___ _ _ _
/ _ \___ | | __| | ___ _ __ /_\ __ _____
/ /_\/ _ \| |/ _` |/ _ \ '_ \ //_\\\ \/ / _ \
/ /_\\ (_) | | (_| | __/ | | | / _ \> < __/
\____/\___/|_|\__,_|\___|_| |_| \_/ \_/_/\_\___|
-----~-----~-----~
1. Introduction
-----~-----~-----~
Hello there. This is my very first FAQ, and it's for the very first game that I
ever played; Golden Axe. It's simplistic at first glance, but addictive, with
superb replay value and surprising depth. Having owned it for most of my 18
years, I have a lot of experience and memories with this old-school classic
..so why not share them with this guide?
-----~-----~
2. Contents
-----~-----~
1. Introduction
2. Contents
3. Legal Information
4. Version History
5. Basics and Controls
6. Characters
7. Enemies, Bosses, and Beasts
8. The Story
9. Beginner Mode Walkthrough
10. Arcade Mode Walkthrough
11. The Ending
12. The Duel
13. Challenges
14. Version Discrepancies
15. Credits
16. Outroduction
-----~-----~-----~-----~
3. Legal Information
-----~-----~-----~-----~
This guide is Copyright 2006-2009 Face.
You can use this guide for your own or others’ personal use, copy and paste it,
and print it out, even use it on your own website as long as you acknowledge
that I am indeed the author of this work.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
-----~-----~-----~
4. Version History
-----~-----~-----~
15th August 2006 - Version 0.15 – Embarked upon the guide: skeleton layout
created, also completed the Introduction, Contents, Legal Information, Contact,
and Credits sections.
16th August 2006 - Version 0.38 – Five sections complete: Enemies, Bosses, and
Beasts; Basics and Controls; Characters, and The Story and The Ending. Also
started the walkthrough to the Beginner Mode, and included basic ASCII as
section dividers.
17th August 2006 - Version 0.50 – The walkthrough to Beginner Mode is complete.
That’s technically my first ever finished walkthrough, even if it is a tiny
one. The Duel is finished as well. Also, I corrected a few things here and
there in the Controls and Characters sections.
19th August 2006 - Version 0.58 – Started the Arcade Mode Walkthrough, and
fixed a lot of game mechanics regarding the Blue Thieves.
20th August 2006 - Version 1.00 – Level overviews, Arcade Mode Walkthrough, and
Outroduction complete. Guide submitted in its first complete form.
8th September 2006 – Version 1.05 – Fixed a few errors that slipped through th
net upon first publication.
12th February 2007 - Version 1.50 - Lots of minor improvements and included a
new Challenges section.
31st August 2009 - Version 2.00 - Long time no see. Golden Axe is twenty years
old this year and...as much as I'd like to say that motivated me to update
this, it was in fact a very kind e-mail from a reader named Dark that made me
revisit this one. Thanks to him, there are now new strategies in the Arcade
and Duel walkthroughs, a new Version Discrepancies section, and most of the
guide got a complete rewrite.
-----~-----~-----~-----~
5. Basics and Controls
-----~-----~-----~-----~
Some of this is vital to know, some of it less so. Read on if you wish.
~~~~The Basics~~~~
~Character Select~
When you choose which mode you want (the modes are described in their
respective sections), a skeleton will appear with large hands balancing three
characters on them. If you are playing one player, the characters will be on
the skeleton’s right hand (or left as you look at it), if you are playing two
player, the second players’ characters will be on the left hand (or right).
Choose which one looks best to you, or read their information in the Characters
section to see which one suits you, and off you go. In two player, you may not
be the same character.
~The Levels~
There are eight levels in this game (only three in Beginner Mode). In each of
them, you will face a repertoire of enemies (once you have completed a section
of enemies, a golden sword and the word GO! will indicate that you may move on)
and may have to jump past large gaps and face other such obstacles. To kill
enemies, either hit them, or use magic (more later) – when they die, they will
groan and fade away; the same applies to you. At the end of each level is a
boss battle, where you will face an enemy or enemies of significantly harder
difficulty than all the other minions you have faced. You may also face sub-
bosses mid-level.
~End of Level Rests~
At the end of the first four levels (first two in beginner), your character
will lie down next to a cosy fire and take a rest, but tiny blue thieves will
come to steal your Magic Pots (more later) – they usually steal two (or one,
or none, if that’s all you have) of these, but you will get these and more back
when you hit the thieves. You can also gain Life Bars (more later) from green
thieves who appear at the end of the second, third, and fourth stages (only
the second stage in beginner).
Every green thief carries a piece of Meat each, meaning you can gain one Life
Bar from each green thief – you cannot go over the maximum amount of life bars
per life (more later). The green thieves only appear in the aforementioned End
of Level Rests, while the blue thieves appear in all End of Level Rests and
occasionally mid-stage.
The rest ends when all thieves have had their booty stolen.
~Life Bars, Lives, and Credits~
In the Options menu, you can set how many life bars per life you would like,
from three to five. When you get hit, a life bar may or may not be lost
depending on the enemy and the attack they use. When you lose however many life
bars you have set to a life, you will lose a life. You have three lives to a
credit, and you have four credits, allowing you to continue three times (this
differs in two player, but this guide is generally written for one player, so
nyah). This means you have twelve lives.
Once you lose all of your credits, the Game Over message will appear and the
dastardly music will play. You will be taken to the score screen (more later).
The following is a list of how many life bars you have in total before you
receive the Game Over screen, depending on how many you have given yourself
per life in the Options menu.
3 Bars to a Life – 36 Life Bars
4 Bars to a Life – 48 Life Bars
5 Bars to a Life – 60 Life Bars
This does not include Life Bars you may receive from Meat that Green Thieves
will drop.
~Magic Pots and Magic~
The aforementioned blue thieves may appear mid level, at which point you are
obliged to attack them to steal their blue Magic Pots. These fill your Magic
Slots; each character has a varying number of magic slots and different types
of magic, and these are explained in their respective part in the Characters
section.
Magic Damage is not affected by how many pots you have in a certain level of
magic (e.g. if, for Ax Battler, you had 1 pot, the damage would be the same as
if you had 2 pots because it is the same level magic). As you gain more pots,
you will reach higher levels of magic and damage will increase accordingly.
You cannot store extra Magic Pots; if your Magic Slots are full, it is
recommended that you use them unless you are saving them for the end of level
boss. When you use magic, all of your pots will disappear.
At the end of the first four levels (first two in beginner), the blue thieves
will appear again and steal two of your Magic Pots. The way to get these back
and receive others is explained in the End of Level Rest section above.
One final thing...you will always start the game with a single Magic Pot, just
to get you started.
~Game Over and the Score Screen~
You will get the Game Over message appear and bad music plays if you lose all
of your Credits (explained in the Life Bars, Lives, and Credits section).
Either after this or after you have completed the game (Arcade, Beginner, or
Duel Mode) you will be taken to the Score Screen.
The Score screen features your character standing on the right hand of the
‘Choose-your-character’ skeleton. In the top left of the screen will be your
total score, and how many players, or lives, that you have used. This
results in your overall strength being calculated, which will then be
converted into a grade. A sword tells you what grade you achieved...
Note – The ‘~’ stands for less than, when on the left of the number. When on
the right of the number the ‘~’ stands for more than or equal to.
~35 = F
~40 = D
~45 = C
~50 = B
~55 = A
~60 = A+
~100 = A++
100~ = A+++
On the right of this grade is a number to show how many times you have achieved
this grade – be careful, however, as this information is lost when you switch
off the Mega Drive. It isn’t that important anyway.
~Conclusion~
I hope you are more prepared for the game after reading these vital basics. If
you are new to the game and/or feel that you will understand better if you have
played the game, I suggest you try the Beginner Mode. The best way to learn a
game is to play it, after all.
~~~~The Controls~~~~
This section will teach you the basic controls while playing the game, and also
the button combinations for the various attacks you can use (all characters can
use each type of attack, but their animation and way of performing it will
differ).
But first, the basic controls and what each button does:
Start – Pauses the game.
Directional Pad – Move up, down, left, and right about the landscape. If you
press left or right twice in quick succession you will dash in that direction.
A – You will use Magic.
B – The basic Attack button.
C – Press this to jump.
And now the different types of attacks...
Combination attack – Keep attacking and you will ordinarily hit the enemy five
times. If you have good timing you can leave a second or two between hits to
repeat the first to fourth attack in the combination.
If your attack does not hit an enemy, then the whole combination will cancel.
Throw – In the middle of your combination hits, if you are particularly close
to the enemy and push forward and attack into them, you will throw them. It
doesn’t seem to do much damage though, and you can’t throw enemies into
each other. The Throw is, however, useful for dodging attacks; for the few
frames that you are throwing an enemy, you are immune to outside attacks.
It should be noted that you cannot throw Thieves, Beasts, Knights, or
Commanders. You can throw most normal-sized enemies and giants.
Jumping Attack – Simply jump and attack in mid-air. This can’t be performed
while riding a beast.
Dash Attack – Dash, then attack. A lot of people use this attack repeatedly
on the bosses to kill them without getting hit...But that’s pretty cheap.
If Heningers or Longmoans dash attack against you, and you dash attack against
them, whoever attacked first will hit the other. You will always lose a ‘dash
battle’ against an Amazon Warrior, unless you are on a beast.
Back Attack – Attack and jump at the same time. This attack is quite
unreliable, and it can’t be performed with a beast. Dark has more information
on Gilius' back attack in particular:
"Gilius' back attack - the back axe roll - has the special property of being
able to duck under things. You can actually completely avoid Giants' dash
attacks this way."
Attack from above – Dash, then jump, and then attack to descend on the enemy
with a powerful stab. You can’t do this while riding a beast.
And that’s all you need to know about the basics and controls for the game. You
may want to read about the various characters and enemies you will face, or
jump straight into Beginner Mode. If this is your first time playing, I don’t
recommend going into Arcade Mode first.
-----~-----~-----~
6. Characters
-----~-----~-----~
These are the characters that you will not kill, but do appear in the game.
Basically, friendly people.
O~O~O~O~O~O
Ax Battler
O~O~O~O~O~O
Height – 5’10
Weight – 200 lbs
Race - Barbarian
Speciality – Long Sword
Extra Notes – The Ax Battler is a fearsome warrior who utilizes a long silver
sword as his weapon of choice. He has long dark hair and wears blue waist
armour and boots. No-one knows his real name...
