Ah, Golden Axe…

GOLDEN AXE: THE REVENGE OF DEATH ADDER
original platform
arcade
developer/publisher
SEGA

The dastardly Death Adder is back and barbarian adventurers must murder him once more, this time in 32 bits!

Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder was inducted on October 21st, 2009.

Return to the National Game Registry to view more inductees.

15 – 16 yıl öncesine kadar hayallerimizi süsleyen bu sistem şimdilerde yerini akıl almaz yeni jenerasyon konsollara bıraktı ama biz tabiki bu efsanevi Sega Master System i unutmuş değiliz. Biraz maziyi anmak için sizleri Sega Master System’in top 10 oyunları ile baş başa bırakıyoruz.

Videoyu göremiyorsanız buraya tıklayınız.

I have to admit, I do feel a little bit guilty reviewing Sega games on the PS2 when I have a Sega Mega Drive with some of these already. But I wanted to check it out and it was the first game I recieved from the GAME rental service.

What attracted me to this game was the nostalgia that surrounded it – I strongly remember playing the Mega Drive in the early hours of the morning with my cousins, with the volume turned down low so we wouldn’t get caught by our parents. The games were definately better when playing 2 player. Street Fighter, Toejam and Earl, Golden Axe – working together was the appeal for me, rather than fighting against each other. Unfortunately for me this time round, the only time I got to play it was by myself, so didn’t have the feeling of team spirit whilst playing it. Also I didn’t get as far in the games as I used when I had a sidekick.

List of Games included:

• 1. Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle
• 2. Altered Beast
• 3. Bonanza Bros.
• 4. Columns
• 5. Comix Zone
• 6. Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
• 7. Ecco the Dolphin
• 8. Ecco II: The Tides of Time
• 9. Ecco Jr.
• 10. Kid Chameleon
• 11. Flicky
• 12. Gain Ground
• 13. Golden Axe I
• 14. Golden Axe II
• 15. Golden Axe III
• 16. Phantasy Star II
• 17. Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
• 18. Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium
• 19. Ristar
• 20. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
• 21. Sonic the Hedgehog
• 22. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• 23. Super Thunder Blade
• 24. Sword of Vermilion
• 25. VectorMan
• 26. VectorMan 2
• 27. Virtua Fighter 2

When the game arrived, I immediatly scrolled down to Altered Beast. It was a game that had stuck in my mind over the years, and I’m not entirely sure why. Yes, it has the awesome weird looking monsters and the guy buffed up and eventually turns into a werewolf or dragon etc. Also you got to kick blue pigs to death. I wasn’t too impressed with the story as it isn’t that creative – saving some old guys daughter (which I later discovered was Zeus and his daughter Athena), but the ability to transform into creatures is the hook of the game.

The quotes, of course, are classic. “Rise from your grave” is so memorable, as well as “Welcome to your doom!” which actually makes no sense. I find it quite slow paced in comparison to other Sega games, and the levels can end too soon if you manage to get the power ups quickly. Still, I did enjoy playing it, although I kept dying at the second boss…

When you have a choice of which character to play, I have to admit I like to keep the girl power alive. In Golden Axe, the scantily clad Tyris Flare was my character of choice, and she is pretty bad ass. She’s very sexy on the game cover, and isn’t too bad whilst in the game either.

Great storyline to this game, I especially liked touches such as the village being on the back of a giant turtle which then moved the heros closer to their destination. The magic is a useful tool too, and can help you out a great deal if you use it at the right times. It was fun getting to poke the little elves with bags as well to steal their magic. Having the choice of characters kept the game interesting, as you could explore each of their special moves. Being able to jump on creatures backs and ride them was great too, althought I didn’t find them the best weapons to use. Golden Axe was a game I had kind of forgotten about, but after the first few seconds of it, I remembered how awesome it was – a definate favourite in the list of games.

A couple of others worth of a mention are:

• Sonic – Obviously. I don’t think I need to say anymore.
• Comix Zone – I had never played this before, and I found it so much fun. Being able to swing between comic book frames was a brilliant concept and storyline was fab with some brilliant one-liners
• Columns – My forte. I own at columns. I had it on the Game Gear and played for hours and hours. Love the music in this game, and I could never get bored of it.
• Shinobi III – I loved being a Ninja Master, and thought the levels were great, especially the one where you get to ride a horse!

Games I wasn’t so keen on:

• Sword of Vermilion – Too slow. I usually like games like this, but it took forever to explore different parts and the story didn’t keep my interest.
• Ecco the Dolphin – Ecco is very cute, I will give him that. But it actually made me feel a bit seasick watching him and his pals leaping in and out the water, somersaulting, flipping…
• Flicky – I died immediatly and didn’t bother giving it another go.

Being on the PS2, it’s possible to save your progress, and there are mini tasks to complete which spur you on to try all the games, not just your favourites. Completing these unlocks interviews and extra games, which is a fun added bonus (although admittedly I didn’t watch the developer interviews). Its a great mixture of games, with some well known ones and some that take a few minutes of game play before the memories come flooding back.

