Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Release: 06/25/93 Genre: Action
My love of Golden Axe as a series is an enigma. If we are being honest more than half the titles in the series are mediocre. Yet I still like the damn games despite that. There is nothing wrong with liking average games; sometimes a bad game has good ideas buried under rough execution. But even I cannot make excuses for Golden Axe III. It is not even that the game is outright bad, it is disappointing. After so many years you expect more.
Damus Hellbringer, the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness steals the Golden axe and curses all of the warriors who stand a chance of defeating him. One lucky soul is saved and is now tasked with freeing his companions and saving the world. While Golden Axe III is disappointing I will say many of its features make it the sequel the second game should have been. With a little more work this could have been the best in the series (on console at least). Instead it is a forgotten footnote.
None of the original cast returns aside from Gilius Thunderhead in a cameo role. However there are very clear stand ins for the beloved heroes of yore. Kain Grinder fills in for Axe Battler while Sarah Barn takes the place of Tyris Flare. The two newcomers are more interesting. Chronos Rait is a cursed panther man who despite appearances is physically the weakest. Meanwhile Proud Cragger is a giant much like the ones you will face throughout the game. Much like Max in Streets of Rage 2 some of his throws inflict ridiculous damage and one shot most enemies. If you can tolerate his slow speed he is almost game breaking!
Mechanically things have changed for the better at the expense of the unique feel of the prior games. Where the prior titles were a bit slower and methodical in terms of combos Golden Axe III plays more like a standard beat em up. There are many, many new moves available to every character as well as some that make them more distinct. You can block attacks, perform a sweeping attack as well as a few throws depending on the button combination. Sarah and Rait can double jump as well as wall jump. There are many techniques per character, some that rely on distance and others that require button combinations. These are mostly simple but give the game depth. If you can pull them off the special moves for certain characters are overpowered. While I lament the loss of the game’s feel there is no doubt that Golden Axe plays better.
Where the gameplay has improved everything else is worse. The prior games had good pacing despite their slow pace. Golden Axe III follows suit at first but becomes a slog toward the end. The game begins to throw too many enemy waves in your path which highlights the lacking variety. There are about 5-6 enemies in total and the game begins to use bosses as regulars constantly. Facing the same spearmen and overweight bandits grows old fast. The game has branching paths which is extremely cool and adds replay value. But knowing you will face almost the exact same bad guys regardless of route sucks. I also do not like the regression in the magic system. I liked the manual system of part 2 but once again you use all magic simultaneously. Not only that the effects are lacking. But that also applies to the presentation overall.
Golden Axe III was released in Japan in 1993 but did not hit the Sega Channel until 1995. The two year gap did the game no favors. In reality even at release Golden Axe III looked old. The color palette is more vivid than its predecessors but the game is sorely lacking otherwise. Environments are bland and lacking in detail. There are a few cool set pieces but they are few and far between. The sprites are larger but that may be the only impressive aspect of the game. In 1993 Sega were firing on all cylinders with titles that pushed the hardware like Ranger-X, Shinobi III, and especially Streets of Rage 2. In 1995 that disparity was even worse. It is clear this was a low priority project and a sad way for the series to go out on the Genesis.
In Closing
Golden Axe III is mechanically sound but average in every single category. This one stings even more as even a cut down port of Revenge of Death Adder would have been better. Instead we got….this. There is a reason this was dumped on the Sega Channel. Considering some of the crap they would release (the Ooze I am looking at you) that speaks volumes about its quality.