What we do know is that his mother was killed by Death Adder and his forces.
He is the typical all-round character, and has 6 Magic Slots. His various magic
powers are listed here:
Magic Theme - Volcanoes
Level 1 Magic - 1-2 Magic Pots Gained – Small explosions erupt from the ground,
hurting all enemies.
Level 2 Magic - 3-4 Magic Pots Gained – Small and large explosions erupt from
the ground, wounding all enemies involved.
Level 3 Magic – 5 Magic Pots Gained – Large explosions erupt from the ground,
causing substantial damage to all enemies.
Level 4 Magic – 6+ Magic Pots Gained – A huge volcano erupts from the ground,
spewing many rocks that hit all enemies for massive damage.
O~O~O~O~O~O
Tyris Flare
O~O~O~O~O~O
Height – 5’08
Weight – None of your business!
Race - Amazon
Speciality – Magic
Extra Notes – Tyris Flare also uses a silver sword like the Ax Battler. Her
speciality is her fearsome fire magic.
Her reason for fighting against Death Adder is because he and his army killed
both of her parents.
She wears red waist and upper body armour, and red boots, and has long fair
brown hair.
She has 9 Magic Slots. Her many magic powers are listed here:
Magic Theme - Fire
Level 1 Magic - 1-4 Magic Pots Gained – Flame emits from Tyris to form many
flame stars. These float around and cause flame circles to engulf the enemy.
Level 2 Magic – 5 Magic Pots Gained – Large pillars of flames erupt from the
ground to engulf the enemy.
Level 3 Magic – 6 Magic Pots Gained – Two ghosts encircle the enemy and become
a large ghost, both terrifying and burning all enemies.
Level 4 Magic – 7 Magic Pots Gained – Five masses of fire come careering
through the landscape, hurting all enemies involved.
Level 5 Magic – 8 Magic Pots Gained – A large mass of lava appears with a hole
in the top, spewing fireballs and often killing any enemies involved.
Level 6 Magic – 9+ Magic Pots Gained – In the most powerful and most visually
impressive magic attack in the game, a huge dragon appears and breathes massive
amounts of flame onto the enemies present, more often than not resulting in
death.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Gilius Thunderhead
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Height – 5’03
Weight – 151 lbs
Race - Dwarf
Speciality – Broad Axe
Extra Notes – Gilius wears green clothing and brown boots, with a large belt.
He also has a green helmet with horns on it, and has a long blond beard.
His brother was killed by Death Adder and his forces.
His speciality is his large axe, which is reliable and easy to use, although he
is lacking in the magic department. He has 4 Magic Slots. His few magic powers
are listed here:
Magic Theme - Thunder
Level 1 Magic – 1 Magic Pot Gained – Gilius summons a bolt of lightning which
emits thunder caterpillars that hurt any enemies around.
Level 2 Magic - 2-3 Magic Pots Gained – Lightning bolts career through the
landscape, hurting all enemies involved.
Level 3 Magic – 4+ Magic Pots Gained – Thunder bolts descend from the heavens,
hurting all enemies.
O~O
Boy
O~O
Height – 3’07
Weight – 67 lbs
There are only five boys in the whole game, four seen in Stage 2 fleeing from
Turtle Village, the other fleeing from thieves in Stage 3. It is believed that
their parents have been killed.
The boy wears a white shirt and green trousers. He cannot be harmed.
O~O~O
Girl
O~O~O
Height – 4’03
Weight – 78 lbs
There are only six girls in the whole game, four seen in Stage 2 fleeing from
Turtle Village, the other two fleeing in Stage 3. It is believed that their
parents have been killed.
The girl wears a white shirt and red skirt. She cannot be harmed.
O~O~O
King
O~O~O
The King rules his...uh...kingdom. Unfortunately, the evil Death Adder has
started bringing ruin to his domain and taken him and his daughter hostage.
It is believed that Death Adder is keeping the King and Princess in his castle.
The King is bald, wears glasses, wears light brown trousers and dark brown
boots with black belt, and a striped blue shirt that merges into a cape down
his back.
O~O~O~O~O
Princess
O~O~O~O~O
The Princess is the daughter of the King, but has been taken hostage by Death
Adder when he invaded their castle whilst bringing ruin to the King’s domain.
It is believed that Death Adder is keeping the Princess and her father in his
castle.
The Princess has long brown hair, wears a silver/gold tiara, and has an ornate
red and pink dress.
O~O~O
Alex
O~O~O
Not much is known about Alex, except that he was a good friend of all three of
the warriors fighting against Death Adder. In the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
version, he is never seen, only spoken of.
However, Alex does make a physical appearance in the Amiga and Arcade versions
of Golden Axe, where he informs the warriors of Death Adder's capture of the
King and Princess before being ruthlessly killed. More information on Alex in
the Version Discrepancies section. Thanks to Dark for this info.
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
7. Enemies, Bosses, and Beasts
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
This section will give you all you need to know about the enemies, bosses, and
mythical beasts in the game. It’s preferable that you read it before the
Walkthroughs. However, strategies for each enemy, boss, or beast will be given
in the Walkthrough.
IMPORTANT NOTE – Attack Level indicates how much damage an enemy can hit you
for, while I believe the Move Level indicates how much damage they can take.
ANOTHER NOTE – This section is written generally for Arcade Mode – the bosses
and enemies for some of the stages I mention them in may differ (e.g.
Lieutenant Bitter as boss of Stage 3 in Arcade Mode, not Beginner). Just assume
I’m writing for Arcade Mode here.
~~~~Enemies~~~~
Note – Although the game names the Heningers as Heninger <Colour>, I will refer
to them as <Colour> Heninger, because it makes grammatical sense for the
Walkthroughs. And it's easier.
~~Heningers~~
The Heningers, along with the Longmoans, form the backbone of Death Adder’s
army. They are nearly always seen in pairs or with a matching Longmoan
soldier – it is rare to find one by himself. There is no denying that they are
cannon fodder, used in the hope that weight of numbers might overpower an elite
warrior. They often support the Female Warriors or Skeletons.
The Heningers wear light armour, are bald, all of them have a moustache, and
all wield a morning star with little range but deadly power. Their armour and
ball are the colour that prefix their name.
They are capable of riding the beasts, and can also dash, and jump.
~Dark Green Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight – 178 lbs
Attack Level – D
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – The first enemy you will see in the game...
~Light Green Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight – 178 lbs
Attack Level – C
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – There are no Light Green Longmoans – there are only two of these,
and they support the Bad Brothers in Stage 1.
~Purple Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight – 178 lbs
Attack Level – C
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – Only appear in Stage 1 and Stage 7.
~Red Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight – 178 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Arguably the most dangerous, yet also most common, Heninger.
~Gold Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight – 178 lbs
Attack Level – C
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Only appear in Stage 3.
~Silver Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight – 178 lbs
Attack Level – C
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Only appears in Stage 3 to support Lieutenant Bitter.
~Dark Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight - ??? lbs
Attack Level – B
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Black/grey all over.
~Bronze Heninger~
Height – 5’ 10"
Weight – 267 lbs
Attack Level – B
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – Only one of these, in Stage 7. Despite being ‘Bronze’, to me he
looks completely green.
~~Longmoans~~
The Longmoans, along with the Heningers, form the backbone of Death Adder’s
army. They are nearly always seen in pairs, or far more commonly, with a
matching Heninger soldier – it is rare to find a lone Longmoan. There is no
denying that they are simply cannon fodder, used in the hope that weight of
numbers will overpower an elite warrior. They often support the Female Warriors,
Skeletons, or pairs of Heningers.
The Longmoans wear heavy upper body armour and a helmet (ofthe colour that
prefixes their name), and wield a wooden club with spikes on the end, tinged
to the colour depicted in the prefix of their name.
Longmoans can also ride beasts, as well as dash, and jump.
~Dark Green Longmoan~
Height – 5’ 06"
Weight – 164 lbs
Attack Level – D
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – The second enemy you will see.
~Purple Longmoan~
Height – 5’ 06"
Weight – 164 lbs
Attack Level – C
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – Only appear in Stages 1 and 7.
~Red Longmoan~
Height – 5’ 06"
Weight – 164 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Arguably the most dangerous, yet also most common, Longmoan.
~Gold Longmoan~
Height – 5’ 06"
Weight – 164 lbs
Attack Level – C
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Only appears in Stage 3.
~Silver Longmoan~
Height – 5’ 06"
Weight – 164 lbs
Attack Level – C
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Only appears in Stage 3 to support Lieutenant Bitter.
~Dark Longmoan~
Height – 5’ 06"
Weight - ??? lbs
Attack Level – B
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Black/grey all over.
~Bronze Longmoan~
Height – 5’ 06"
Weight – 253 lbs
Attack Level – B
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – There is only one Bronze Longmoan, at the end of stage 7. Like
the accompanying Heninger, he is completely green all over.
~~Amazon Warriors~~
The Amazon Warriors often appear in pairs, and they often have the support of
Heningers and Longmoans. They also commonly ride the various beasts on offer,
as well as often jumping and dashing. Their dash is their speciality - if you
dash them at the same time, you will always take the hit, unlike with the
Heningers and Longmoans. Only a beast's dash beats the Amazon dash.
They are generally more dangerous than both the Heningers and the Longmoans.
They wear knee length boots, have upper body armour, and wear a small helmet
over their long blonde hair. They wield a small axe – the head of this matches
the colour of their armour.
~Storchinaya~
Height – 5’ 08"
Weight – 133 lbs
Attack Level – B
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – Wears purple armour.
~Strobaya~
Height – 5’ 08"
Weight – 133 lbs
Attack Level – B
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Wears green armour.
~Lemanaya~
Height – 5’ 08"
Weight – 133 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – A
Extra Notes – Wears pink armour.
~Gruziya~
Height – 5’ 08"
Weight - ??? lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – B
Extra notes – Black/grey all over.
~~Other~~
These are soldiers that don’t tend to follow a specific uniform or ‘race’. None
of them can ride the beasts.
~Skeleton~
Height – 5’ 02"
Weight – 89 lbs
Attack Level – B
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – White bones and wooden shield (with white skull on the front),
with wooden sword. The skeletons are more dangerous than their stats suggest;
they’re quick and can easily take away a life bar with one hit. They are one of
the more common enemies, often supported by Heningers and Longmoans, often
appear in groups, and have been known to act as Death Adder and his son’s
personal bodyguards.
