We all remember the days we played those classic video games. With no doubt – there is one game that’s very special to everyone: Golden Axe. Golden Axe was one of the most popular games back then. This year, SEGA decided to make a risky move. A brand new game was created, set to recreate the fun and popularity of the old game. That move was a bit too risky.

The new Golden Axe: Beast Rider puts the player in Tyris Flare’s boots – a female beast rider. The player will join Tyris on a journey to avenge the slaughter of her people and kill the Death Adder. When I first started playing the game I was really excited about playing Golden Axe once again. That excitement quickly turned into disappointment.

When the game starts, the player is stopped every other minute and forced to watch little in-game cut scenes. This can get really frustrating. The fighting system is really basic. There are two buttons for attacking – slow but strong and fast but weak. Also, there are two buttons for defense – one for blocking blue enemy attacks and one for evading orange enemy attacks. There are also 3 cool different kinds of magic – one of the them is the Golden Axe. At the beginning of the game its still broken but you can use it to break some statues that block the path.

It’s really easy to see that Golden Axe: Beast Rider is is really trying to follow the footsteps of the original game, and that’s o.k… But some of the features just don’t fit in with the new visuals and gameplay. For example – In the original Golden Axe there were little midgets, providing food and mana if you kick them. The original Golden Axe was 2D so the challenge was there, but it wasn’t that hard. Golden Axe: Beast Rider’s midgets are almost uncatchable. In spite of that, the game’s developers insisted on including them in the game – clearly a bad decision.

There is, however, one aspect of the game which is excellent – the beasts themselves.The beasts in the game are really cool and each of them can perform three kinds of attacks: a simple attack (tail whipping or a head-butt for most of the time), a simple magic attack and an advanced full power magic attack. When Tyris is riding the beasts she can still do her magic – which really expands the variety of moves and attacks she can preform while riding.

As opposed to the gameplay, Golden Axe: Beast Rider has a smooth polished look, combined with huge amount of details – especially the characters. As a beautiful woman, Tyris’s character is very detailed. The cut-scenes in Golden Axe: Beast Rider are really first-class and look very realistic.

To sum up, for me – to play Golden Axe: Beast Rider was a really frustrating experience. The things that kept me playing the game were the graphics and beautiful Tyris. Golden Axe: Beast Rider pretends to be the successor of one of the best games ever. The only thing it accomplished is an embarrassment for the original Golden Axe. In the case of Golden Axe: Beast Rider – the game has potential that blows up in the player’s face and only buries the Golden Axe franchise deeper into it’s grave (unless another better game will continue it’s legacy).

Score – 47