I give Sega Mega Drive Collection:

7 out of 10!

Laserlid

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Having just pre-ordered the game ‘Wet’, which stars Eliza Dushku as Rubi Malone – a female assassin – I started thinking about other strong female characters.

In honour of the harder side of the fairer sex I’ve put together twenty of the toughest female characters out there.

No superpowers, I’m talking about hand to hand, gunplay and ninja type skills.

It was supposed to be a Top 10 but the list just grew and grew. So I’ve had to do it in two parts.

Here’s part one.

And no, before we start, Lara Croft is not on this list. Every woman on this list could take her down

20) Lian Xing (Syphon Filter)

A former member of the Chinese Secret Service, Xing teamed up with Gabriel Logan in Soviet occupied Afganistan.

She is a skilled marksman, known for her sniper work. Lian Xing is always on hand to help Gabe out of trouble – whether that’s by his side or over the radio.

19) Faith Connors (Mirror’s Edge)

Faith is a parkour expert with some pretty nifty footwork. She lives in a city where the oppressive government keeps tabs on everybody – spying electronically on them. Faith delivers packages or messages by hand, the only way to safely converse.

She can handle herself with a firearm but it’s her awesome hand to hand combat skills that get her onto this list.

Check out the video below for evidence!

18) Anne Lewis (Robocop)

Ever since I first saw Robocop I’ve always thought his female partner Anne Lewis was underappreciated.

Officer Lewis is shown having a fist fight with a male suspect moments before meeting Murphy/Robocop for the first time – always a good introduction.

Her gun skills are good and she even helps Robocop reallign his targeting system with her accurate aiming.

She is willing to go to extreme lengths to assist her partner, helping him recover when he is seriously injured and then backing him up, with almost fatal consequences, in the last stand against Boddicker’s gang at the steel mill.

A real tough nut with a big heart, Anne Lewis is exactly the kind of partner you’d want if you were a cop, especially in Old Detroit

17) Sonya Blade (Mortal Kombat)

Lieutenant Sonya Blade is a member of the Outer World Investigation Agency, a top United States Special Forces unit.

She is also the first female entrant into the Mortal Kombat tournament. One of her moves includes doing a handstand, grabbing her enemy between her legs and smashing them into the ground.

Using her army training to her advantage Sonya is as tough as any of her male counterparts – she doesn’t even have to actually touch her opponent to finish them off… she simply blows them a deadly kiss (see below)

16) Echo (Dollhouse)

Echo is an ‘active’, someone that has signed a period of their life away in exchange for cash. During this period she has her memory wiped and is regularly imprinted with other people’s memories to carry out various jobs.

We’re talking some serious skills – safe cracking, martial arts, street fighting… the list goes on and on.

And she certainly isn’t afraid to use her skills – the Chinese kitchen/alleyway fight scene was particularly gruelling and incredibly fun to watch.

15) Tyris Flare (Golden Axe)

An Amazonian who is deadly with a sword, Tyris Flare cuts an impressive figure.

Orphaned by Death Adder, the game’s main bad guy, she is out for revenge and doesn’t care who gets hurt on the way.

As well as being adapt with a sword Tyris commands the power of fire magic – but she makes the list based on her swordplay and general toughness.

14) Rubi Malone (Wet)

I haven’t even played the full game yet but having seen the demo in action I have no hesitation in including Rubi on this list.

An acrobatic assassin skilled in dual wielding pistols and deadly with a sword, Rubi always gets the job done – despite increasing numbers of enemies

Having said that her temper may cloud her judgement at times – she often leaves a trail of dead bodies in her wake trying to get to her target, which might not be the kind of hush hush hit you’ve asked for.

13) Trinity (The Matrix)

I know Trinity kind of has superpowers but really she’s just a normal human who has learnt the ability to bend the Matrix. So she’s in the list.

I remember seeing The Matrix in the cinema and being blown away by it. That opening scene where Trinity deals with the group of cops… amazing.

With a mix of martial arts and general Matrix bending merriment Trinity takes care of the bad guys in the best possible way – hard and fast.

12) Nariko (Heavenly Sword)

Nariko’s clan were awaiting a male to fulfill the prophecy of the powerful weapon Heavenly Sword – turns out it was always gonna be a girl who got the best out of the weapon.

When all else around her seems to be falling apart it’s Nariko that steps up to the plate and takes on the bad guys.

With some serious sword combos and plenty of attitude, she is not one to be messed with, as King Bohan and his cohorts found out in Heavenly Sword.

11) Blaze Fielding (Streets Of Rage)

One of three members of a special police task force set up to deal with unrest in the city, Blaze is a Judo expert.

She uses a mixture of her martial arts, slams and throws to clean up the streets.

Hard as nails and willing to risk it all to protect the public, Blaze’s German Suplex move finished off many a bad guy in Streets Of Rage.