~Death Skeleton~
Height – 5’ 02"
Weight – 89 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – A
Extra Notes – Green tinged-bones and purple shield (with mouldy skull on the
front) and purple sword. The Death Skeletons are far more dangerous than the
normal Skeletons, with better attack and health while retaining the speed to
boot.
Interestingly, these guys only appear in The Duel, during the seventh battle
(there are two of them). They look as if they could have been Death Bringer’s
bodyguards, as their colour scheme matches him perfectly. But they aren’t,
unfortunately. It would have been nice for these guys to get a main-game
appearance.
~Blue Thief~
Height – 2’ 11"
Weight – 71 lbs
Belongings – Magic Pot
Extra Notes – Tiny grinning elves that wear blue robes and a hat with a bobble
on top. They always carry a round and full bag that can be hit to leak a
varying number of Magic Pots. When their supply of (stolen) Magic Pots ends,
the bag appears empty and they run away, saddened.
They always appear in the end of level rests, but are more commonly seen mid-
level.
Did you know it is possible to kill the Blue Thief? Simply knock him into a gap
and he will fall into the sea/abyss/etc.
~Green Thief~
Height – 2’ 11"
Weight – 71 lbs
Belongings – Meat
Extra Notes – Tiny grinning elves that wear green robes and a hat with a bobble
on top. They always carry a round and full bag that can be hit to leak a piece
of Meat (gives you an extra Life Bar). Once this Meat is lost, the bag
appears empty and they run away, saddened.
They only appear in end of level rests.
~~~~Bosses~~~~
These are significant enemies that only appear as the boss at the end of a
level, or appear as sub-bosses in mid-level who are easily distinguishable and
of higher power than the normal enemy. None of the bosses can ride beasts.
~~Giants~~
The giants act as either bosses or sub-bosses, and are capable of most things
normal enemies can do, except jumping. Their dash attacks are formidable, while
many of their attacks will take off one life bar in one hit.
They wear knee high boots, waist armour, gauntlets, and shoulder pads. They are
bald and have moustaches. They wield a large hammer whose head is the same
colour as their armour.
~Bad Brothers~
Height – 8’ 03"
Weight – 680 lbs (each)
Attack Level – C
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – Two giants better known as the bosses of Stage 1, clothed in
light green armour to match the preceding Heningers’ outfits.
~Sergeant Malt and Sergeant Hop~
Height – 8’ 03"
Weight – 680 lbs (each)
Attack Level – B
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – Sub-bosses of Stage 3, clothed in black armour.
~General Heartland~
Height – 8’ 03"
Weight – 680 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – C
Extra Notes – Sub-boss of Stage 6, and presumed deputy to Death Adder. He is
accompanied by a Red Heninger and Red Longmoan, and is himself clothed in red
armour.
~~Knights~~
The Knights are all bosses of their respective stage, and are generally
considered to be harder and more formidable opponents than the Giants.
They are completely armoured in one colour, and wield a large sword and shield,
both of which can be used to attack the opponent. They can also kick the
opponent – every single one of the Knights attacks takes off one life bar. The
sword has an extremely long range, but the Knights cannot dash, nor can they
jump – this is their only weak point, and often proves to be their undoing.
~Lieutenant Bitter~
Height – 6’ 11"
Weight – 271 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Clothed in silver armour, supported by a Heninger and Longmoan of
the same colour, and boss of Stage 3.
~Colonel Bitter~
Height – 6’ 11"
Weight – 271 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – A
Extra Notes – There are two Colonel Bitters as the red-armoured bosses of Stage
5.
~General Bitter~
Height – 6’ 11"
Weight – 271 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – A
Extra Notes – The two General Bitters are the last obstacles in the way of you
and Death Bringer, as bosses of Stage 7. They wear ornate golden armour.
~~Commanders~~
The Commanders are the highest ranking soldiers in the enemy army. They are
always end of level bosses, and are considered to be the hardest opponents due
to their high health and large repertoire of attacks.
All three commanders use a large axe as their primary weapon, and possess
lightning balls to attack you from long range (though Death Adder Junior will
throw one at you, while Death Adder and Death Bringer will roll balls them
along the ground). Most of their attacks will take on one life bar; in Death
Bringer's case this is a minimum.
They wear leg armour, shoulder pads, waste armour, and gauntlets similar to the
Giants, but their axes are formidable and they don a hood that exposes only
their demonic yellow eyes. No-one knows what they look like underneath...
~Death Adder Junior~
Height – 8’ 02"
Weight – 667 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Son of Death Adder (who’s the mother? I can see the reams upon
reams of Death Adder x Tyris Flare fanfiction already), and the final boss of
Beginner Mode. He wears black armour and hood.
~Death Adder~
Height – 8’ 02"
Weight – 667 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – B
Extra Notes – Donning red armour and hood, he is the assumed commander of the
forces of the evil, and boss of Stage 6.
~Death Bringer~
Height – 8’ 02"
Weight – 667 lbs
Attack Level – A
Move Level – A
Extra Notes – The boss of Stage 8, and final boss of the main game. His attacks
are far more dangerous of the Death Adders, and he is the unknown mastermind
that commands figurehead Death Adder. His skin and deadly axe are rumoured to
be green, and his distinctive purple armour makes him easily distinguishable
from any other foe.
He and his guards are said to be invincible, and he is also said to have
extreme and unlimited powers in the art of magic.
~~~~Beasts~~~~
These are the beasts that you can ride in the game (simply walk onto their
saddle to assume control). You always have to earn them as an enemy will be
riding them first. Beasts run away after people have been knocked off of them
frequently, or if they are left with no rider for a while. You cannot manually
get off a beast – you must be knocked off by an enemy.
Beasts can jump, but can not attack while doing this, or perform a dash attack.
A beast's dash attack is particularly useful, having a higher priority than
even Amazon warriors.
Pressing the attack button will result in them using their speciality. You can
use magic while on a beast. It is also possible for a beast to kill itself if
it runs into an abyss or water.
You cannot attack, let alone kill, a beast yourself. Neither can enemies.
~Chicken-Leg~
Length – 8’ 10"
Weight – 756 lbs
Speciality – Wagging Tail
Extra Notes - This beast’s deadly tail swings both ways. The beast itself is
pink and yellow and is rumoured to have a long tongue and small, beady eyes.
~Blue Dragon~
Length – 10’ 10"
Weight – 1227 lbs
Speciality – Flame
Extra Notes – This is a tall and large dragon with yellow armour decorating its
terrifying blue and scaly body. It emits a monstrous roar when spraying its
flame across the battlefield.
~Red Dragon~
Length – 10’ 10"
Weight – 1227 lbs
Speciality – Fire Ball
Extra Notes – This is a tall and large dragon with yellow armour decorating its
terrifying red and scaly body. It emits a monstrous roar when spitting its
fireball across the battlefield.
-----~-----~-----~
8. The Story
-----~-----~-----~
Note – This story does not apply to Beginner Mode.
First, we must set the scene...
It is a terrible and dark time, for the evil lord Death Adder has brought ruin
to the King’s kingdom, and has killed many a good soldier and many an innocent
civilian. He has also invaded the King’s castle and taken him and the Princess
hostage in his own castle.
His seemingly endless minions continue to spew forth from his castle, slaying
Alex the good friend and many relatives of three elite warriors. It is this
terrible deed that forces these three warriors – Tyris Flare, Ax Battler, and
Gilius Thunderhead – to make a pact to kill Death Adder, even at the cost of
their own lives.
They begin their long journey with only a map and their trusty weapons to aid
them on the journey to Death Adder’s castle...
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
9. Beginner Mode Walkthrough
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
IMPORTANT NOTE – This guide is written assuming you are playing one player.
I hope you are only here if you are unsure, new to the game, or simply want to
battle Death Adder Junior...
Note that the enemies in beginner mode are for the most part arranged and
ordered in the same way as Arcade Mode with only a few minor exceptions. The
enemies themselves are all far easier to kill and will do less damage, and you
will only play the first three stages, with Death Adder Junior replacing
Lieutenant Bitter as the boss of the third stage.
For the fully game, you will have to play Arcade Mode.
Enough rambling though; onto the Walkthrough.
/---------------\
~----/ Level 1 \----~
~----\Village Outskirts/----~
\---------------/
After choosing your character, you are almost immediately thrown into the
action as you advance forward and encounter your first enemies – a Dark Green
Heninger and Dark Green Longmoan. Just use basic attacks and don’t let them
gang up on you and you’ll be fine. Jump if you need to get out of trouble;
this is particularly important for many enemies. After this, a Purple Heninger
and Purple Longmoan will appear. Quickly take them down one by one and attack
the Blue Thief for two magic pots.
Now a Dark Green Heninger and a Storchinaya riding a Chicken-Leg will appear.
Knock the Storchinaya off first (use a Dash or Jump attack), but I recommend
you don’t get on the beast itself, as the woman may dash you while you are
still vulnerable on the slow Chicken-Leg. Instead, concentrate on the Heninger,
and once he’s dead, finish off the Storchinaya. If you can do this quick, and
the Chicken-Leg has not run away, then get onto it. Then, jump onto the raised
grey platform and advance forward.
Hit the Blue Thief as it appears and collect his Magic Pot, then drop down and
collect the two Magic Pots from the Blue Thief on the bottom. Once all three
are collected, move forward.
You will see a Dark Green Heninger first, followed by a matching Longmoan. One
hit from the Chicken-Leg will kill them, so do that if you have the beast.
Otherwise, no worries, because the enemies in Beginner Mode are weak and easy
to kill. Move forward, and the day will change to sunset, and you will enter
your first boss fight.
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Two Light Green Heningers will advance on you, with the Bad Brothers at the
back simply folding their arms and watching. Ignore the two giants for now and
concentrate on knocking the Heninger off of his Chicken-Leg. Finish them off
once you’ve done that and start to attack the Giants.
If you have access to at least Level 3 Magic, and you should, if you haven’t
used your garnered Magic Pots, then use that to kill the Bad Brothers
instantly. Otherwise, just use jumping attacks and try to dodge their dangerous
dash attacks, by moving out of the way or using Gilius' back attack.
Another strategy comes courtesy of Dark:
"It takes Giants a long time to get up; while they're in the bending over
state, either standing up or preparing for a dash attack, you can actually
grab and throw them. Thus one really fun way of defeating Giants is to roll
under their dashes with Gilius, then walk up to them and throw them! It's
rather cruel, but really fun!"
