axe as a kid on C64. Although technically good for the C64 I always found that fighting one enemy at a time made the game super dull and lifeless. I don’t recall any other C64 beat em up with this odd limitation.

[@JustJamie1983]

Hmmm, I can't think of any either.

[@stevesteve0521]

Good ranking, as people mentioned to you already the sega cd version doesn’t have 2p and for that alone it would go behind the genesis port. Also you omitted the gba port altogether which isn’t good but I felt I needed to mention

[@JustJamie1983]

Ah that's cool. Thanks for letting me know. I do explain this in the intro.

[@citylife2050]

I had the Sega CD version, and later when my kids got a Wii, I found a downloadable arcade port. The Sega CD version is almost identical.

[@JustJamie1983]

That's what I thought too. Never tried the Wii port. Direct arcade port my the seems of it.

[@WarrentheGunner]

Classic game I remember this the first time I went into an arcade 👍🏼 ps The megadrive and mega CD had two extra levels

[@JustJamie1983]

It's been years since I played the Mega Drive version until the end but sounds familiar.

[@CasperEgas]

I have the C64, Master System, PC Engine CD, Mega cd and Mega Drive versions. I owned it on both C64 and Master System when I was a child. I don't think the Master System version is bad. I would rank the Mega cd version below the Mega Drive version, better audio doesn't really compensate for losing the 2P mode.

[@James-fo8rf]

Another good video thanks. Interesting that there haven’t been anymore ports after wonder swan and mega cd.

[@JustJamie1983]

No ports exactly but thay God forsaken reboot around 10 years back...

[@James-fo8rf]

@@JustJamie1983 please don’t remind me of that atrocious reboot. I’m hoping for a dotemu remake. Fingers crossed 🤞 😊

[@ViridianGames]

I love these videos! I'd like you to do one on Donkey Kong because I'd like you to see what a GOOD Amstrad port looks like.

[@JustJamie1983]

Haha good one. I will likely do those vintage classics as some point.

[@Peterpanic-c3h]

My friend had an import Mega drive with Golden Axe and I couldn't believe how good it was. I had a Master System, purchased Golden Axe and at the time thought it was great. Like you, looking back I cannot believe how terrible it looks.

[@JustJamie1983]

Thanks for sharing!

[@pjcnet]

I loved the Amiga 500 version back in the day and not a lazy Atari ST port which it could have been. You'd be disappointed if the Mega Drive console version wasn't better than the Amiga with newer hardware and even more so on The Mega CD II.

[@AllCoolThingsStoneMountain]

Sega CD had no 2 Player and took time to boot up. I used to just put my cartridge in and play, instead.

[@garethjones2746]

I’m really enjoying this series and another good video. I have had a look, and if you have done it already please accept my apology, but could you please do strider. Streetfighter 2, Outrun and strider are my 3 favourites ever

[@JustJamie1983]

Hey there, no worries. Strider is coming at some point. A personal favourite of mine too 😀

[@glenaitken9403]

Adored the arcade. Still do. Got it for my Amiga as a kid and loved it. Such a good conversion. Ive since played the megadrive and i prefer the Amiga tbh. Although, i may be biased...... 😁😁

[@JustJamie1983]

Yup I see what you mean. Amiga fans had a seriously great version for sure.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Jamie. The Sega version is pretty decent.

[@JustJamie1983]

Hey, no worries at all my friend 😀

[@amanloop]

Personally, I'd rank the C64 version as the worst. Having only one opponent at any given time really hurts the gameplay a lot imo.

[@robsmall6466]

Amstrad version reviewed well in period. Good graphics and presentation. Obviously not a patch on the MD version mind

[@JustJamie1983]

Exactly.

[@gavh9360]

I cannot believe amstrad ranked lower than the speccy and c64 . The amstrad version is awesome

[@JustJamie1983]

Thanks for your feedback 😀

[@EdiTheDon]

PC wasnt bad. Dunno why they did not include everything in it (dead bodies, different magic per level, etc.)

[@ShamoaKrasieski-xm4ze]

Master System version was disappointing. Most versions were disappointing to be honest. This absolute arcade classic deserves 5 star treatment, but seldom received it. Even the Mega Drive version seems like it could have been polished a bit more. But, the Mega Drive / Genesis definitely is the way to go with this one.

