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1* AssPull: Partially due to being a CanonForeigner in the Platform/SegaGenesis and MS-DOS ports, the existence of [[TheManBehindTheMan Death Bringer]] is not [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] at all.
2* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
3** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1_xSBHBQlU "Wilderness"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFoN1ZMmNUA the main theme of the game]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvlk8ngkfYU no matter which version]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIpfi6djLw4 you are playing]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOUAIyfm7E is great]].
4** It also got a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Aun_xTuAg great remix]] in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic and All-Stars Racing: Transformed]]''.
5** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htpuKE_e_ew Battle Field]], the boss battle theme from the first game. You'll know it's time for an epic battle when you hear this tune play. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-2kfWxDiE Genesis]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1O12NHb2Ws Sega Ages]] version also sound fantastic.
6** From the Genesis version of the first game, we have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WRrvRZM2eA Showdown]], an imposing tune that plays when you reach the final boss, Death Bringer. It starts out as threatening as the boss you're fighting, but later grows into a more hopeful sounding tune, pumping up the player to finish the battle. This track even got an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWPFZS7rTUY upgraded version]] in the Platform/PS2 remake!
7** ''Revenge of Death-Adder'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRvz-69HcDQ&index=2&list=PLFd0cOtWTWTModEsJOdD06U7gN9tI4uo8 some rocking tunes]], too.
8** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpSRB-qgyRs& Second Boss Theme]] from ''II'', first played on the boss battle in [[LethalLavaLand lava cave]] against two [[GiantMook minotaurs]] and two [[EliteMook lizardmen]]. Later it's also played during BossRush outside enemy's castle gates and finally during the fight against the DragonInChief in the penultimate boss battle.
9** It's not Wilderness, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4jVCON2GvI Vast Field]], the music of first stage in ''III'', is an epic music to start your journey to kick evil's booty.
10** The theme in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU0oTOJ-gpM Ride the Whirlwind]] stage in ''III'', which is also combined with an awesome level setting of fighting atop of a giant falcon. You're probably not taking this level because [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential it doesn't give you more prisoners for extra lives to save, and you'll not save one of your brainwashed friends.]]
11** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYRnantcW8A Fight with Adversary]] from ''III''. A fitting music when you [[FightingYourFriend fight against your]] [[DemonicPossession possessed]] [[FightingYourFriend friend]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Eve the gryphon/birdman]].
12** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sysjCe6L-dc The Gate of Fate]], Eve the gryphon's true theme, is the ClimaxBoss rendered in song form, an epic showdown with a mighty adversary before the final boss!
13* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Probably the best-remembered element from the games to a lot of people is the [[Creator/BorisVallejo Vallejo]]-esque [[MsFanservice Tyris Flare]] in her ChainmailBikini. Tyris was one of gaming's earliest popular sex symbols (preceding [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] by half a decade), being {{Stripperiffic}} enough to make her blatantly sexually appealing, while also being rendered in enough graphical detail to make her visually attractive. [[MrFanservice Ax Battler]] also provides a similar service for female and gay gamers.
14* CompleteMonster: [[TheWormThatWalks Death Adder]] (specifically his Platform/PCEngine version, ''The Revenge of Death Adder'', and ''The Duel'') is a monstrous tyrant who [[BigBad leads]] an army of evil to Firewood Kingdom, [[RapePillageAndBurn massacring]] everyone within the country such that Firewood utterly ceases to exist, exhibiting his personal sadism by murdering the king and queen in front of their young daughter, Princess Tyris Flare. Seeking even greater power, Death Adder invades Southwood kingdom to do the same thing, slaughtering villages and enslaving the populace. Upon his return from death, Death Adder opts to massacre and enslave everyone he can for revenge, with the consequences of his victory being death on scales such as the world has never before seen.
15* ContestedSequel: ''III'' is either considered the best game of the series by far with tighter controls, much more varied moves and characters, or an ugly, slow mess that doesn't come close to the quality of the two previous games.
16* DemonicSpiders: The skeletons. They inflict twice the damage of normal mooks, tend to come in duos along with other enemies, are common in the last 3 levels, are fast, have to be comboed at least 3 times to kill, and like all enemies have the annoying tendency to flank you whenever possible. They also have a jumping attack that does almost as much damage in one hit than their whole ground combo combined, which by the way is 1.5 bars of health. Naturally, two show up to assist Death Adder in battle... and the ones assisting Death Bringer have ''[[NighInvulnerable 256 HP]]'' [[note]]Death Bringer has 128 HP, the skeletons have '''double''' his HP[[/note]]. Worse still, in the FanRemake ''Golden Axe Legend'', their shields aren't just for show or [[ShieldBash klonking over the heroes' heads in a short ranged combo]]; they block attacks, and in fact do so ''very'' often.
17* EvenBetterSequel:
18** The third Mega Drive game is a noticeable improvement over the first two, boasting a FightingGame style special attack system, branching paths, less ambiguous health gauges, and not having a GameBreakingBug that makes the female swordswoman much harder to use than intended. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Some fans regret it, preferring the simple, frantic action of the first two games]]. Its graphics generally are much more bland compared to the other two Mega Drive games.