So there we have it the frist half of the count down with the Top 10 coming up soon!

GOLDEN AXE
original platform
arcade
developer/publisher
SEGA
key personnel
Makoto Uchida (design)
Tohru Nakabayashi (music)

SEGA had the brilliant idea of placing brawling shenanigans in a swords ‘n sorcery setting.  Voila!

Golden Axe was inducted on August 23rd, 2009.

Return to the National Game Registry to view more inductees.

This week’s highlights – Golden Axe: Beast Rider (X360) at Play-Asia for $14.90, and the puzzler Droplitz at Steam for just $2.

Play-Asia
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (Xbox 360) – $14.90 (50% off)
Works on all Xbox 360 consoles.

Steam Weekend Deal
1701 A.D. Gold Edition (Anno 1701) – $14.99 (50% off)
Includes 1701 A.D. + The Sunken Dragon.

Other Steam deals:
Droplitz – $1.99 (80% off)  Until August 28.
Osmos - $8.99 (10% off)
Raven Squad + Section 8 – $67.48 (25% off)  Pre-purchase, available August 27 and September 2.
Killing Floor – $17.99 (10% off)  Until August 27.
Freshly-released Interplay Games:

• Fallout – $8.99 (10% off)
• Fallout 2 – $8.99 (10% off)
• Fallout Tactics – $8.99 (10% off) (Also available as the Fallout Collection for $19.99.)
• Kingpin – $8.99 (10% off)
• Sacrifice – $8.99 (10% off)

Impulse
Kingdom Elemental: Tactics – $14.95 (25% off)
AI War: Fleet Command - $14.99 (25% off)
Space Rangers – $9.99 (50% off)
Hero’s Tale Enhanced Edition – $5.99 (40% off)

GOG Promo
Ubisoft Action Pack – $9.99 (50% off)
Includes:

• Beyond Good And Evil – $6.99 (30% off)
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – $6.99 (30% off)

GamersGate
Universe at War: Earth Assault – $9.95 (50% off)
Viva Media Chess Bundle – $29.95 (40% off) – Includes Fritz Chess 10 and Learn To Play Chess With Fritz and Chesster 1.
Serious Sam 2 – $14.95 (50% off)

Direct2Drive
Zeno Clash – $7.50 (50% off)
Meridian4 Ultimate Collection – 23 games – $59.95 (save $240).
All titles available individually at 70% off.

The power of Steve Durante’s switch frontside heelflip compels you to go skating this weekend. Via this Slap “Foto” feature

Golden Axe foi um grande clássico na erMaster Sistem, só que  Golden Axe: Beast Rider para X360 e PS3 não repete a história…

O jogo se mostra linear, perdendo 2 dos tres protagonistas originais, os dragões são quase inuties e as paisagens genéricas (quem sabe se Beast Rider fosse lançado em 1969 teria criticas melhores…)

Golden Axe (original)

Golden Axe: Beast Rider:

Hoje foi um dia histórico! Estávamos trabalhando quando o Rodrigo, um dos engenheiros do meu setor, recebeu um email que deixou todos maravilhados. O email era da Tectoy anunciando que em breve lançará o Master System Evolution.

O novíssimo console já vem com 132 jogos na memória, entre eles clássicos como Sonic the Hedgehog, Alex Kidd in the Miracle World, Golden Axe, Shinobi e Altered Beast. O Master System Evolution já vem com 2 joysticks ergonômicos de alta performance e respostas rápidas aos comandos! Com certeza um marco na história do videogame.

Agora falando sério, é muito estranho uma empresa relançar algo pré-histórico como se fosse novo enquanto temos PlayStation 3, XBox 360 e Wii, mas, como estamos no Brasil, isso até que é aceitável.

Como disse o Bengt na sala, em resposta à indignação do Leo, tem muita gente que não tem condições de comprar um videogame de útima geração e que fica extremamente contente com um Master System. A Tectoy até que fez uma coisa legal recentemente ao lançar o Zeebo, videogame que, basicamente, roda jogos de celular e possibilita comprá-los e baixá-los por R$ 9,90. Não chega nem perto do PlayStation 1, mas não deixa de ser uma iniciativa legal, inclusive para ajudar a divulgar mais ainda jogos desenvolvidos aqui no Brasil, como são a maioria dos jogos de celular.

Agora, reviver o Master System e dizer que é um lançamento, no mínimo é bizarro e com certeza algo que só aconteceria aqui nesse país estranho.

Quem comprar um Master System Evolution por favor me chame pra jogar!

Robert Ervin Howard stworzył legendę, mitycznego barbarzyńcę, w ostatecznym rozrachunku władcę wielkiej Aquilonii, potężnego Conana.  Żadne stworzenie nie byłoby w stanie podnieść przeciw niemu orężu… gdyby nie Gilius Thunderhead, czterokrotnie mniejszy od Conana krasnolud, który po wbiciu w ziemię Death Addera zapowiedział, że w imieniu całej rasy krasnoludów rzuca wyzwanie barbarzyńcy!

