The Legendary Axe (TurboGrafx-16) Playthrough
193A playthrough of NEC's 1989 action-platformer for the TurboGrafx-16, The Legendary Axe.
The Legendary Axe was a launch title for the TurboGrafx-16 in the fall of 1989, and what an excellent introduction it was to the 16-bit generation. The ads showcasing its next-generation graphics drew oohs and ahhs from NES kids nationwide, reviewers shouted its praises from the rooftops, and by the time the dust had settled, it had even snagged itself a couple GOTY awards.
And the best part? The Legendary Axe lived up to the hype. A bonafide classic, day one. The perfect game to include with a brand new console.
Hindsight is cruel like that. Ain't that right, NEC? (So is an utter lack of foresight, but I digress...)
You control Gogan, an axe-wielding, a Conan/Tarzan hybrid of a caveman on a quest to save Flare, his pink haired girlfriend who's about to be sacrificed by a cult.
In the vein of mid-80s arcade platformers, The Legendary Axe is an action game that demands precision, memorization, and an intimate familiarity with its underlying rhythm - like Toki, Ninja Gaiden, or Trojan. Or Astyanax ( • Astyanax (NES) Playthrough ). Especially Astyanax.
The combat revolves around your ability to respond to each enemy's distinct set of attack patterns. To deliver a full-power blow, you have to let your (upgradeable) power gauge fill, which lends the fighting a thoughtful sense of ebb and flow. And unless you want to be knocked into a pit, Castlevania-style, you'll need to be super careful in how you approach the bad guys.
If that sounds like Astyanax to you, that would be because both games were created by Aicom. The PC Engine version of The Legendary Axe showed up in late 1988, and the arcade version of The Astyanax came out fifteen months later.
I liked Astyanax (especially the NES version), but I think The Legendary Axe is the better game. The controls are easier to handle, the difficulty is better balanced, and it looks and sounds incredible for a console game released in the 80s. Given the caliber of their earlier works (a Chinese fortune-telling game, Amagon, and Hoops), it's wild to think that this was only Aicom's fourth game. Way to level up!
Also, if you've played Vice: Project Doom ( • Vice: Project Doom (NES) Playthrough ), check out the last boss. Seems like they really liked that design, doesn't it?
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