If you can keep them in check, then it’s entirely possible for
you to get through without taking a hit.
~~~~End of Level Rest~~~~
You can gain four new Magic Pots from the solitary Blue Thief.
/------------\
~----/ Level 2 \----~
~----\Turtle Village/----~
\------------/
Drop down from the raised ledge, and take down the Red Heninger. He’s only on
his own, so it’s quite easy. A Red Longmoan will appear once you’ve defeated
the Heninger, so take him down. A quick way of getting rid of this enemy is to
stand well away from him and let him dash you, then circle around and knock him
in the water. Even quicker, and if you think you're good, you can stand close
to the water, wait for the hapless Longmoan to dash at you, then move away at
the last second. Watch gleefully as he flings himself into the blue depths, or
hang your head in shame and lament the loss of a life if you were too slow.
Move forward, and try to stand in the little indent that you can see in the
upper right. You should do this because a Red Heninger will appear in front of
you, and a matching Longmoan will probably dash attack you from behind. If and
when you evade them, jump out and try to get them on the same side – don’t let
them catch you in a pincer attack of sorts. They’re still very easy to defeat
though, because you are, after all, only on Beginner Mode.
You will then see four children fleeing and screaming shrilly. If you move
forward, you’ll notice they’re running from a Blue Dragon, ridden by a
Storchinaya. If you can knock the woman off and then climb onto the Blue Dragon,
one attack will kill her. Then move up to avoid the Dark Green Heninger and
second Storchinaya that will quickly attempt to ambush you. Move around to get
them in the dragon’s flame, and then unleash the fire. If you get knocked off,
I don’t recommend you get back on. Simply finish off them both and move forward
to see children fleeing from...a Blue Thief!? Well, maybe. This is why I
recommend you stay off the dragon, because it is quite slow and you will have a
hard time catching the thief. Once you’ve got your three pots, advance forward,
and watch the sunset appear ominously once again...
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
No real bosses here, as in no Giants or Knights or anything, but instead you
will be faced with enemies who firmly believe in strength in numbers, and you
may struggle with them.
Immediately attack the Dark Green Heninger and kill him, then try and take on
each Strobaya one by one. After a set time limit, they will start to move, so
try and kill the first one quickly before setting your sights on the second.
Now move forward. This is where the boss battle really starts. A Lemanaya on a
Red Dragon, another Lemanaya, and a Skeleton will appear. The Lemanayas are the
strongest of the female warriors, while Skeletons are quick and their attacks
may be new to you. Try to concentrate on the Skeleton and lone Lemanaya first,
but if the other Lemanaya uses the dragon to attack you, knock her off quickly.
Unless you can get all of your enemies on one side of the screen, don’t use the
Red Dragon as it will be too slow and unable to concentrate on the surrounding
enemies. Use magic if you have it to make the battle easier.
~~~~End of Level Rest~~~~
You will be able to collect a piece of Meat from the Green Thief, and five
Magic Pots (three new) from the Blue Thief.
/-----------------------\
~----/ Final Level \----~
~----\Death Adder Junior’s Lair/----~
\-----------------------/
Congratulations, you've reached the final level. On Beginner Mode though,
that's nothing to write home about. Maybe if you did the same on Arcade Mode,
then perhaps you should consider penning a letter to tell your loved ones
about such a monumental achievement. But no, it's not appropriate at this
moment in time.
Anyway.
Head forward and immediately Jump Attack the Dark Green Heninger to knock him
into the water. Killing the Lemanaya and Dark Green Longmoan doesn’t take an
expert player, especially after the boss to Turtle Village. When you reach the
gap, head to the top of the path, where it juts out more than the rest. Jump
and hope – if you stood where I told you to, you should make it across quite
safely. Otherwise, you will lose a life (this applies to all gaps).
You will now face a Blue Thief. He has three Magic Pots. It doesn’t matter if
you accidentally knock him into the water, because you will have a lot of pots
from the previous End of Level Rest anyway. Move forward to encounter two
Strobayas. They will attack you together this time, so just keep them in sight
and dodge their dash attacks should they use them.
~~~~SUB-BOSS FIGHT~~~~
After this, move forward to see some large doors. When you approach them
Sergeant Malt and Sergeant Hop will emerge. There is a trick that you can use
here – advance very tentatively and wait for Sergeant Malt to come out. If
Sergeant Hop hasn’t come out, you’ve done it. Don’t advance any further and
take on Malt on the left side of the screen, then advance and take on Hop on
his own.
Regardless of whether you use and succeed with this or not, just use the same
tactics as you did with the Bad Brothers – dodge their dashes, jump away if you
think you’re in danger ad nauseum. Or use Dark's cruel tactic of rolling
and throwing. Try not to let them catch you in a pincer movement, because
you’re in a far more enclosed space and the battle will be much easier if you
can deal with them on the same side. Don’t be afraid to use your magic to
kill these guys if you didn't separate them using the method above.
~~~~END SUB-BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Move forward to see three children (the boy sprints far faster than the girls
for some reason) fleeing from...two more Blue Thieves!? Clearly they have
Boogeyman-like status in Golden Axe land. One Boogeyman has two Magic Pots,
the other has three. Once you’ve collected all five, move ahead for an
encounter with a trio of Gold Heningers and Gold Longmoan. Despite their flashy
armour, they’re nothing special; just don’t let them surround you and use jump
attacks to get out of trouble while hurting them at the same time. Try not to
concentrate on one because it’s likely that you’ll be dashed at by another and
take an unnecessary hit. Dark has another tactic on taking out these three:
"What I do in these situations is walk towards one enemy, deliver some combo
pain, and finally a throw while walking constantly forward. The enemy I'm not
attacking will walk behind me, trying to get within attack range, but given
the relative walking speeds of the player characters and the enemies won't
manage it so long as I'm walking forward and using the throw mid combo. After
chucking the first enemy, I back attack, causing the second enemy huge damage.
Then, I head downwards, and give the third enemy some combo and throw
attention. If one of the first two enemies heads into melee range (i.e. close
enough to back hit), I can pretty much repeat the process and usually finish
off one of them. If not, and they're far away and will try dashing, I go to
another vertical plane of the screen and wait for them to come to me, or I jump
or dash. Either way, one enemy (sometimes two), will go down pretty quickly
leaving few enemies to deal with."
Once they’re all dead, the final boss will emerge...
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
It’s Death Adder Junior, accompanied by two skeletons. Immediately use the
magic you got from the thieves to potentially kill the skeletons – if you don’t,
just avoid Death Adder Junior and finish them off with jumping and dashing.
Now the big man himself is quite another story. Apply the same tactics as when
you fought the giants; jump to get out of trouble, especially if he knocked
you down. I should remind you that his attacks will always take off a life bar.
If you’re a cheater, just repeatedly use Dash Attacks on him. The more daring
and honest of you may attempt to beat him through Jump Attacks, but time them
right.
When he gets up, he will always attack you with his axe if you are too close,
guaranteeing a lost life bar. So when he's down make sure you get away from
him. Not too far though; if you are very far away, he'll throw a lightning ball
at you that will result in some pain. If you’re very quick, you can approach
him head on and get in a combination combo, but you can also approach him from
above or below for a less risky combo. Eventually, he’ll emit a slow roar and
fade away.
You’ll then get this message:
‘Enjoy the game? After you’ve mastered this mode, go for more rough ‘n tough
action in the Arcade Mode. If you’re still unsure, more training awaits you
here!!’
You’ll then be taken to the score screen and given a grade, before returning to
the main menu.
It’s probably best to go for Arcade Mode after you’ve taken a break, rather
than ‘training’ yourself in Beginner.
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
10. Arcade Mode Walkthrough
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
IMPORTANT NOTE – This guide is written assuming you are playing one player.
So, you’re ready for Arcade Mode now, huh? I suggest if this is your first time
that you give yourself five life bars per life, and even then you might
struggle. But do not fear, for this Walkthrough will do the best it can to get
you through without a scratch.
So, choose your character and the next thing you know, you’re thrown straight
into the action. Steel yourself and venture forth, young warrior.
/---------------\
~----/ Level 1 \----~
~----\Village Outskirts/----~
\---------------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
This level is designed to introduce you to the game. The only beasts are two
basic Chicken-Legs, and you will be introduced to the ever-present thieves,
Heningers, and Longmoans. A Female Warrior is also at hand, while the Bad
Brothers await you at the end to test your grasp of the game.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Your character wanders into the landscape and states:
“Death Adder invaded the castle and has taken the King and Princess prisoners.
My good friend Alex was also killed in the battle. To defeat them and bring
peace to the land is my duty!”
How valiant. Head forward to encounter your first enemies - a Dark Green
Heninger and Dark Green Longmoan. Just use basic attacks and don’t let them
gang up on you and you’ll be fine. Jump if you need to get out of trouble;
this is particularly important for many enemies. After this, a Purple Heninger
and Purple Longmoan will appear. Quickly take them down one by one and attack
the Blue Thief for two magic pots.
Now a Dark Green Heninger and a Storchinaya riding a Chicken-Leg will appear.
Knock the Storchinaya off first (use a Dash or Jump attack), but I recommend
you don’t get on the beast itself, as the woman may dash you while you are
still vulnerable on the slow Chicken-Leg. Instead, concentrate on the Heninger,
and once he’s dead, finish off the Storchinaya. If you can do this quick, and
the Chicken-Leg has not run away, then get onto it. Then, jump onto the raised
grey platform and advance forward.
Hit the Blue Thief as it appears and collect his Magic Pot, then drop down and
collect the two Magic Pots from the Blue Thief on the bottom. Once all three
are collected, move forward.
Now you’ll find yourself up against a Dark Green Heninger and matching Longmoan.
Use the same attacks as you did for the first pair, then move on for your first
boss battle.
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
It’s sunset...
Two Light Green Heningers will advance on you, with the Bad Brothers at the
back simply folding their arms and watching. Ignore the two giants for now and
concentrate on knocking the Heninger of off his Chicken-Leg. Finish them off
once you’ve done that and start to attack the giants.
Now the Bad Brothers might look intimidating, but they aren't that tough.
First, use your magic; they’ll be weakened considerably after that. Make sure
to keep them in check with jumping and dashing attacks, and if you have an
opening, get some combination attacks in on one. When you’re getting back up,
or they’re getting back up, jump away, because they have a tendency to use a
hammer attack that usually takes off a whole life bar. However, Dark has a
useful strategy to use on rising Giants:
"It takes Giants a long time to get up; while they're in the bending over
state, either standing up or preparing for a dash attack, you can actually
grab and throw them. Thus one really fun way of defeating Giants is to roll
under their dashes with Gilius, then walk up to them and throw them! It's
rather cruel, but really fun!"