Złote siekiery na sztandary!

…to oczywiście tylko nadęty sen Gilliusa, nieustraszonego krasnoluda zamieszkałego w pobliżu kopalni Wolud. Ów, właściwie pół człowiek/pół krasnolud (trudno jednoznacznie wyrokować o ostatecznej rasie tej postaci) poprzysiągł zemstę Death Adderowi,  którego poplecznicy odesłali jego brata bliźniaka do krainy wiecznej ciszy.

Kimże jest Death Adder? Nie, to nie alternatywa wersja Anakina Skywalkera, a klasyczny niegodziwiec ze świata fantasy. Trudno rozwodzić o jego jakichkolwiek zacięciach, czy to w stronę magii, czy miecza, ale jedna z jego niedoszłych ofiar nazwała go wprawnym rycerzem.

Przy udziale swojego fantasy gestapo rzeczony osobnik uknuł wielki plan podbicia królestwa Yurii. Dotąd raczej pacyfistycznie nastawiona kraina, nie spodziewając się ataku ze strony kogokolwiek, poddała się Adderowi dosyć szybko i bez większych starć, nie włączając w to oczywiście niesprawdzonej w starciach, przybocznej straży króla. Nowy władca Yurii z nieznanych przyczyn okazał się na tyle miłosierny by nie zabijać swojego poprzednika, skazując go wraz z córką (następczynią tronu) na bezkres oczekiwania w zimnych lochach zamku.

Być może Death Adder liczył, że tym samym uzyska przychylność obywateli Yurii? Nic z tego! Upokorzeni mieszkańcy jeszcze długo organizowali spontaniczne ataki w stronę zamku, które oczywiście mroczne zastępy Addera zamieniały w rzeź niewiniątek. Szczęśliwie dla Death Addera w jego ręce dostał się legendarny dla podań krainy – złoty topór – rzecz, bez której mieszkańcy Yurii są jak Lenin bez łysinki czy Niemcy bez wrony.

Niespodziewany sukcesor tronu obwieścił wszem i wobec, że wykończy rodzinę królewską oraz, że zniszczy symbol krainy gdy jego mieszkańcy nie okażą mu należnego szacunku.

Ataki ustąpiły. Death Adder w pełni zapanował krainą.

Bang! Bang! Death Adder shot me down…

Jak się miało okazać – na krótko. Bowiem mroczny władca Yurii nagrabił sobie tyle wśród niewinnych (i silnych!) bohaterów, że któryś z nich musiał wreszcie wystąpić przeciw jego rządom. Takich śmiałków znalazło się trzech i najciekawsze, że każdy z nich miał w głębokim poważaniu dobro rodziny królewskiej czy złotego topora, a pierwszym motywem do wyruszenia przeciw Death Adderowi miała być zemsta.

Syna kopalni Wolud, silnego duchem Giliusa Thunderheada przedstawiłem we wstępie. A kim są dwaj pozostali myśliwi, których zwierzyną jest Adder?

Poznajcie Ax’a Battlera! Ten daleki krewny plemników Conana należał do nielicznych obrońców Yurii, którego jednak w krytycznym momencie zabrakło gdyż właśnie odbywał krwawą kampanię w odległych krainach. Zresztą Ax Battler nigdy nie mieszkał w centrum krainy, kręcąc się raczej na jej obrzeżach. Prawdopodobnie los obojętnego mu króla nie zainteresowałby go specjalnie, ale w trakcie powrotu z kampanii został świadkiem sceny, w której rycerze Death Addera dla zabawy wykończyli Bogu ducha winną osóbkę… matkę Battlera… płonący zemstą wojownik wtopił swój miecz w tępych morderców i poprzysiągł zemstę ich szefom.

Ostatnią do wyboru postacią w grze jest kobieta. Jedna z nielicznych amazonek, piękna i mordercza, Tyris Flame. Jej historia również oparta jest na zemście. Oficjalnie ma do wyrównania porachunki z Death Adderem, który zapobiegawczo zrównał z ziemią obóz jej sióstr, ale nieoficjalnie Tyris Flame, czująca w swoich żyłach wciąż prorodzinną krew, poszukuje zemsty za śmierć swoich rodziców, którzy podobnie jak w przypadku Ax’a Battlera, zginęli z rąk wysłanników Death Addera. Tyris Flame obiecała, że wbije swój miecz prosto w krocze nowego władcy Yurii!

Któregoś bohatera z tej trójki poprowadzi gracz. Każdy z nich potrafi skutecznie walczyć i czarować, a także… kontrolować mityczne zwierzątka, niezwykle skuteczne w ścisłej walce.

Niezwykła przygoda

Rozgrywka Golden Axe prowadzi nas prosto do samego zamku, w którym oczekiwać nas będzie Death Adder.

