Axe body spray!

GAME OF THE MONTH COLLECTION!
LEGENDARY AXE
(Victor Musical Industries, 1989)

Introduction and Story:

When I first got my Turbografx-16 machine way back in 1989 there weren't too many high profile titles released for the system compared to the Sega Genesis and 8-bit Nintendo at the time but a few games were getting some attention and the Legendary Axe here was definitely one of them. It may seem like your typical action game but here is a unique 2 Meg adventure/action platform title with some stunning colourful visuals and a lone hero wielding a powerful magical axe.

In the story your caveman hero dude, Goron must fight off everything from cult members, bears, giant rocks and even brave the elements alone to rescue his girlfriend Flare from the evil armies of the giant Jagu. Goron must go through 6 challenging levels if he hopes to be successful and each level offers a great list of new challenges. Also unlike the so called sequel you only have a single axe to deal with but this ain't your momma's blade.

The game play and bottomline:

The Legendary Axe doesn't do too many things differently from other action games out there; you kill stuff, jump over things, and try to have sex with your girl ya know. What the game does that's so special is your Axe here can get more powerful the longer you wait kind of like a platformer version of R * Type. There is this gauge at the top of the screen and the more power ups you grab throughout the adventure can increase the strength of the strike even more.

Although the game can be crude in the animation department, the graphics are pretty damn colourful and all the different creatures here are well designed too. Also the huge end boss Jagu here has to be seen to believe. The game has a solid soundtrack too and even though I thought some of the sound effects were a bit over the top (like the constant exploding of the bigger enemies) they were still good.

What makes this action game so appealing besides a game with cool visuals and having a kicka$$ magical Axe here is the easy to master game play and dead on controls here and the adventure is still challenging enough to keep you playing. Sure, Legendary Axe may look a little out dated now but I still like all the twist and turns especially late in the game and it is one of the few games where I love the original over the sequel.

Here is my 4 minute video review of Legendary Axe too!

Conclusion:
LEGENDARY AXE overall rating: 92/100 Find Legendary Axe on eBay here! For 1 player only Rated (E) for Everyone graphics: 8/10 sound: 8/10 gameplay: 7/10 replay: 8/10 StarSoldier1 (Ryan Genno) 2008 Other Games of the Month