19** ''The Revenge of Death Adder'' greatly expands upon the original with more detailed graphics, branching levels and more playable characters which have team up attacks similar to ''VideoGame/TheSimpsons''.
20* FirstInstallmentWins: Most of the fanart in the series usually are about the main trio (Ax, Tyris and Gillius), and mostly in their original design. Good luck finding art of any of the characters from the arcade and Mega Drive sequels. The only notable exception is Death Adder, whose cameos in other games tend to use his design from ''Revenge of Death Adder'', rather than his original incarnation.
21* GameBreaker:
22** Chronos' Forward-Back-Forward + Attack + Jump in ''Golden Axe III''. Easy input, huge damage, wide range, makes him invincible while doing the move, unblockable.
23** The red dragon in the first game. Spam the attack button and the fireballs will knock enemies down with no chance for them to retaliate.
24** In the first game, BottomlessPits are trivial for the player to take advantage of and allow a OneHitKill (or even a zero-hit kill if you manipulate the ArtificialStupidity appropriately) on any enemy within range of one, up to the final mid-bosses the General Bitters).
25* GoodBadBugs: Using a spell on Death Bringer while he was in his death animation would cause a second, glitchy axe to fly into the air and impale him along with the first. Later revisions of the game prevented this by disabling magic from triggering at this point.
26* LowTierLetdown: Ax Battler is considered to be the worst of the three due to being a MasterOfNone, while Tyris Flare excels in magic, and Gillius excels in his superior range with melee attacks. To add insult to injury, both Tyris and Gillius have higher priority when using charge attacks, while Ax Battler will almost always get attacked first if he uses it against stronger enemies.
27* {{Narm}}: In the Sega CD Arcade Collection, the enemy grunts were resampled to use better quality digitized voice. The only problem is that, for male characters, it was a very stock "Oww!", while women received a grunt which barely registered injury.
28* NarmCharm: As usual with really old beat-'em-up games. The sound effects are hilarious and one of the heroes is named ''Ax Battler''. Who ''doesn't even use an ax.''
29* NightmareFuel:
30** The skeleton in the [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skeleton1_265.jpg character select screen.]]
31** The "fighting" Mantis in ''Revenge of Death Adder'' has a grab attack where it grabs the enemy, pulls them close, and you hear the same loud [-CRUNCH-] you hear where your character eats food.
32* PortingDisaster: In the arcade version of Golden Axe, each character has his or her own algorithm to determine if that character should use a longer range melee attack or a shorter range melee attack. In the Genesis/Mega Drive version, all characters share Ax Battler's algorithm. Therefore, attacks that would have hit a target if the longer-range sword attacks were used would whiff if the algorithm mistakenly picks the shorter range sword attacks. This bug is carried over to Golden Axe II. This bug severely negatively affects Tyris's game play. This bug also affected Gilius, but did not sabotage his usability.
33* SpiritualSuccessor: The game takes lots of inspiration from ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian''. One character is even an ''Expy'' of Conan.
34* ThatOneAttack: [[TrueFinalBoss Death Bringer]] is already a hard final boss in the Genesis version to begin with, but, as explained in the WebVideo/WhoIsThisGit [[https://youtu.be/dhcGTV5WUeE?t=231 video on him]], his shockwave attack is incredibly dangerous. While the original Death Adder only created one shockwave with his similar attack, Death Bringer creates ''six'', which makes it far harder to effectively dodge the attack. If you're knocked down by one, he'll unleash his own version of Tyris's dragon spell if not interrupted quickly, which will deliver a whopping three bars of damage to both players.
35* ThatOneBoss: Death Bringer. He is a stronger version of normal FinalBoss who is accompanied by two [[DemonicSpiders skeletons]] which actually have double his HP. On top of this after landing a hit one a player, he will use one of their spells, which cannot be dodged and hit both players. Depending on what spell he uses, the player can die after getting hit just once.
36* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
37** ''Golden Axe: The Duel'', the third arcade game in the series, changed the format from a belt-scrolling action game to a one-on-one fighting game.
38** ''Golden Axe: Beast Rider'', a 3D action game, wasn't much better received. ''Play'', a now defunct gaming magazine, gave a much more favorable review than pretty much any other critics. Interestingly, the reviewer nearly outright accused other critics of being incredibly biased with this trope in mind, reasoning that certain "online reviewers" wouldn't have enough time to thoroughly test the game for a decent review. This is contrasted with many other games that reviewers spend a great deal of time playing before reviewing.
39* VindicatedByHistory: During its time of release, ''III'' was negatively received, and people seemed to be glad that [[NoExportForYou it didn't leave Japan]] (Outside of a Sega Channel release). As time passed and through emulation, people started appreciating the game more without comparing it to the older games and started wishing that Sega should have brought that to the Western shores. As of today, the game is available in the West through Sega Genesis Collection bundles, and people think of it fondly. It also helps that compared to ''[[FranchiseKiller Beast Rider]]'', ''III'' was agreed to be a lot better.

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