14 DAY TRIAL // Remember the good old times when video games used to be all about visiting the arcade gallery and inserting coins into huge machines so that you can enjoy a couple more minutes slaying monsters and rescuing princesses by skilfully using a joystick and pressing buttons like crazy in the hopes of achieving stunning combos?
Well, thank God those times are over now and thankfully we no longer have to stay in line so that we can enjoy a good game. In the spirit of those times, Sega has recently released a compilation of games, especially ported for the PC, to remind us of those long forgotten days. Sega Mega Drive Classic Collection contains virtually some of the most popular and addicting games that have ever roamed the arcade galleries so that now you can play in the comfort of your own homes, bringing a nostalgic touch to the experience as well.
Remember Golden Axe? The story of tree warriors that set out on a journey of vanquishing the forces of evil for both personal and ethical reasons? Sega has brought that experience back to you, this time giving you the chance to take another stab at it, if you didn't manage to save the world the first time around.
No worries, coins will not be needed this time, however you might want to take a good look at your keyboard and remember it as it is now, because after you have finished playing the game all that frustration that you used to unleash on the (poor) arcade machines will now be directed at your keyboard. If you want my personal advice, remember this: the arcade machine might have handled the punching and kicking, but your keyboard will not be so willing.
Playing Golden Axe is truly an experience that will certainly stir up some nostalgic feelings and each time you swing that axe or sword at your enemies, you'll be back in that arcade gallery struggling to get a high score. Reputation used to be everything back then and seeing your name on the top of the high score list was the greatest accomplishment you could have ever achieved. Now, although the high score system remains, you no longer play for recognition, but only for your own amusement.
The amazing part is that Sega managed to bring back every detail of the game, from the same characters and weapons to recreating the same 16 bit graphics. No extra combos have been added, no extra skills and everything has been preserved exactly the way you remember it.
Granted the fact that no gameplay modifications have been made, you now have the capability of saving your progress at any given time. You still have the same number of lives, but at least you can go about your own business whenever duty calls so that you can later return and pick up from where you left off. This was always a major set back in all arcade games at that time, but I guess it's what made them so addicting and challenging in the first place. Having to complete the game in only one single take disciplined you to always improve your gameplay.
Makoto Uchida, the same primary developer that worked on the original series of Golden Axe, also was the leading developer for another game, Altered Beast. The same side scrolling, platform, beat 'em up style imprint has been used in this title as well, except that now you are a revived centurion that fights off armies of undead, in the hopes of rescuing Athena (daughter of Zeus) and defeating the evil demon that has captured her and goes around by the name of Neff.
Despite the fact the game is limited in controls, allowing you to use only punch, kick and jump, it compensates by allowing you to collect powerups and watch as you hero morphs into an incredible beast with awesome powers. With the same classical approach to each level, having to fight a final boss before proceeding to the next zone, the overall gameplay experience comes to reinforce the idea that Sega did a great job into resurfacing the game, regardless of being a not so critically acclaimed achievement at its time.
If you ask me, I find a bit amusing that in the late 1980s, we had zombie games with undead armies and heroes that fought their way through, with their bare knuckles. The industry has been transformed a lot during these past decades and apparently we still enjoy bashing zombie skulls. How about we go back to the roots and experience what the first zombie games were all about?