Jednak za nim się do niego dostaniemy po drodze będziemy musieli poszatkować całe mnóstwo rozmaitych stworzeń, mrocznych obrońców Yurii. Podczas naszej krwawej krucjaty będziemy mogli podziwać gigantów dźwigających jeszcze większe topory i halabardy, goblinów z prymitywnymi włóczniami, legiony szkieletów, wściekłe “odwrócone” amazonki, oszczepników, smoki czy cywili wyposażonych w podstawowe bronie, a to tylko nieliczni przedstawiciele długiej litanii naszych wrogów.

Po naszej stronie staną śmieszne skrzaty dostarczające nam manę oraz jak sobie oswoimy (czyt. złapiemy lub strącimy z rywala) zwierzęta.

Cóż… w grze “idź w prawo i zabijaj” z 1990 roku trudno oczekiwać rewelacyjnej grafiki, bo ta utrzymana jest w odpowiedniej dla tych lat konwencji, ale warto zauważyć, że kolorowe lokacje dobrze oddają klimat fantasy, właśnie cechowany trochę stylem Conana czy “Diablo w mieście” . Kwestie dźwięków mógłbym przemilczeć, chociaż tutaj warto o ciekawostkę, że część z nich (np. odgłos umierającego przeciwnika) pochodzą z filmu o Conanie i… z filmu Rambo: Pierwsza Krew . Musicie to usłyszeć!

Korci mnie jeszcze aby na klawiaturze wystukać, zaiste, star wars’owskie zakończenie, ale oddam to każdemu by mógł się przekonać jak potoczą się losy Death Addera. Uwierzcie, że po oswobodzeniu króla i jego córeczki oraz mając we władaniu zloty topór, w tle rozkładającego się trupa Addera… sporo się wydarzy!

Musisz sięgnąć jeśli… lubisz klimat fantasy, nie widzisz niczego uwłaczającego w machaniu sobie mieczykiem w rozdzielczości 320 na 240, a leśne skrzaty traktujesz inaczej niż wizję po Mary Jane

Gandalf mówi ENTER

Obrazki pochodzą ze źródeł rozmaitych, wyzłacanych googlami, posrebrzanych yahoo:

http://www.coolrom.com/screenshots/

http://ign.com

http://stare.e-gry.net/

por EdSom

O tempo passa, o tempo voa, e a coluna Velhos Bons Tempos continua numa boa…

Se você entendeu a referência acima, certamente tem saudades do tempo em que problema era o nome das questões de matemática. E estes bons tempos são revividos aqui, no WarpZona, através da coluna dos gamers das antigas.

Na terceira e última parte da série que mostra como acompanhar a vanguarda da tecnologia dos games, ou mesmo estar à frente dela, sem ter nascido em berço de ouro, vamos acompanhar a descoberta da realidade virtual!

Continua após o salto.

Meninos do buchão

Ainda na era dos 16-bits, já cansados do simulador e de sua versão tridimensional, eu e meus irmãos recorremos ao último recurso para acompanhar os novos jogos: pescoçar em locadoras.

Ao menos uma vez ao dia, seja depois das aulas, seja no início da noite, ficávamos assistindo os felizardos que tinha acesso a algum dinheiro jogar suas partidas. Hora ou outra a gente dava uma dica (conhecíamos quase todos os games de cor e salteado), e em algumas situações jogávamos alguns minutos quando alguém tinha dificuldade em algum trecho ou quando um amigo convidava.

Fizemos algumas grandes amizades nesta época. E como sabemos, o terceiro melhor acessório que um jogador de videogame pode ter é: amizades e irmãos. Ríamos e se divertíamos aos montes, e quando não estávamos jogando, conversávamos sobre os jogos. Coisas de meninos do buchão.

O machado de ouro

Um dos jogos que mais me despertava a imaginação nesta época de locadora era o Golden Axe, para Mega Drive. Nele, o bárbaro Ax Battler, a amazona Tyris Flare e o anão Gilius Thunderhead buscam vingança contra o tirano Death Adder, que havia raptado a família real e se apossado do lendário Golden Axe.

O clássico Golden Axe, para Mega Drive

Eu me perguntava: por que eles querem vingança? Segundo a história do jogo, as forças de Death Adder foram responsáveis pelo assasinato dos pais da amazona, a mãe do bárbaro e do irmão-gêmeo do anão. Mas as respostas só suscitavam mais perguntas: se o anão consegue oferecer resistência, porque seu irmão-gêmeo não conseguiu? Se mataram os pais da amazona, porque mataram apenas a mãe do bárbaro? Ele era órfão de pai? E porque apenas os três decidiram a se opôr ao tirano? Os outros cidadãos também não sofreram seqüelas com a invasão? E a guarda real, onde está?

A amazona Tyris Flare

Mesmo sendo um bom jogo, que nos proporcionou bons momentos de diversão, eu sempre ficava com aquelas questões na cabeça. Até que um dia minha mãe veio com a solução.

