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AX BATTLER: A LEGEND OF GOLDEN AXE
review | GAME GEAR
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Publisher: SEGA.
Developer: Aspect. Released: 1992 (Europe). Genre: Adventure. Posted 4th October 2025. By Tom Clare © 2025 |
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Ax Battler, star of the seminal hack ‘n’ slash classic Golden Axe, appeared in his own Game Gear spin-off in 1992. No, not the popular axe-wielding dwarf, that’s Gilius Thunderhead you’re thinking of. Ax Battler was the severely underdressed, sword-wielding Barbarian with only the skimpiest blue underwear to cover his modesty. It’s difficult to suppress a tinge of disappointment that this spin-off passes over Gilius, and indeed the Amazonian Tyris, in favour of the bronzed Adonis. Almost impossible, in fact, once you discover how lacklustre the game turned out to be.
A pale imitation of the already divisive Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe marked a serious misfire from SEGA. A painfully generic fantasy tale sees Death Adder once again trying to take over the world, having stolen the legendary Golden Axe. The King of Firewood Castle duly enlists his finest warrior (and everyone’s third-favourite Golden Axe character), Ax Battler, to travel the world and lay waste to the evil doer. Cue a combination of bland role-playing, poorly designed platforming, and tedious combat that make for an incredibly underwhelming experience.
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Combat, exploration, and platforming. Sadly, Ax Battler manages none of these to an acceptable standard
It follows the 8-bit Japanese RPG blueprint of the time, with a world map tying everything together, as Ax ventures to small towns and platform-oriented dungeons, with random combat encounters filling the spaces in between. There’s barely an ounce of personality to show for its storyline. It’s so non-descript that I regularly lost track of what I was supposed to be doing, both in the immediate, and in terms of the bigger picture. Despite the considerable potential held by the series’ iconic locations, the towns are incredibly samey, heavily recycling a limited tile set. These areas lack depth, variety, and the kind of interesting or insightful dialogue that normally makes battling to reach them worthwhile in the first place.
When he’s not exploring featureless hamlets, Ax Battler’s time is taken wandering around an uber-simplistic world map, engaging in one-versus-one battles. Most fans tackling a Golden Axe adventure might reasonably expect the combat to be the highlight, and a fair bit of fun besides. Instead, it’s one of the game’s weakest aspects, serving to reiterate, at every turn, just how far short A Legend of Golden Axe falls next to the arcade classic. For a game with roots in swordplay, the combat is remarkably limp. Enemies superficially resemble those from the main series, but here, their chief tactics are to jump around gormlessly and occasionally charge the player, with super-speedy attack animations causing the lion’s share of the pain. Though training areas grant players new moves, most of these are bog-standard: an overhead swipe, or a crouching slash. The best addition is the running barge, as this adds some much-needed options to your tactics.
When he’s not exploring featureless hamlets, Ax Battler’s time is taken wandering around an uber-simplistic world map, engaging in one-versus-one battles. Most fans tackling a Golden Axe adventure might reasonably expect the combat to be the highlight, and a fair bit of fun besides. Instead, it’s one of the game’s weakest aspects, serving to reiterate, at every turn, just how far short A Legend of Golden Axe falls next to the arcade classic. For a game with roots in swordplay, the combat is remarkably limp. Enemies superficially resemble those from the main series, but here, their chief tactics are to jump around gormlessly and occasionally charge the player, with super-speedy attack animations causing the lion’s share of the pain. Though training areas grant players new moves, most of these are bog-standard: an overhead swipe, or a crouching slash. The best addition is the running barge, as this adds some much-needed options to your tactics.
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Oddly, battles end upon the player taking a hit, plonking them back at the map with another notch of damage and a lingering sense of dissatisfaction, especially when the enemy lands a jab within a second of the fight starting. The rate of battles is all over the show, as sometimes a trek from a town to a dungeon garners barely a peep from any hostiles, whilst other instances see you wading through five battles in as many steps. Predictably, with no escape function, no means of replenishing health, and no experience points to be gained from triumphing, these soon become very aggravating.