[@pjcnet]

I'd rather play the C64 version than the Master System which was rated one higher, the sprites might be larger and more colourful, but I can't stand jerky scrolling and sprites, plus the music is dire compared to the C64 and I know this system can do much better.

[@jimkrom]

The master system "sprites" are stuttery because they are not sprites but background tiles...

[@JustJamie1983]

To be honest. I say sprites because it's easier for people to digest rather than saying "background tiles" which many would likely be confused with..

[@randy7894]

Jeroen Tel's SID tunes are far from underrated. 😉

[@JustJamie1983]

Most hardcore C= fans will know this but your average console gamers likely won't.

[@randy7894]

@@JustJamie1983 Fair enough.

[@gazjones9340]

What about the Game boy Advance version on sega smash pack?

[@MarginalSC]

I found the Wonderswan version awful, (just doesn't feel good to play) but I missed out on all the home computer versions, so I may be overly judgy. Amiga wins just because they got Gilius' axe color correct. Genesis version is imperfect since it is grey. That's my gold standard measure.

[@JustJamie1983]

It's all good. The Amiga version was very good for sure.

[@williamwright9079]

Go the Amiga!!

[@JustJamie1983]

100%

[@hdofu]

No PC Engine CD version with the anime cutscenes ?

[@JustJamie1983]

Have you watched it at all?

[@hdofu]

Rewatched it, damn don’t know how I missed it

[@gazjones9340]

The worst version in my opinion, this would've been number 11 for me!

[@grgmj1980]

Did the Sega Cd/Mega Cd version have multi player?

[@JustJamie1983]

It was a single player, which suited me fine.

[@grgmj1980]

@@JustJamie1983 because the Cd version removed the co-op play I have to give the number 1 spot to the Genesis version. Both good copies

[@willrobinson7599]

Loved the arcade version still play now on mame , the c64 had amazing music but for me totally spoilt by the lack of enemies on screen. Amiga port was decent , shame no 2 button jump hit controller option. I brought a megadrive back in the day after seeing this running , think the megacd version lost the 2 player option oddly

[@JustJamie1983]

Swings and around abouts with this one. But most pretty good.

[@azhorsley]

Nah, the Mega CD version was poor compared to the Mega Drive original; no 2 player co-op and the revised sound effects were atrocious. Otherwise, great video!

[@JustJamie1983]

Fair enough!

[@300bhpton]

D-pad on an Amstrad CPC464 🤣Get real, it would have been a joystick back in the day.

[@JustJamie1983]

Likely, but many had a 9 pin joypad, too.

[@ZEUSDAZ]

Most CPC games were worst conversions, shit machine for fast playable games, it was the runt of the 8bit machines, I don't recall anyone I knew at school owning one, cpc games looked great in stills but moved like an overweight snail carrying heavy shopping. Golden Axe II on the Megadrive was more fun.

[@JustJamie1983]

No comment with CPC.

[@robsmall6466]

Not true to be honest. Chase HQ, Bomb Jack, P47, Continental Circus, WEC Le Mans, OP Wolf, Rainbow Islands...... Could keep firing off good Amstrad conversions for a while. Plenty owned them in the UK. Loads in France. Odd how some just can't let things go 🤷‍♂️

[@VirajKathwadia]

You forgot the GBA port as part of Sega smash back. Although it's no loss, the port was badly done.

[@JustJamie1983]

Like i said at the start. Not every port will be included.

[@VirajKathwadia]

@@JustJamie1983 I know, haha I just like to throw things in for reference, it's no real critique, keep up the good work.

[@JustJamie1983]

@VirajKathwadia thanks very much 😀

[@jeichem]

Master System uses background tiles not sprites.

[@JustJamie1983]

It certainly does. But sprites sounds better and people understands it.

[@peterwager9293]

What about the 32x version!!!!?

[@JustJamie1983]

That's after market and not original!!!!

[@billybollockhead5628]

Gurt Lush

[@JustJamie1983]

Proper innit!

[@barryschalkwijk9388]

The SMS version is so bad. And it has no sprites. Thats why it's so choppy. It's all done in background.

[@JustJamie1983]

Yup. Very surprising since Sega produced this version.

[@patrick-tg4sq]

U can’t be the megadrive and arcade versions all the rest are shit

[@JustJamie1983]

Cool