Also be sure to dodge away from their own dash attacks by moving up/down or
using Gilius' back attacl, or counter with your own; the Bad Brothers tend to
abuse this attack ad nauseum. Feel free to concentrate on one and ignore the
other as well; once one’s dead, the battle becomes far easier.
Eliminating both Bad Brothers will complete the level.
~~~~End of Level Rest~~~~
A Blue Thief will appear – you can collect four Magic Pots (two new) from him.
~~~~End of Level Narrative~~~~
The map shows you advancing to the coastline of the island in the top right.
‘Our sworn enemy Death Adder is in his castle. We’ll take a shortcut through
the Turtle Village.’
Let’s go then.
/-------------\
~----/Level 2 \----~
~----\Turtle Village /----~
\-------------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
There are no true ‘bosses’ as such, here, you will only be faced with enemies
who are familiar with the saying ‘quantity over quality’. You will encounter
your first Blue Dragon and Red Dragon in this level, and more Female Warriors,
so you can get more acquainted to their fighting style.
The boss battle is against enemies who firmly believe in numbers and for that
reason, you may struggle with it in case they overwhelm you. Follow the
walkthrough and you’ll be safe.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Drop down from the raised ledge, and take down the Red Heninger. He’s only on
his own, so it’s quite easy. A Red Longmoan will appear once you’ve defeated
the Heninger, so take him down. A quick way of getting rid of this enemy is to
stand well away from him and let him dash you, then circle around and knock him
in the water. Even quicker, and if you think you're good, you can stand close
to the water, wait for the hapless Longmoan to dash at you, then move away at
the last second. Watch gleefully as he flings himself into the blue depths, or
hang your head in shame and lament the loss of a life if you were too slow.
Move forward, and try to stand in the small indent that you can see in the
upper right. You should do this because a Red Heninger will appear in front of
you, and a matching Longmoan will probably dash attack you from behind. If and
when you evade them, jump out and try to get them on the same side; don’t let
them catch you in a pincer attack of sorts. Watch out for both enemies’
tendency to dash, and use jump attacks to get out of trouble, and you should be
fine. Once these two are killed, you’ll enter the village itself.
You will then see four children fleeing and screaming shrilly. If you move
forward, you’ll notice they’re fleeing from a Blue Dragon, ridden by a
Storchinaya. If you can knock the woman off and then climb onto the Blue Dragon,
one attack will hurt her badly. Then move up to avoid the Dark Green Heninger
and second Storchinaya that will quickly attempt to ambush you. Move around to
get them in the dragon’s flame, and then unleash the fire. If you get knocked
off, I don’t recommend you get back on. Now finish off all three (probably on
foot) with jump attacks and dashes (there are three of them, you’ll get hurt if
you try and concentrate on one) and move forward to see children fleeing
from...a Blue Thief!? Well, maybe. This is why I recommend you stay off the
dragon, because it is quite slow and you will have a hard time catching the
thief. Once you’ve got your three pots, advance forward, and watch the sunset
appear ominously once again...
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Immediately attack the Dark Green Heninger and kill him, then try and take on
each Strobaya one by one. After a set time limit, they will start to move, so
try and kill the first one quickly before setting your sights on the second.
Now move forward. This is where the boss battle really starts. A Lemanaya on a
Red Dragon, another Lemanaya, and a Skeleton will appear. The Lemanayas are the
strongest of the female warriors, while Skeletons are quick and their attacks
may be new to you. Try to concentrate on the Skeleton and lone Lemanaya first,
but if the other Lemanaya uses the dragon to attack you, knock her off quickly.
Unless you can get all of your enemies on one side of the screen, don’t use the
Red Dragon as it will be too slow and unable to concentrate on the surrounding
enemies. Use magic if you have it to make the battle easier.
~~~~End of Level Rest~~~~
You can take five Magic Pots (three new) from the Blue Thief, and a piece of
Meat from the Green Thief.
~~~~End of Level Narrative~~~~
The map shows a giant turtle that crosses the sea over to the mainland.
‘The village was on the back of a giant turtle. The turtle takes us south,
across the sea.’
We have arrived.
/----------------\
~----/ Level 3 \----~
~----\The Mainland Coast/----~
\----------------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
This level is a challenge, as you will face another woman on a dragon, and yet
more Heningers and Longmoans in numbers. This is the first of two levels with a
sub-boss fight, against two giants who you should be used to thanks to the
battle with the Bad Brothers. The main boss will be an entirely new type of
enemy, though...
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Head forward and immediately Jump Attack the Dark Green Heninger to knock him
into the water. Now a Lemanaya on a Blue Dragon and a Dark Green Longmoan will
approach you from behind. Try to let the Lemanaya dash you, then knock her off
and take control of the Blue Dragon, then finish both off. If you’re getting
knocked off regularly, kill them by foot instead. Advance forward, and when you
reach the gap, head to the top of the path, where it juts out more than the
rest. Jump and hope – if you stood where I told you to, you should make it
across quite safely, whether you’re on the dragon or not. Otherwise, you will
lose a life (this applies to all gaps).
You will now face a Blue Thief. He has three Magic Pots. It doesn’t matter if
you accidentally knock him into the water, because you will have a lot of pots
from the previous End of Level Rest anyway. Move forward to encounter two
Strobayas. They will attack you together this time, so just keep them in sight
and dodge their dash attacks should they use them. It’s not difficult to keep
them in check.
~~~~SUB-BOSS FIGHT~~~~
After this, move forward to see some large doors. When you approach them
Sergeant Malt and Sergeant Hop will emerge. There is a trick that you can use
here – advance very tentatively and wait for Sergeant Malt to come out. If
Sergeant Hop hasn’t come out, you’ve done it. Don’t advance any further and
take on Malt on the left side of the screen, then advance and take on Hop on
his own.
Regardless of whether you use and succeed with this or not, just use the same
tactics as you did with the Bad Brothers – dodge their dashes, jump away if
you think you’re in danger, use dashes and jump attacks to keep them at bay ad
nauseum. You may also wish to try Dark's cruel strategy of rolling and throwing
them. Try not to let them catch you in a pincer movement, because you’re in
a far more enclosed space and the battle will be much easier if you can deal
with them on the same side. Don’t be afraid to use your magic to kill these
guys if you didn’t separate them using the method above.
~~~~END SUB-BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Move forward to see three children (the boy sprints far faster than the girls
for some reason) fleeing from...two more Blue Thieves!? Clearly they have
Boogeyman-like status in Golden Axe land. One Boogeyman has two Magic Pots,
the other has three. Once you’ve collected all five, move ahead for an
encounter with a trio of Gold Heningers and Gold Longmoan. Despite their flashy
armour, they’re nothing special; just don’t let them surround you and use jump
attacks to get out of trouble while hurting them at the same time. Try not to
concentrate on one because it’s likely that you’ll be dashed at by another and
take an unnecessary hit. Dark has another tactic on taking out these three:
"What I do in these situations is walk towards one enemy, deliver some combo
pain, and finally a throw while walking constantly forward. The enemy I'm not
attacking will walk behind me, trying to get within attack range, but given
the relative walking speeds of the player characters and the enemies won't
manage it so long as I'm walking forward and using the throw mid combo. After
chucking the first enemy, I back attack, causing the second enemy huge damage.
Then, I head downwards, and give the third enemy some combo and throw
attention. If one of the first two enemies heads into melee range (i.e. close
enough to back hit), I can pretty much repeat the process and usually finish
off one of them. If not, and they're far away and will try dashing, I go to
another vertical plane of the screen and wait for them to come to me, or I jump
or dash. Either way, one enemy (sometimes two), will go down pretty quickly
leaving few enemies to deal with."
Once they’re all dead, the boss will emerge from the large doors...
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
It’s Lieutenant Bitter, a silver knight and the first of his kind that you will
face. Take note that if you played Beginner Mode first, everything from here
onwards will be new to you. What’s more, he’s got a Silver Heninger and Silver
Longmoan supporting him. First off, you’ll want to dispatch the two flunkies.
I suggest you use the magic you got from the thieves immediately. If this
doesn’t kill them, leave the knight for now and just dash and jump them, maybe
get in a combination attack if you have enough time.
Now to move onto Lieutenant Bitter himself. There are a number of things you
can do here, and he is actually quite similar to Death Adder Junior had you
played Beginner Mode. First, you should remember that every single one of his
attacks will take off a Life Bar, and his sword has particularly good range.
NEVER advance towards Bitter head on at normal speed; this applies to all
knights as they will use their shield to knock you back and take a Life Bar.
If you're unsure of him or hesitant, there is no harm in staying back as,
unlike Death Adder Junior, the knight cannot use a lightning ball to hit you
from long range.
So, how to hurt him? You can dash attack repeatedly, but that’s no fun and a
form of cheating, and I recommend that you don't that. It's cheap. Jumping
attacks give you more of a buzz, as you must time them right or you will find
your face on the losing side of an encounter with Bitter's sword. But this
isn't reliable for even the best of players. The best tactic is to position
yourself above or below him, wait until he walks close to you, then dodge
down/up, and hit him with a good combination attack. This is arguably the most
effective and damaging method to use against a solitary knight. In fact, this
technique is useful for many of the bosses, so you would do well to master it
here. It'll come in very useful later. Dark also recommends back attacks as
they can be initiated out of Bitter's range.
You could, of course, use a mixture of the four attacks. Just don’t walk right
into him and you should be fine, only losing one to three life bars while
you’re adapting to his fighting style.
Once you’ve killed him, the game will not end, unlike Beginner Mode, but you
will carry on, with five more levels still to go.
~~~~End of Level Rest~~~~
You can gain one piece of Meat each from the two green thieves, and a Magic Pot
each from the two blue thieves.
~~~~End of Level Narrative~~~~
The map shows you traversing the coastal town and advancing ahead of it, across
the Fiend’s Path.
‘We have come in close to the vicinity of the castle. But the way is blocked by
enemy lines. We must dare the ‘Fiend’s Path’ to reach the castle.’
Scary.
