Games Played 05/09/2009

Arkanoid Live! Demo - X-Box 360*
Dynasty Warriors 6 - X-Box 360
Kingdom Hearts - PlayStation 2
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - X-Box 360
Space Invaders Extreme Demo - X-Box 360**


*I like Arkanoid so I will be buying this one eventually.


**Looks great on the big screen but I have the Nintendo DS version already.

RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


Golden Axe: The Duel (1995)
Developer: Sega
Platform: SegaSaturn
Purchase Date: 1995


Who would have known that Gillius could kick that high?
That's a nice pair of long legs you got there Mr. Dwarf.

Here it is, my first Saturn game. Just like how things were back in the 16-bit era, I could only afford to buy one console and during the 32-bit era, I had to decide between the Saturn and the PlayStation. I was an undergraduate student back then so I didn't have much cash to spare. So I went with the brand that I was familiar with. As soon as I had enough money to get the PlayStation, I did! I was one of the many who had never picked up the Sega CD, so I was very excited about the disc-based technology... Until I discovered the horrendous loading time associated with it. Golden Axe: The Duel is a competent 2D fighting game but those long loading time between the matches are very frustrating to deal with. The graphics are colorful and I like the detailed animations of the characters. There are 10 fighters in all to choose from, many of them are new to the Golden Axe universe but the dwarf-barbarian-amazon-Death Adder combo is intact. 10 may not sound like a lot but it was the standard back then and I never find that to be a detriment to the game. The Duel utilizes all the 6 buttons on the Saturn's controller with the typical weak, medium, and strong punch/kick variations. To perform super moves in the game, you have to collect magic vials from those small impish carriers found in the original game. They show up sporadically during the matches and would drop food on occassions that can be used to replenish your health bar. Sometimes, you would be too busy fighting your opponents to get to them but this element ties the game to its origin. The game is a good re-imagination of the franchise but we all know that hack and slash is only the way to go for Golden Axe.

LIBRARY STATUS: 3 out of 5