O livro

Minha mãe tinha chegado do trabalho com um livro enorme, encadernado em espiral, e me entregou, dizendo: “Trouxe para você!”. Eu fiquei sem entender, porque não havia pedido livro algum. Ela explicou: “Uma colega do serviço pediu para copiar este livro para o filho dela. Como eu vi que falava de jogos, achei que você ia gostar e te trouxe uma cópia também.” Folhei o livro, e o título já me deixou encafifado: GURPS.

Ax Battler no Game Gear

Comecei a ler e não parei mais, entrando noite a dentro. A leitura de um livro de regras de um RPG mexe com a imaginação de qualquer um, e estimula a criação de histórias e mundos fantásticos a partir apenas de lápis, papel e dados. Agora eu poderia vivenciar quaisquer mundos, com qualquer número de personagens, sem limites!

Tinha acabado de descobrir a realidade virtual, e não gastaria praticamente nada para ter acesso à ela…

Vô atacá!

Naturalmente, meus irmãos e meus amigos se empolgaram imediatamente com o novo brinquedo, que em muito superava as soluções anteriores. Nas férias escolares daquele ano, Krycov (o do Warp TV), Minduim (o irmão da Toinha) e o nosso amigo da primeira coluna, o convicto, começamos uma campanha de Golden Axe, mestrada por mim. Krycov representava o anão, Minduim o bárbaro e o nosso amigo a amazona. Ele marcou época porque, sempre que tinha um combate na história e eu perguntava a ele o que ele iría fazer, a resposta invariavelmente era: “Vô atacá!”…

O anão Thunderhead

O vício foi tanto que eles me acordavam às 7:00 da manhã e íamos para a casa do Krycov, onde jogávamos até 6 da tarde. Eu voltava para casa, jantava e escrevia até duas da manhã as aventuras que viveríamos no dia seguinte, abordando as motivações de cada personagem, a reação do povo das vilas, da guarda real, enfim, dando respostas às questões que me perseguiam. Foram 30 dias muito bacanas e divertidos.

A brincadeira acabou porque, além do fato das férias estarem terminando, em certa ocasião de tão cansado deixei a janela do quarto aberta, e a chuva estragou todas as minhas anotações e planilhas de personagens…

Saudades dos bons tempos

Hoje, mais velhos e com mais responsabilidades, já não podemos reviver as aventuras de Golden Axe e muitas outras campanhas que fizemos desde então. Minduim já não mora mais no Brasil e eu, Krycov e nosso amigo já moramos em cidades diferentes. Mas, se fosse possível, queria adaptar o meu velho simulador para escrever um “GURPS F1” e mestrar uma campanha para meus amigos e irmãos.

Por este motivos, dentre outros, é que a coluna chama-se Velhos Bons Tempos…

So here we go.

The first batch of games in the GregHorrorShow’s Top 100 Games list!

A quick recap on how I decided who came where:

I decided, as so many games mean so many different things to me, I should come up with a fair way to judge them. This is what I came up with:

Time Spent Playing

Storyline

Difficulty

Fun

Ground Breaking?

A few provisos before we hit the first ten games…

Firstly this is my list of my Top 100 games. I certainly don’t expect you guys to agree with it (though hopefully you’ll agree with some of the choices  ) and would welcome any comments.

Secondly, I’m not planning on putting the scores or totals up, just listing the games in the order they came out in.

Lastly, I never owned a Nintendo or Microsoft console so my experiences on these games were limited to friend’s houses etc – bite me

Let’s get started!

100. GHOSTBUSTERS (ZX Spectrum)

I spent so many hours playing this as a kid and never even made it past the first bit but I was crazy for anything Ghostbusters so I loved it as much as any game I had at the time. You used to have work your way around the city busting ghosts. Inbetween busts you got to drive the Ecto 1 and buy loads of cool gadgets that didn’t really do much. Looking back its pretty appalling but I have very happy memories of it. Damn that Marshmallow Man coming to stomp all over the town so quickly!

99. SPLATTERHOUSE 2 (Sega Mega Drive)

Rick was hard as nails. After seeing his girlfriend Jennifer killed at the end of the original Splatterhouse does he sit around and mope, crying like a baby? No siree, he gets himself the Hell Mask and goes to rescue her from the Land Of The Dead. My friends and I didn’t really get that far into Splatterhouse 2 as it was hardcore. We never got bored though, not with the ability to ’splat’ undead enemies onto the wall in the background with a metal pipe. Nightmarish? Yes. Fun? Hell Yeah!!!

98. GHOULS N GHOSTS (Sega Master System)

If you wanna talk near impossible games let me introduce you to Ghouls N Ghosts. Damn this game was hard. I dread to think how many hours I put into this just to be able to get to the second or third level – sheesh. You control Arthur the Knight, who is trying to save his true love and help restore the souls to the people the evil God Loki has taken them from. But let’s be honest we all laughed the first time he got hit, lost his armour and was just in his heart covered boxer shorts Then we wept as his died from the next hit. Three hits and you’re dead – as Pulp once sang: This Is Hardcore.

