The Golden Axe series was created by Makoto Uchida (who also created Altered Beast and Dynamite Cop). It is a barbarian-themed beat-em-up heavily inspired by the tales of Conan the Barbarian, featuring buff warriors in tights and Red Sonja-style warrior goddesses in bikinis. The series is also known for its fantastic artwork reminiscent of classic Conan the Barbarian and Frank Frazetta’s works, although many other fantasy action games also borrow from these influences.
The entire series tells a story about a legendary weapon called the Golden Axe, which can grant the user immense power (the Japanese characters in the Golden Axe logo roughly mean “Battle Axe” and depict a stylized sword, hammer, and axe). The main antagonist is a wicked master known as Death Adder, who has a rising monstrosity and wears a frightening mask to allow the player to know that he is evil. It began as an arcade game and later spawned two sequels for Genesis and another sequel for arcade. There are also several spin-offs, including two role-playing games and a 2D hunter, outside the main series.