/----------\
~----/ Level 4 \----~
~----\Fiend’s Path/----~
\----------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Similar to the second level, not in appearance, but in content. You will face
many Heningers, Longmoans, and Skeletons, but no Female Warriors. There are no
beasts or distinctive bosses here, meaning this level is just a long trek
through many enemies. The level has a very sinister nature, introducing you to
both Skeletons and Dark warriors. You will face both of these multiple times in
the boss battle.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
The music here is great, no? Head forward and jump up to the top of the ledge.
Two Red Longmoans and a Red Heninger will appear behind you. They will attempt
to jump up to you, at which point you can play it safe and jump attack them
back down. However this will take a while. Or you can let them come up, and use
a combination attack to take them back down. I have noticed that waiting to
attack often leads to them going to the very bottom edge of the ledge (closest
to the screen) and falling into the water, because they’re not very clever.
You can jump down and take them all on but this is risky because it’s such a
small area and they will likely outnumber you. Choose your own method.
Now, once they’re all dead head forward, and a creepy sound heralds the arrival
of the first Skeleton of Arcade Mode. He will appear behind you, and he’s on
his own, so just use combination attacks and be wary of his own version of the
Attacks from Above. Make sure to never get too close, or you may fall victim to
a short jumping attack that often takes off a full Life Bar. These tactics
apply to all Skeletons.
On the second legs, two more Skeletons will rise, so be careful that they don’t
catch you in a pincer attack and you should be okay. Remember the jump attack
to get you out of trouble. You can take two Magic Pots from the Blue Thief who
then appears. The feathers become noticeable, and sunset sets in once again.
You know what that means...
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Already? Well, yeah, as there are so many enemies you’re gonna face here. First,
you’ll be up against two Dark Longmoans and a Dark Heninger. Use the same
tactics as you did against the gold enemies in the third level. Don’t let them
surround you, and only use combination attacks when you’re sure one won’t dash
you from behind. Jump attacks work as always. If two enemies are close to you –
one behind, one in front - you may want to alternate combo attacks between them
both, but this takes skill and is difficult and risky to pull off.
When all three are dead, you’ll find yourself up against a Dark Heninger and a
Skeleton. Get one or two basic attacks in on the Heninger, and then dodge out
of the way, because the Skeleton will probably dash you. From there it’s just
basic tactics to kill them both. Remember that the Skeleton is a more dangerous
foe than what you have encountered so far.
When those two are gone, two Skeletons and a Dark Longmoan will appear! This is
your most difficult battle so far in this particular fight, but just use the
same strategies as you would against three enemies, just be far more wary of
the Skeletons' speed and large repertoire of attacks. You may want to use magic
here.
~~~~End of Level Rest~~~~
A piece of Meat is available from the Green Thief, while the Blue Thief has
three new Magic Pots for you to take. This is actually your final End of Level
Rest, so treasure it well, young one, and say goodbye to the Green Thief, for
you will never see him and his fellows again in this playthrough.
~~~~End of Level Narrative~~~~
You will be shown a large Eagle crossing the sea to Death Adder’s castle.
‘The ‘Fiend’s Path’ was a great Eagle. We are taken across the skies to the
castle. Now the final battle begins.’
The epic story comes to its conclusion.
/----------\
~----/ Level 5 \----~
~----\Eagle’s Head/----~
\----------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
In this level, you will say goodbye to the final beast in the game (a Blue
Dragon), while crossing from the Eagle’s head to the edge of Death Adder’s
castle grounds.
There are no new things for you to see in this level – you will encounter the
basic enemies that you have seen before in Heningers, Longmoans, Female
Warriors, and Skeletons. The bosses, however, will be a challenge.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Moving forward, almost immediately three Skeletons will appear behind you. Do
not, I repeat, DO NOT, try to take these on right now. Only the best of players
will avoid the loss of a Life Bar. Instead, move to the far right of the
Eagle’s head then drop down onto the grey bridge. Stay on the right of this,
then wait for the Skeletons to drop down, then take them on and hopefully knock
them off by jump attacking them to the left. It also tends to separate the
Skeletons from eachother, obviously giving you an easier battle.
Now head to the right and as soon as the Lemanaya on the Blue Dragon comes into
view, jump attack her. Otherwise you may be the victim of a dash attack. Get
onto the dragon and flame the woman into oblivion. Head forward and you’ll be
confronted by a Red Longmoan and Red Heninger. Try to stay on the dragon, but
if you do get knocked off, stay off, because you’ll probably just get knocked
off again. You know what to do against the two enemies you’re now facing. Jump,
dash, etc. Once those two are dead, you will face another Red Longmoan and two
more Red Heningers. Watch out for their tendency to dash and you should be fine.
Now, without warning, the bosses will appear...
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Two Colonel Bitters (presumably a promoted Lieutenant Bitter and his brother),
clothed in red, will appear in front of you. This may be a challenge if you’ve
never got this far before. Immediately use your magic to weaken them. Then use
a few dash, back and jump attacks to soften them up. You may continue doing
this until they’re dead.
However, it’s quicker to actually let them catch you in a pincer attack (they
will ALWAYS try to do this so it's not hard to let it happen), then jump/dash
attack one, and while he’s down, get a combination or back attack in on the
other (using the dodge in from above/below technique). Repeat until one is
dead, then kill the other using the tactics you did for Lieutenant Bitter.
Overall, this is a difficult battle, but keep on your toes and make sure they
don’t get too close to you, and you should be fine. Just remember that
knights are very slow and can't dash – use this knowledge to your advantage.
You’ll then be taken inside Death Adder’s castle almost immediately.
/------------------\
~----/ Level 6 \----~
~----\Death Adder’s Castle/----~
\------------------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
This level only has six enemies (not including thieves), two of them bosses.
The sub-boss is nothing special, but the boss is the real challenge here. Can
you guess who it might be..?
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Three Blue Thieves will appear – they have two Magic Pots each. Now head
forward, and you’re thrown into a sub-boss fight.
~~~~SUB-BOSS FIGHT~~~~
It’s a Red Heninger and Red Longmoan, accompanied by Death Adder’s deputy, the
infamous General Heartland, toughest of the giants.
Well, this fight isn’t actually that hard. As usual, take out the two flunkies
(don’t use magic though) while avoiding General Heartland for now. Once they’re
both dead, just concentrate on Heartland himself – watch out for his dangerous
dashes and keep away from him when he gets up, lest you be the victim of a
nasty hammer crush. Approach him from above or below then dodge in at the last
section to get some good combination attacks in on him as well. Dark's strategy
from earlier is also open to you.
What makes this battle quite easy is that Heartland is the lone giant – if
there were two, this battle would doubtless be quite difficult. Once General
Heartland is dead, you’ll face the opponent that you’ve been waiting to meet
for a long time..
~~~~END SUB-BOSS FIGHT~~~~
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Death Adder emerges from the large doors, accompanied by two Skeletons.
Immediately use your magic. Once that’s done, kill the Skeletons while dodging
Death Adder’s small balls of lightning that he rolls along the ground. The only
way that you can dodge them is to jump, so do that, and perhaps get an attack
in on a Skeleton while you do it.
When the Skeletons are dead, you’ll find that Death Adder is quite similar to
Death Adder Junior, if you’ve played Beginner Mode. The only noteworthy changes
are his increased health and rolling the balls of fire. Every single one of
Death Adder’s attacks will take off a Life Bar. You can use dash attacks or the
more risky jumping attacks if you so wish, but otherwise use the ‘dodge in from
above/below’ technique for the most damage. As with the knights, NEVER approach
Death Adder head on – he will always swing his axe to take off a Life Bar.
Remember that if you are staying well away from him, he will roll the balls of
lightning at you – if you can jump towards him while he does this you will
notice that he is quite vulnerable for one or two seconds. You can use this
time to get a combination attack in if you’re quick. Stay away from him when
he gets up also; he’s actually a cross between a giant and a knight, something
that you should remember if you want to kill him without a scratch.
However, all this aside, the quickest and simplest way to kill Death Adder is
to use a fairly unique tactic that you won't have been able to use this before.
Why? If an enemy was on the very edge of the screen and you hit them, they
would go off screen and you would have to wait for them to come back, right?
This doesn't apply to Death Adder; if he is on the edge of the screen and you
hit him, he will stay on screen. This way you can use repeated jump attacks if
you time them right, or even better, Attacks from Above (dash, jump, then
attack). Death Adder's most dangerous attacks will be nullified this way as he
simply won't get chance to use them. Just make sure to kill the Skeletons
before you try this on.
Whatever method you use, you should hopefully have safely dispatched your
toughest opponent yet. Congratulations, game over...right?
~~~~End of Level Scene~~~~
Your character will step to the top-left of the room. The King and Princess
will descend from the ceiling, released from their chains when they get to the
floor. The Princess helps the weak King. The King speaks to you:
“Accept my utmost gratitude for our rescue.”
The Princess then addresses you.
“I thank you for your courage, for you have rid us of the hideous Death
Adder...but I have a feeling he may have been taking orders.”
The King chips in:
“Sometimes he did disappear into that door! Will you go into battle for me, yet
once more?”
Your character will shout valiantly:
“Yes, my lord!!”
And with that you go through the doors Death Adder emerged from, and enter the
cold and dark dungeons...
/----------\
~----/ Level 7 \----~
~----\The Dungeons/----~
\----------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
The last of the ‘proper’ levels, where you will face a large number of enemies
and then a difficult boss. There are many Skeletons and Dark Warriors here, and
you will face the last of the Blue Thieves. The main danger here are the gaps,
both to you and your enemies – utilize them if you can. You will face only one
new type of enemy – bronze warriors – before the bosses.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Head forward and drop down from the ledge, but do not attempt to jump the gap
yet. A Purple Longmoan and a Purple Heninger will run in, presumably having
followed you all the way from their first level defeat. Put an end to their
grudge by letting the Longmoan run to the right, then jump attack him into the
large gap. Then just take down the Heninger with a good combination attack or
two. Now, you will have to jump the largest gap in the game. First, line
yourself up where it juts out furthest. Then dash and jump (I find dashing
gives you a better chance) and hope. Don’t panic and lose your cool if you miss
it and lose a life this far into the game. However I must warn you that entire
games of mine have been ruined by this one gap. Just believe...
With probably the hardest challenge of the level gone, a Skeleton will attempt
to knock you back into the gap. Quickly dispatch him, and watch two more
Skeletons appear if you advance forward. I notice that often the Skeleton
appearing behind you just drops down into another gap. In any case, you’re
familiar with Skeletons now, so just kill them normally or knock/lure them into
one of the many gaps. Now a Gruziya, a Dark Longmoan, and a Dark Heninger will
appear. You may well be in a position to knock the Gruziya and Longmoan into
the dark depths, and the Heninger can easily follow suit. Either way, they’re
not too much of a challenge.
