Golden Axe Warrior

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It was 1988, right before Christmas (yes, I’m old), and that memory still plays in my head like it happened yesterday. My late father stopped me in the hallway and asked, “Do you want a gaming system for Christmas?” 

My kid brain nearly exploded. I didn’t own a single console or game yet. Video games were something my friends had, not me. Of course, I blurted out a high-pitched “Yes!”

Then came the curveball. “NES or Master System?”

Wait… what? My young brain went into overdrive. I had to decide now? I thought about the game libraries, the feel of the controllers at store demo stations, and what I’d played at friends’ houses. This was the biggest decision of my life so far.

And then it hit me. Every friend I had owned an NES. Nobody had a Master System. I could always play Nintendo at their houses, but Sega’s console was uncharted territory. A whole library of games I had never touched. So I finally said, “The Master System.”

While the NES is the more iconic of the two and the face of retro gaming, I have never regretted my choice. The Master System gave me countless memories and still holds a special place in my heart.

So with that, let’s dive into our very first Master System game for the newsletter. Golden Axe Warrior!

When most gamers think of Golden Axe, they picture the arcade beat ’em up, swinging axes, riding bizarre creatures, and brawling through side-scrolling stages with friends.

Golden Axe Warrior is nothing like that. It trades arcade action for a top-down, Zelda-style RPG. No more button mashing through endless waves of enemies. Now you are exploring an overworld, delving into dungeons, solving puzzles, and collecting gear to defeat Death Adder and recover nine stolen crystals.

I did not know this game existed until years later, and for good reason. It was rare even back in the day. Discovering it later felt like uncovering a secret chapter in Sega’s history, one that plays completely differently from its arcade roots.

The Master System’s capabilities are on display with colorful environments and a sprawling overworld of more than 200 screens. Get out your graph paper and start that map! Dungeons mix puzzles with combat, sometimes hiding keys until a room is cleared or revealing paths by pushing torches into walls. Traps are everywhere, eager to end your run.

Your warrior can upgrade weapons and spells, and items unlock new areas, making backtracking worthwhile. Magic allows you to move rocks, burn trees, attack from a distance and reveal hidden passages. Currency management is important, and some prices can be steep. 250 horns for a shield?! What is this, Vay?

The point of the game is earn back the nine crystals that were stolen. Each is hidden within a dungeon, guarded by a boss at the end. The dungeons themselves aren’t too big, usually consisting of a dozen or so rooms to navigate.

The difficulty isn’t too bad and the respawn system is forgiving for the time. Losing all health sends you back to the start of an area, but you keep your items and defeated enemies stay gone. At roughly eight to ten hours to complete, it is not a massive quest, but it is full of reasons to keep exploring.

Visually, it works for the Master System, though it cannot escape its Zelda-inspired look. Character sprites are functional, and the music, while fine, often recalls Nintendo’s classic. The similarities are obvious, from the overworld layout to certain sound effects.

What makes Golden Axe Warrior stand out is its bold shift from the series’ roots. It is a rare Master System adventure worth experiencing and I would rank it among the system’s best games. If you can set aside the comparisons, you will find a fun and accessible quest that offers a fascinating “what if” in Sega’s history.

And for those that loved Link’s original adventure and crave more, this is the game for you.

Golden Axe Warrior remains one of the most unusual entries in the Master System library, taking a well-known arcade franchise and reinventing it as something completely different.

That alone makes it noteworthy, but its scarcity pushes it into collector’s-item territory. Copies can fetch high prices, and many retro fans spend years trying to track one down.

It may not have matched the influence or polish of its inspiration, but its bold genre shift and dedication to creating a true console-style adventure make it a fascinating part of Sega’s history. The game’s rarity, coupled with its “lost treasure” vibe, only adds to its mystique.

I really did enjoy my time with it and wished I found this game as a kid. I can just see the younger version of me diving into this epic, mapping every screen and loving every second.

For those willing to look past its obvious cloning of Nintendo’s formula, Golden Axe Warrior offers a fun, accessible, and rewarding adventure.

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