97. LETHAL ENFORCERS (Sega Mega Drive)

Ah Lethal Enforcers, such fun Having experienced it in the arcades it didn’t take much for me to invest in a copy for the Mega Drive. From then on it was a downward slope as me, my Dad and my brother desperately tried to shoot out some Chinamen in a Chinese Laundry or take out some bad guys in a bank robbery. To reload you had to aim the gun away from the screen and we soon perfected what can only be described as the campest reloading ever – a quick flick of the wrist away to reload and back firing in one fluid motion. Good wholesome shooting family fun – just don’t shoot the civilians!!

96. GOLDEN AXE (Sega Master System)

Golden Axe was brilliant – first up the choice of characters: Barbarian, Amazon or Dwarf (Dwarf ftw ). You got swords/axes, magic – which was sweet and even the ability to ride monsters, spewing fire/ice at baddies. This is an absolute classic. In fact at a theme park once my parents had to announce over the tannoy for me to come to the main gate. The park was closing but I’d gone back to the arcade for one last game. I had it for the Master System and while the graphics weren’t as good as the arcade the gameplay was just as good.

95. HARD DRIVIN’ (Sega Mega Drive)

I wasted many an hour on Hard Drivin’ pretending I was really driving and creating the most awesome crash replays by screaming up the loop the loop and veering off the side on the way up. Basically you had a choice of the stunt course or the speed course. Mainly most people went stunt – and why not, the speed course was rubbish anyway Used to get endless amusement from the fact that if you hit the cow it mooed. I used to love Hard Drivin’ but can admit it doesn’t really hold up against some of the driving games that have followed it.

94. WWF WRESTLEFEST ROYAL RUMBLE (Arcade)

My brother and I must’ve pumped hundreds of quid into this over the years. WWF was ‘real’ wrestling and Hulk Hogan ruled. This was as close as we got to the real thing. We’d be like ‘oh my God look at the graphics – it’s so realistic.’ The good thing about this was the Royal Rumble mode. Yeah tag team was all well and good but there’s nothing quite like ‘every man for himself’ to get the fingers and thumbs pumping. Happy times and the recent WWE Legends Of Wrestlemania was a great example of how wrestling games used to be – fun.

93. CHASE HQ (Sega Master System)

Chase HQ made you feel like the coolest cop EVER. You had a Porsche. You had nitro boosts. When you saw your suspect you put a red police light on the top of your car. And when you finally caught up with them you had to ram them off the road Gene Hunt style. Would love to see this remade and updated at some stage. The gameplay was great, if a little short but the games combination of different styles (tactical boosting / agressive ramming) broke things up and it was just as entertaining to watch as it was play.

92. SINGSTAR (Playstation 3) 

The only singing game you’ll ever need and I’m not just saying that because I’ve worked on every edition Singstar was a truly ground breaking title in the genre. No one had used original audio for a singing game before and to feature the video in the background as well was a touch of genius. I have had many a great night when the Singstar has come out to play

91. RESISTANCE 2 (Playstation 3)

Resistance 2 follows on from the first game – beginning minutes after Resistance: Fall Of Man concludes. The second game was bigger and better than the first but despite it’s increase in scale it was less fun in places and didn’t have as many new inventive weapons. Graphically it was a step up and some of the boss battles were epic – a very solid shooter and one that continues to expand the Resistance universe.

So there’s the first part of the countdown – more to follow soon and I’ll add links within each one as we go along to make it easier to find for everybody!

This is written on May 28, 2009.

MM’s room has good Feng Shui, she got a silver axe a while ago. Back on 4/17, we got the fountain in hang and on 4/26, MM finally got her golden axe, so it took about 1 month plus 10 days to get the first golden axe in hang.

miao is trying something new. I buried a bag of 99k with the golden shovel a couple of days ago, and yesterday (5/27), we got the first bell tree in hang. Just for good-looking, actually losing money. lol.
I also plant the black rose I found yesterday and didn’t water it yesterday to see if we can get the first golden rose in hang tomorrow.

pang built the first swimming pool beside his house, and it’s close to fall and have a good view.

Produttore: SEGA | Download Via: Appstore | Prezzo: 3,99€

Ve ne avevamo parlato qualche giorno fa ed oggi è disponibile in AppStore il nuovo gioco prodotto da SEGA. Si tratta di Golden Axe, e sono sicuro che tutti voi avrete avuto modo di giocarci in passato. E’ un gioco che ha fatto la storia e che adesso rivive sui nostri iPhone con dei controlli estremamente semplici.

Proprio come Sonic, anche Golden Axe viene emulato, per cui ci troveremo a giocare proprio la versione originale. Abbiamo tre personaggi a disposizione (il vecchio, la donna, e l’eroe) e dovremo portare a termine le varie missioni ed i vari livelli. Ecco un video dimostrativo in-game:

Grazie pierocase

Oh, boy, Sega’s been milking Golden Axe like crazy these days. First in Xbox Live Arcade, then on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection(if you don’t count the older Classics Collection) and now finally on iPhone.  To see it in action, watch the little Youtube video on this post.