Head forward and jump attack the Gruziya (final Amazon Warrior) into the gap. A
Skeleton will appear behind you. If the showboat tactic from the start of level
two worked out for you, let the Skeleton dash you and just at the last moment,
move up, to watch him fall into the gap by himself. Advance forward and a Dark
Heninger and matching Longmoan will appear. Take these down any way you can, a
nd make sure to collect the accompanying two Blue Thieves’ seven Magic Pots. Be
sure not to let them distract you from the two murderous fools who are probably
still attacking you. The final Blue Thief will appear once the two dark
warriors are dead – he carries two Magic Pots. DO NOT use this magic for the
remainder of this level.
Move forward to encounter two Skeletons. Kill them in some way (note the
distinctive gap on the left of the screen). During your slaughter of these
Skeletons a Bronze Heninger and a Bronze Longmoan will come to life from the
four statues above you. Treat these like any other Heningers or Longmoans –
they’re nothing special, despite their distinctive colour. They’re actually the
final two that you’ll face, so say goodbye to the friends that have dogged you
through every level – this is their final incarnation. Once all four assailants
are dead, the penultimate bosses will appear...
~~~~BOSS FIGHT~~~~
Despite two defeats for one, and a defeat in level five for the other, these
two have somehow got themselves promoted again. The Lieutenant Bitter turned
Colonel Bitter and his brother are now General Bitters, and they now have
flashy golden armour.
And yet their AI is pretty much the same. The gap on the left even makes it
entirely possible for the battle to be brought to a quick end. You have more
space, and you are now accustomed to the way these two fight. It isn’t a hard
battle at all. If you aren’t willing to use the gap, simply use the same
tactics and grace that you used in level five, and you should be absolutely
fine, perhaps only taking one or two hits.
Once these persistent adversaries are finally dead (maybe), you will advance
into the final level...
/------------------\
~----/ Level 8 \----~
~----\Death Bringer’s Lair/----~
\------------------/
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Yup, the final battle, and the hardest level in the game. Let the climactic
music propel you to victory and beat this incredible opponent. Good luck!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
End Level Overview
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Death Bringer, the most difficult opponent in the game, sits bored in his
chair.Two Skeletons appear from the right, and with this, Death Bringer rises.
The final battle has begun.
I should warn you now that the Skeletons are pretty much invincible, possessing
over 50 life bars of health (even more than Death Bringer!). It will take you
an incredibly long time to kill them, especially with Death Bringer hounding
you. Just follow the strategy that I give you.
Right from the start, immediately use your magic. This is the last battle in
the game, so there's absolutely no point in not using it.
Extensive dashes are impossible, because the Skeletons are far too persistent.
Jump attacks may work, but are slow, and risky, because Death Bringer’s
Skeletons will be distracting you and the jump may fail. Even though the
Skeletons are invincible, you will have to constantly jump attack them out of
the way. If you can get even three hits of a combination attack in on Death
Bringer, well done; the Skeletons are the most annoying in the game and won't
let you beat their boss down for very long at all. It is for this reason that
I recommend you use jump attacks to take Death Bringer down.
Death Bringer has all the attacks of Death Adder (and they all take one life
bar off), although the fizzing balls of lightning that he rolls along the
ground go in multiple directions, and he can roll multiple ones at once. He
can also dash. That's not all.
Whenever Death Bringer (not his Skeletons) hits you, he will always use a
magic attack of the three main characters. This means whenever he hits you, he
will take off at least two life bars, maybe even four because of the attacks
that he can use. Magic attacks that he is capable of are Gilius’ level two
magic (careering lightning bolts), Ax Battler’s level three magic (large
explosions), and Tyris’ level six magic (the infamous dragon). Death Bringer
never runs out of magic power.
This battle makes you harness everything you have learnt thus far in dodging
and jump attacking the Skeletons, jump attacking Death Bringer at the right
time, jumping over his fizzing balls of fire (although I do actually recommend
you avoid Death Bringer using these - they're very hard to dodge - instead
staying relatively close to him but out of the range of his axe) and keeping
your cool despite his unfair advantage over you. To be honest, there's no
finesse involved here; to use your trusty combination attack is suicidal and
opportunities to use the Attack from Aboveare few and far between. Jump and
dash attacks are the order of the day; theymight not be too damaging but they
will get the job done.
Eventually, you’ll knock Death Bringer’s axe out of his hand. The Skeletons
will disappear and the axe falls into him. Death Bringer lets out an enormous
roar and dies.
-----~-----~-----~
11. The Ending
-----~-----~-----~
Note – This does not apply to Beginner Mode.
..You emerge from the dungeon doors to greet the freed King and Princess. The
King speaks to you:
“Thank you gallant one! Now the people will be able to live, to build, and to
prosper in peace. May you be titled the saviour of our kingdom! Now prepare for
a grand feast!”
The princess addresses you:
“We praise your acts of bravery and deeds of courage.”
You are then shown the map one final time, with the arrow leading out of the
castle to ‘Fin’. Text appears as one final ‘congratulations’ for beating the
game:
‘Finally, you have defeated all of the evil clan. The land shall revive in
peace and the people will talk of your deeds as a legend in the years to come.’
You are then shown the entire cast of the game complete with happy, celebratory
music.
After this, the scene switches to a bridge where the two characters you didn’t
play as are resting, while your character throws magical balls of text to a
Silver Longmoan. The Longmoan hits them and they explode into the various names
of the people who made the game.
Once the credits are finished, all three characters advance to the front to
look at you, throw their magic pots in the air, and the word END drops down.
You are then taken to the score screen and given a grade, before being taken
back to the Main Menu.
However...
The few survivors of Death Bringer’s clan have gathered on that same bridge and
challenged you to a series of battles. This is known as Duel Mode, which was
actually always available but serves as a final challenge to test your true
skill after Death Bringer’s fall.
So, will you accept? You better, because it’s the next section!
-----~-----~-----~
12. The Duel
-----~-----~-----~
The Duel mode can serve as a training ground or a place to truly test your
might against the remainder of Death Bringer’s army.
You will always start with eight life bars, and these are the only bars that
you will get. You do not have access to any magic of any kind. Below your
number of life bars are the enemies’ number of life bars. Obviously when all of
these are depleted the enemy will die. If you are facing more than one enemy,
it should be noted that they share the life bars – if you concentrate on one
and bring them down to one life bar, then hitting the other one may potentially
kill them. This can be useful to know if you like to use tactics during these
battles.
Another thing concerning your life bar this time. When you get hit by an attack,
you might not actually lose a life bar, and then win the battle. Let’s say that
even though you can’t see it, you only have half of that life bar left. This
‘half’ will carry over to the next battle, so a weak hit might take a life bar
off, which will surprise you if you expected your remaining life bars to be
fully healed.
There is also a timer in the top right of the screen – strangely enough, this
seems to have no effect on you or your score, so it’s quite safe to ignore it.
If you are killed in one of the battles the Game Over music will play and you
will see this message:
‘Unfortunately you have been defeated on the path to glory. Let’s try another
duel!’
Yes, let’s. You will then be taken to the high score screen (which differs from
the other modes), in which you will see your total score, the round you reached,
and then this information used to calculate your strength, which will give you
a grade.
Completion of The Duel will result in you seeing this message:
‘Congratulations! You’ve won against all of your enemies. You can get more
power and techniques because of your victory in this duel!! Now, let’s try
Arcade mode.’
You will then see the Credits that you will see at the end of Arcade Mode, and
be taken to the aforementioned high score screen.
There are twelve long and tough battles during the duel. I will tell you what
they are and give you information that you will need to beat them. I recorded
myself playing at average level in this, so I will give you the number of life
bars I had left at the end of each battle so you can check your progress. Of
course, you needn’t worry if you fall behind this, because one good battle will
enable you to get back on your toes. That’s one thing you should remember in
this survival test; never give up.
~~~~Battle 1 – Dark Green Longmoan on Chicken-Leg~~~~
Enemy Life Bars - 2
This first battle is very easy. If you lose a life bar here, I am actually
going to suggest you restart, despite what I said earlier.
All you should do is jump attack or dash attack the foolish Longmoan until he’s
off his beast, then repeatedly use the Chicken-Leg’s attack against him until
he dies. Easy.
My Life Bars at the end - 8
~~~~Battle 2 – Two Light Green Heningers~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 3
This is nothing you can’t deal with. Don’t let the Heningers catch you in a
pincer attack, use the jump attack to get out of trouble while hurting them at
the same time. You should have done this before if you’ve played the other
modes. Try to dodge their dashes if they do surround you; it’s likely that if
you do, you’ll catch them both on the same side and hit them for massive
damage. Once one’s down, the other will be easy to kill with combo attacks.
My Life Bars at the end - 8
~~~~Battle 3 – Dark Green Heninger on Red Dragon~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 3
Easy again. Head towards the Red Dragon, but make sure you’re slightly above
it unless you want to eat fireball. Then quickly move down and jump attack to
knock the Heninger off. You may now finish him by yourself, or get on the
dragon and repeatedly spit fireballs at him.
My Life Bars at the end - 8
~~~~Battle 4 – Two Skeletons~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 4
A small of a challenge creeping in here, perhaps..? Well, anyway, use the same
tactics as you did against the two Heningers, but make sure you’re on your toes
because the Skeletons are better than them in every single way. Don’t be afraid
to try dashing, jumping then attacking to perform the Attack from Above, as the
Skeletons aren’t. Keep moving and use dash attacks, and you’ll get through.
My Life Bars at the end - 8
~~~~Battle 5 – Two Red Longmoans~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 4
Yeah, it’s the same as Battles 2 and 4. The Longmoans probably aren’t even
as hard as the Skeletons; they’re just a little more resilient this time around.
Avoid their dashes, dash them, repeat. Jump attacks, combination attacks when
one’s gone down...You know the drill.
My Life Bars at the end - 8
~~~~Battle 6 – Two Lemanayas on two Red Dragons~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 5
Ah, this is where it gets difficult. First, dodge down, away from the vertical
plane that the dragons are on, and once you're close, jump attack to knock the
Lemanayas off the dragon. Now, there are two ways you can go about the battle
from here:
First, you can get on a dragon. DO NOT try to use the fireball unless only
one Lemanaya is left or they are both in an enclosed space; it's too slow for
this pair and you'll find yourself knocked off fairly quickly. However, you may
wish to use dash attacks; thanks to Dark for this tip, as "even the mighty dash
attack they have can't compare to getting a dragon head in the ribs."
