Who knew scan lines were the secret sauce for playing classic games?
Brawlers. Beat-‘em-ups. Side-scrolling action games. Double Dragon clones. Growing up with video games in the ‘80s meant that genres weren’t all that well defined as we raced to try and contextualize this new and exciting hobby. Whatever label you choose to give Golden Axe, it can’t be denied that it was one of the progenitors of the genre that would go on to spawn the likes of Final Fight and Streets of Rage. Sega has trotted their fantasy beat-‘em-up (my personal favorite label) many times over the years, but with Sega Vintage Collection: Golden Axe the company has put together what is supposed to be the definitive collection of the series. While it falls just short of that, this is the best way to experience Golden Axe 1-3. Unless you can travel back in time, but if you could do that I would hope you have a bigger plan than playing a classic Sega arcade game.