Graphics- If it wasnt for the 360 logo on the box, I would have sworn this was a playstation 2 title. The character models AND the environments are artless, blunt, and simply unappealing. The only thing in the new world of golden axe that isnt instultive to your eyes are the brutal beasts your ride on. They look fierce, scaley, and ready for action. I do understand times are tough and development costs are on the rise, but even with that in mind this was a let down. Now true, this isnt as hideous as, let’s say, spectral force 3 (360 Srpg) but with titles like viking battle for asgard, devil may cry 4, and ninja gaiden 2, this action title lacks any spirit or vigor in terms of its display.

4/10

Story- You take control of TyrisFlare who is part of a band of female warriors who are under attack from the menacing death adder. You must kill him. That’s as deep and profound as it gets. Seriously. You run from point a to b, kill some foes that nearly all look and fight identically, and repeat in a vicious cycle. Generic mid-battle comments and a dumbed down story line that could have been written by a 5th grader does not cut it in any way shape or form. Stories this empty and shallow could pass in the Sega Genesis days, but you’d expect more out of a current gen action title who is part of the legendary golden axe lore.

2/10

Gameplay- If the story and graphics didn’t break your spirit, a by the numbers battle system might.  You get two basic reversals (by no means requiring anywhere near split second timing as you’d expect in an actual battle situation) two attacks (strong and weak) and a few simple magic spells, none of which will lay any significant damage. Its not that its poorly executed per se, but it feels like a simple collaboration of standard action title controls, lacking any creativity or individuality. And since the story and graphics aren’t doing much for the title, some visceral combat was sorely needed. However, please note the segments/portions where you do have access to beasts is actually fairly entertaining. They have unique controls, require some thought and reaction to expertly control (as you must manage your position/attacks to stay mounted and ration its health), and are just a nice spot of fun to partake. Sorrowfully, even those joyous beats are just not enough to make the game play anywhere near good or great.

4/10

Overall- If you really love the words golden and axe (or need to see them run next to each other at any given chance) or if you must control tryis flare, go download the arcade title golden axe. For anyone else, skip this title. I cant say anything besides that.

3/10

Recommendation: AVOID

Video-game revivalism is in. Thanks to on-line download services, gamers now have access to all those childhood classics that they cherished, or missed out on. More so, smaller development companies have started to cash in on that retro-spirit, in hopes of reaching vast audiences with low-budget titles available in download services. A return to the past is usually welcome – going back to simpler game designs, sustained only by the intricate quality of its interactivity, instead of its next-gen graphics or physic engines. But not all retro-revivalism is welcome. Video-games have evolved in the last years. Surely not as much as some (me included) might have wanted, but they have, for all intents and purposes, evolved. “Castle Crashers’” developers (Dan Paladin and Tom Fulp) however, seem to take advantage of the lack of criticism surrounding retro-gaming, to produce simplistic games that when properly dissected, show how empty and retrograde their game-design philosophies really are.

Simply put, there’s nothing new about “Castle Crashers”. It’s a bare knuckles “Golden Axe” clone without the dark fantasy ambiance, a mindless brawler without the polish and challenge arcade games excel at… it’s, well, utterly redundant and uninteresting. Nevermind the fact that the its authors seem to take pleasure in exposing the shallowness of their venture, through their crude humor and infantile, cartoonish aesthetic; the bottom line is that “Castle Crashers” is simply not that good of an action game. Not that it doesn’t have its fair share of well executed ideas – level design is sometimes inspired, and its RPG character levelling is simple, but effective – but nothing it does well actually deserves mentioning or praise. Of course, the answers to all my criticisms could be “co-op”, to which I’d reply, if you don’t take pleasure in playing a game solo, why would it make it better if you play it in the exact same way with someone? Co-op needs to be inserted in games with the purpose of allowing cooperative or competitive efforts. “Castle Crashers’” idea of cooperation is bashing enemies together.  Now, this can be entertaining, but it’s entertaining because you get to play with your friends. You should compliment your friends, not the game.

Nothing about “Castle Crashers” is actually any good. If it were released a few years back, it would be seen as a quirky game, but little else. So many, many classic games have already done what “Castle Crashers” does well, but with much more creativity and care to detail, that it makes no sense to even look it as anything more than a glorified de-make.  Sure, its on-line features are a blessing, but today you have access to many of the classic games that inspired “Castle Crashers” available for download, sometimes even with online play. So why settle with the demeaning qualities of a copy, when you can get the superiority of the original, for a smaller price?

]]> http://mangames.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/golden-axe/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:29:16 +0000 Michu http://mangames.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/golden-axe/

Jeden z najbardziej oldschoolowych hiciorów wydany w wersji wonderswanowej. W porównaniu z oryginałem – beznadzieja. Toporne sterowanie, fatalna grafika i ogólne wewnętrzne fuj. Serdecznie odradzam.