If you choose not to get on the dragons, then the Lemanayas like to
concentrate on getting back on themselves, so what I would suggest is for you
to concentrate on attacking one, while only jump attacking the other when they
get back on their dragon. Repeat this and you’ll be okay. Don’t be next to them
when they do get on a dragon, or they’ll spit a fireball at you very quickly.
If the dragons run away, then your battle is made a lot easier, and you should
apply the same tactics that you used when you were facing pairs of enemies
before. Just be wary of their strong dashes.
My Life Bars at the end - 7
~~~~Battle 7 – Two Dark Heningers and a Dark Longmoan~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 5
A small breather from the tough battle you just faced. Watch out for the
dashes, again, and use lots of jump attacks to hack away at their health. It’s
just a little more pressure than the battles against pairs, but nothing really
challenging. Often you'll find that two enemies will attack you while the third
one will hang back, unsure of whether to assist (he really should).
If you have trouble with this battle, you may wish to try Dark's strategy for
defeating a trio of enemies; it can be found near the end of level three in
the main walkthrough.
My Life Bars at the end - 6
~~~~Battle 8 – Two Death Skeletons~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 6
This was the battle where the enemies made sure I had less life than my
opponents in the next battle, and they might just make it so for you too. Oh,
how the tides turn in the latter stages of The Duel.
These Skeletons make their one and only appearance here, and they really do
look like they should belong with Death Bringer, don’t they? Perhaps they were
on holiday leave and missed his destruction, hence their appearance here...
I should also remind you that this is the last battle where you will face a
normal enemy – the final four battles are against bosses, so don’t expect an
easy ride here.
You should use the same tactics as you did against the normal Skeletons, but
you should be far more wary as these guys are as quick as lightning and can
easily take off a life bar. This is your hardest battle yet, but just keep
your cool and be quick and discreet in your dashes and jumps, and you’ll just
get through.
My Life Bars at the end – 5
~~~~Battle 9 – Bad Brothers~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 6
Wow, another tough battle. These giants are dangerous, but manageable. They are
slow, and the only thing you should be too worried about is their dash attacks.
Otherwise, keep jumping and dashing, try and get them in one spot for some
combination attacks, and run away when they’re getting back up to avoid their
hammer attacks. Remember Dark's strategy of repeatedly throwing them if you
find one on his own. These guys are arguably not as tough as the Death
Skeletons you just faced.
My Life Bars at the end - 4
~~~~Battle 10 – Lieutenant Bitter~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 7
He has a lot of life bars, but the key thing is that he’s on his own. If you’ve
read the strategies for the Knights and the Commanders in the walkthrough,
then just apply those here. You can dash him repeatedly for a win without him
even attacking, or you can risk it and jump attack him with good timing. As
suggested by Dark, back attacks will also work well.
Alternatively, you could use combination attacks by going above or below him
and then quickly moving into position and seizing the initiative with a well
placed first attack. Take your pick.
My Life Bars at the end - 4
~~~~Battle 11 – Two General Heartlands~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 7
General Heartland has returned, and managed to clone himself. It seems he
survived when you last fought him, and managed to supersede his once boss,
Death Adder.
Anyway, use the same tactics as you did for the Bad Brothers here, but again,
be on your toes and don’t let them have an opening to attack you, or you’ll say
goodbye to a Life Bar. If you can get them in the same place, you’ve won
already. It’s also possible to keep them in a rhythm where one giant is on one
side, the other is opposite him, and you alternate between the two with a
jumping or dashing attack each. It’s slow, but not too risky.
My Life Bars at the end - 3
~~~~Final Battle – Two General Bitters~~~~
Enemy Life Bars – 8
It would seem as if the two golden knights of The Dungeons survived their trips
into the abyss. They’re angry that their boss, Death Bringer is gone, and
they’ve assumed command of the remainder of the forces. But it’s time to put a
stop to this evil clan once and for all!
..If you completed Arcade mode you know what to do; keep the pressure up,
jump, dash, or back attack one, then use the ‘dodge in from above/below’
technique to get a good combination attack on the other. Don’t panic – the
knights move slower than you think. Of course, it’s always possible to just
repeatedly dash attack both of them, but where’s the fun in that?
Eventually, you'll seize the moment and dispatch the evil clan once and for
all. Now what Duel mode is done...well, you’ve completed pretty much everything
if you also completed Beginner and Arcade. Congratulations!
My Life Bars at the end - 2
---END THE DUEL---
You should also note that The Duel can be played multiplayer. Obviously you
will require a second controller, so plug that in and you can play together,
but you must fight against eachother. You will also have to choose separate
characters. Now you can test your mettle against your brother/dog/imaginary
friend and show them who's best once and for all! Or who can reduce the
other's eight life bars to nothing in a twenty year old videogame.
Still bored? Obsessed with this game? I know the feeling. Read on...
-----~-----~-----~
13. Challenges
-----~-----~-----~
Before you attempt any of these challenges, it is recommended you have a very
good knowledge of the game. Complete it at least five times, know where most of
the enemies are etc. I will list all of the Challenges I've thought up in
order of difficulty, easiest first and hardest last.
~~~~No Magic Game~~~~
Difficulty - **
Don't use magic. Some of you may have already done this, and the only real
difficulty is the longer (and therefore more difficult) battles against
the bosses, particularly Death Bringer. It goes without saying that Gilius
Thunderhead is the man here, with his physical attacks being by far the most
reliable and his lack of magic not being taken into account.
~~~~No Jump or Dash~~~~
Difficulty - ***
Jumping attacks, dashing attacks...How many times have they gotten you out of
trouble? Many, I'm sure. But this time...YOU MUST NOT USE THEM.
Part of the difficulty of this challenge, of course, is having the mental
strength not too subconsciously use them. Not only this, but you'll have to be
a true brawler, no more cheap jumping and dashing attacks, just dodge dodge
dodge by yourself. This is a big test of reflexes (think the giants' dashing)
and mental will, and I'd be surprised if any of you managed to do even this.
~~~~Complete The Duel with not one Life Bar loss~~~~
Difficulty - ***
Possible, but it'll take practice. Your difficulties will lie in the giant
battles, and the Death Skeletons. Considering The Duel is a big challenge
in itself, this requires an expert of the game to complete.
~~~~Complete Arcade Mode with not one Life Bar Loss~~~~
Difficulty - ****
Near-impossible without the aid of tools. You must know everything about
the game and be prepared for lots of frustration as you try to complete this.
You may make it past the first five levels, but come level six it will be a
hefty challenge.
~~~~No Magic, Jump or Dash, No Life Bar Loss - Arcade Mode~~~~
Difficulty - *****
The ultimate challenge. Gilius should be again your character of choice, but
if any of you actually do complete this impossible challenge then I will eat
my cartridge. In fact, I'm not sure if it is even possible - Death Bringer's
battle require you to be close to him so he doesn't use his fuzzing balls
(which require a jump), but the Skeletons and his axe will be on your case
mad-crazy. Okay, I'll make a new challenge from this...
~~~~No Magic, Jump or Dash, No Life Bar Loss - Death Bringer~~~~
Difficulty - *****
Just the last level but the same as before everywhere else. This time you can
use savestates on an emulator to quickly reload to the battle, and I'm sure
this one is possible, and definitely provable. I may even try this myself.
If I do, I'll post the video on Youtube.
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
14. Version Discrepancies
-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~
~Thanks goes to Dark for providing me with the information needed to create
this section. If anyone else finds more inconsistencies between versions, feel
free to contact me and I'll add them in with full credit.
There are a lot of things that don't make sense in the the Mega Drive version
of the game; the naming of certain enemies for example, or the seeming absence
of the fabled Golden Axe that is crucial to the game's plot. This is partly
due to the game's transfer from versions on other consoles.
So though this FAQ is for the Mega Drive/Genesis version of the game, I think
this section should be helpful in addressing some of the inconsistencies
and goofs within the game, and the reasons for their presence. Enjoy.
~~~~Where is the Golden Axe?~~~~
Credit to Dark for this.
"In the Arcade and Amiga versions [the Arcade was the original], there was no
Death Bringer [Indeed, the seventh and eighth levels were added in for this
version]. Death Adder himself was said to have captured the legendary Golden
Axe which was the source of his magical powers and what he shot the lightning
balls out of."
In the older versions of the game, Death Adder does indeed carry the Golden
Axe. So why is it red in the Mega Drive version? Back to Dark:
"I'm guessing though that when they created the Mega Drive version with the
Death Bringer plot, they thought two Golden Axes (one for Death Adder and one
for Death Bringer) would've been a bit much, so they gave them red and green
axes instead."
Hence, the absence of the Golden Axe.
~~~~Alex~~~~
Once again, credit to Dark.
Alex doesn't make an appearance in this version of the game. He is only
referred to by name - 'My good friend Alex was also killed in the battle' - and
his death provides another reason for the warriors to go after Death Adder.
Rather inane, no? They might as well have just left him out of the game
completely.
Well, there is a reason why Alex gets a mention. Back to Dark:
"Regarding Alex. The Amiga and Arcade versions featured a sequence of a
wounded soldier called Alex giving the news of Death Adder's capture of the
King and Princess to the characters at the start of the game before getting
clobbered by a Longmoan and tragically dying."
For some reason Alex's physical appearance was omitted from this version of
the game, but he was still given a name check at least.
-----~-----~-----~
15. Credits
-----~-----~-----~
Myself – I did write the guide, you know.
Dark - For motivating me to do update this, he is also responsible for the
creation of the Version Discrepancies section as well as numerous tips and
tricks within the guide.
CJayC, SBAllen, and GameFAQs – For creating and administering GameFAQs, which
hosts this guide.
ASCII Generator at network-science.de/ascii - For the cheesy ASCII text at the
top of this guide.
Sega – For making such an amazing game, and an amazing system.
You – Thank you for taking the time to use and read this guide.
-----~-----~-----~
16. Outroduction
-----~-----~-----~
I hope you enjoyed the guide and found it informative. While playing the game
and writing this FAQ I found out things about it I hadn’t realised even though
I have owned it for over most of my years. Golden Axe is twenty years old now
and I still give it a run through every now and then. A true classic; I hope I
wrote a fitting guide as well.
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