Overall 8.1 Graphics 8 Sound 6 Addictive 6 Story 6 Depth 6 Difficulty 7
8.2
Side-scrolling goodness endings
Legendary Axe is a game with a typical fantasy story, rescue a damsel in distress, cuts out the part of the quest where the hero needs to locate a magic weapon - and just goes to town with a novel combat system with said deadly weapon.
You are Gogan, a barbaric-looking warrior who fights in a loin cloth, and your only weapon is the legendary axe. Why is it legendary? Probably because it grows in power several times, until just a single hit can kill many tough enemies. Your friend, Flare, is supposed to be sacrificed to the Jagu tribe, and what a weird lot they are. The deep forest environment of the first stage and tribal elements of totems, lack of clothes (yours and enemies) and giant feral animals suggest almost a prehistoric/ primitive man theme which seem a fresh idea for a setting. The jumping and waves of enemies also won't shake anything up, you've seen this type of platforming before. What is different about this game is your hero and their moves, or rather, the timing of them. We'll go into that a bit later, lets break this story of tribes and totems down to its core ratings.
Graphics: 8
The graphics are quite bright in this game, with the lush greenery, bright waterfalls, the earthy browns, the hero and his red hair and matching loincloth. The colorful assortment of Orcs (?) you tend to meet, and other vibrant enemies (the super green mer-men come to mind). The settings are quite good and range from caves, a castle, forest, a broken wasteland, and so on. One thing I think this game might have to make its colors pop is the hero's magic aura, it makes a bold highlight against the rest of the background, and some enemies also feature strong black outlines (like the ominous sentient boulder) to stand out more. Maybe its the power of the axe), but enemies explode, from bat to spear man. Not a big pop and they are done, its a series of explosions. When you lay down the fully charged axe, expect a small light-show as the hit finds its mark.
The good: I really like how TurboGrafx wasn't afraid to use the whole box of crayons in a sensible way to creative a lush world.
The bad: probably the worst looking thing I've seen in the game is the ladders and vines. They looks as flat as stickers pasted over the scenery. A minor thing, but quite dull. The rope/vines (maybe?) are even as stiff as boards.
Sound: 6
The first stage music is pretty good, I found it quite in line with exploring this new game and crushing whatever threats might come one's way. Other tunes did not seem as memorable to me, including the strange boss music -however the last stage redeems, with its mysterious organ sound a good fit for the creepy castle and maddening last barrier to the great Jagu. Sound effects are not so hot, a tiny sample of explosions, a grunt sound and a hitting sound, thats about it, and take the score down a point.
The good: that opening first stage is great!
The bad: seriously sound effects? Its a demon thing shooting fire at me, there's no noise for that?
Addictiveness: 6
This is a pretty good game, but not one I was crazy over. I wanted to see it end, and did keep playing until I got there, but have no desire to replay it. It makes you want to see what the next boss is, if it will introduce new enemies.
The good: its difficulty is not painful, but it does punish the unwary. Its got a nice curve to keep you interested.
The bad: The stages are badly paced. The first couple stages are just one long continuous level. Then the other levels are in multiple parts. The final stage suffers from RPG FINAL DUNGEON SYNDROME- that is, the game wants you to keep going through a huge level but you're tired of proving yourself to the same enemies over and over. Just gimme a boss already!
Story: 6
While the story is nothing new, I found the setting fairly refreshing. Everything has that primtive feel to it, there's no metal armor, the weapons seen are left to crude axes and spears. I was worried what Flare would be like having nothing to go off of, but shes quite cute.
The good: The setting, and the purple lass Flare!
The bad: So um you get this axe? Do you return it? What affect does removing the Jagu leader have on the area they live in, as it seems.. well I'm not going to spoil it, but it seems quite mysterious.
Depth: 6
There is not a lot to the level design, most just follow a walk-here/kill that policy. There are a few secrets to find, scant in number, but quite welcome. The last stage throws this whole concept out the window as you will have to navigate a subtle maze (it doesn't even appear to be one at first but it is!) to find the 2nd to last boss. The real meat of the game is getting used to Gogan's jump and his attack swing and range. The timing of the axe swing is a bit slower than most enemies attacks, and takes some getting used to. His jump is high, but seems heavy, I found him falling faster than I thought and missing some ledges.
The good: The attack bar adds a layer of complexity not seen in many platformers yet.
The bad: The last stage is a bit overkill for offering multiple paths. I would have liked to see that spaced out on other levels too.
Control: 5
Our hero gives us the feeling he's not quite a hero, despite his muscles and bravery. For one thing, Gogan is a bit slow of foot. He's often outrun by many of his enemies, and backpedaling for range is for him. The Legendary axe swing, while deadly, starts off slow, almost embarrassingly so. It gets much better though, which is fortunate as he has no other attacks! You have to get totem powerups to raise the speed of the attack, and another to gain more power on your attack bar, resulting in a more deadly hit. Gogan's jump takes some getting used to, as he will be required to make some repeated jumps over bottomless pits. The biggest knock I give our hero is the dreaded 'bounce-back when hit' popular in Castlevania NES games and Ninja Gaiden. His invincibility frames are very short, and can often just bump you right into another enemy or off a pit.
Difficulty: 7
You learn enemy placement and how to time your swing when they come towards you. That's the secret to this game. There are some tricky jumps, and the bounce-back will do its best to annoy you. Some of the enemies are unfair - there are little monkeys that hug you and drain your life quickly. They move fast and are hard to hit as hugging also stops your attacks. Thankfully they appear on one stage only. Also the game seldom lets you saunter past enemies. If you try to run ahead of a leaping enemy, fully expect them to pursue you until you're fighting two or three at once. A bad idea! At least the game counters this by never reviving foes if you go backwards. If you kill them, any amount of backtracking(for heal totems one reason) won't bring them back to bar your path again. You only get 3 continues, so don't expect to beat this on your first try if you're playing purely off the continues and not save states. If you die, the axe loses part of its power bar permanently, this can be annoying, but at least the game continue to offer the powerups within their stages.
The good: Its a good mix of just the right difficulty without being full of unfair things like endless pits and impossible to kill enemies.
The bad: Some of the bosses are fairly lame, including the last one- who is pretty easy, despite his impressive size. A downer!
Overall: 8.2
The Legendary Axe is a fun game that has a great mix of platforming, strange setting and enemies, and the attack bar to make this game memorable. Anyone fond of Rastan, Golden Axe, or any beat-em ups or platformers should find a fine game to pass the time.
Graphics 8 Sound 6 Addictive 6 Story 6 Depth 6 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 09-20-14
Review Replies: 7
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