Naff as the top-down bits are, the side-scrolling dungeon sections are awful. Awkward dungeon layouts delight in gifting cheap damage, as Ax gets dive-bombed by bats that are virtually unavoidable thanks to leaden, unreliable platform controls. Areas are crammed with traps and enemies, with little structured design philosophy. Foes can be bested with a single slash of your sword, but there are many, many instances when hits do not register. Camera positioning is inadequate for spotting danger, as players are forced to take falls without knowing what’s beneath them, or accrue damage from projectiles fired from out of shot. With no means of healing, these sections tend to be highly frustrating, particularly as a new town must be reached to establish a checkpoint. Die before reaching one, and you’ll have to replay the entire dungeon.
Naff as the top-down bits are, the side-scrolling dungeon sections are awful. Awkward dungeon layouts delight in gifting cheap damage, as Ax gets dive-bombed by bats that are virtually unavoidable thanks to leaden, unreliable platform controls. Areas are crammed with traps and enemies, with little structured design philosophy. Foes can be bested with a single slash of your sword, but there are many, many instances when hits do not register. Camera positioning is inadequate for spotting danger, as players are forced to take falls without knowing what’s beneath them, or accrue damage from projectiles fired from out of shot. With no means of healing, these sections tend to be highly frustrating, particularly as a new town must be reached to establish a checkpoint. Die before reaching one, and you’ll have to replay the entire dungeon.
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Many of the game’s shortcomings stem from the lack of a save function. Ax Battler instead uses passwords, though presumably to keep them from becoming monstrously long, a number of aspects normally associated with fantasy adventures have been diminished or removed entirely. As mentioned earlier, there are no experience points to be gained from battles, and there’s also no money, and no equipment for sale. Defeating enemies instead bestows magic vases, which can be used to replenish health at an inn (the same as simply dying), or to deploy some nightmarish, eye-melting strobe effects that pass for magic attacks in battle.
Speaking of which, the visuals are really disappointing. Towns and interiors are derivative to the point of indistinguishability, whilst the world map is a hotch-potch of ill-fitting square tiles, as though no effort has been spent trying to create any kind of cohesive appearance. The dungeons fare a little better, with some reasonable backgrounds, and though the sprites are rather wooden, they’re big and nicely-drawn. The game’s one bright spot is its music which, whilst nothing world-beating, does a decent job of creating impetus, thanks to some chirpy town themes and ominous platforming tunes. That being said, opting for a generic RPG score feels like a missed opportunity, given the series’ penchant for medieval flourishes and rousing battle anthems.
Speaking of which, the visuals are really disappointing. Towns and interiors are derivative to the point of indistinguishability, whilst the world map is a hotch-potch of ill-fitting square tiles, as though no effort has been spent trying to create any kind of cohesive appearance. The dungeons fare a little better, with some reasonable backgrounds, and though the sprites are rather wooden, they’re big and nicely-drawn. The game’s one bright spot is its music which, whilst nothing world-beating, does a decent job of creating impetus, thanks to some chirpy town themes and ominous platforming tunes. That being said, opting for a generic RPG score feels like a missed opportunity, given the series’ penchant for medieval flourishes and rousing battle anthems.
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The presentation is surprisingly bare for a first-party exclusive. The Game Gear was capable of far greater visual feats
Ultimately, Ax Battler is a really poor Game Gear outing. Tiresome, repetitive and boring, it fails to capture any of the fantasy magic its series is known for, and most players will simply lose interest after a few sessions. In trying to deliver role-playing, hack ‘n’ slash action, and platforming in one bumper product, it comes up drastically short in all areas. Poor design, horrible controls and a near-total absence of personality mean this is one legend that doesn’t bear retelling.
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VERDICT"Tiresome, repetitive and boring, Ax Battler fails to capture any of the fantasy magic its series is known for, and most players will simply lose interest after a few sessions. This legend doesn't bear retelling." OVERALL: 3/10 |
OTHER FANTASY COMBAT GAMES REVIEWED
Golden Axe II (1992, Mega Drive)
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Sacred Citadel (2013, PC)
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