PrinceWatercress plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 7 of 7

As long as you can keep out of the spikes and you take as little damage as possible, Death Adder's Keep isn't too bad. Too bad the ending is rather anti-climactic.

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Death Adder's Castle

Map (by Will Mallia)

As you move across the castle, spikes will jut in and out of the floor and ceiling. Be ready to jump to a platform to avoid getting impaled by them, and be ready to attack hedgehogs.

By getting to the end of each room, you will find a mirror that will take you to the next section of the castle.

The platforms with the spikes below them obviously hurt you if you jump into their undersides.

If you stand at the edges of floors with spikes where spikes can't pop up, the spikes won't hurt you. Staying on the edge with one foot off the floor definitely helps in this regard.

When you reach the area with the red background halfway through, you will want to watch out for arrows shooting out of the right-hand wall as you ride on the platform there. If you need to, get rid of them with your magic if striking them with the sword isn't enough.

When you've reached the waterfalls, you're almost there. There will be no spikes behind the waterfalls, so feel free to use them as safe zones.

When you reach the end, you'll finally face Death Adder! Instead of a proper boss battle, Ax Battler defeats Death Adder in one swift blow and the castle blows up in the most anti-climactic ending ever, where Ax Battler takes the Golden Axe and gets on a giant eagle to show that he has brought peace back to the world. Why did we play this game again?

PrinceWatercress plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 6 of 7

This game isn't getting any easier.

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Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

South of North Valley is the Ice Cliffs.

Snow Slope

Map (by Will Mallia)

The enemies in this area are enemies you've met before, such as the wolves and the snakes.

Keep jumping across the platforms when you see the avalanche so you can get past it. Use the rafts you see afterwards to get across the waterfall. Use the Jump Attack to get rid of any snakes in this part, then run to the right and high jump at the last moment to get past the avalanche or else you're getting sent back to the bottom of the waterfall section.

After this, you'll be taking a path to Death Adder's castle, the final area in the game. If you want, you can go back to North Valley and heal up and get a password. Thankfully, once you clear this area, you don't have to go through it again.

PrinceWatercress plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 5 of 7

Death Adder is the worst enemy in the game. This, the next area and the Maze Forest turned this from a five- or six-video series to a seven-video series.

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Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

Cross the nearby bridge west of Brookhill. (Thankfully, you won't have to go through an action scene when you go back through the Maze Forest again). Follow the path, and you'll end up at Gayn Mountain.

Gayn Mountain

Map (by Will Mallia)

At the beginning, be ready to jump over the boulders that bounce towards you. The lizard that comes out of the wall shoots blue fire at you, but you can easily walk away from him. Use the shoulder tackle to break the wall.

At the waterfall, wait for the log to show up (which takes forever), then keep high jumping to the right. The ground will start forming pits at this point; keep jumping forward to avoid them as keep moving to avoid the boulders. At the end, you'll take a ride on an eagle and land on the Great Great Eagle.

Great Great Eagle

Map (by Will Mallia)

Watch the floorboards, and defeat the Skeletons that pop out of the ground with the Super Swing. Tread slowly so you can catch them. Pay attention to where the feathers are going so you can see if the wind is blowing you back; if the feathers are moving quickly to the left, the wind has kicked up.

At the front of the eagle, drop down and defeat the Chicken Legs, then make your way to the right to cross the bridge and end this area.

The Neo Ske. (Neo Skeleton) will try to attack you with a jumping downward stab. When it leaps up, move away, then turn around and hit it with a Super Swing when it lands.

The Neo Kni. (Neo Knight) is rather fast and will move back and forth. After the fake-out where it goes back, forward and back, execute the Super Swing.

One of the enemies on the path after the Great Great Eagle is D. Adder (Death Adder). Jump straight up over the trail of fire when it travels across the ground, then hit him with a Super Swing when he rears his ax back. If the trail of fire hits you, you will die in one shot. Wait for him to stop flashing, then move forward a bit and hit him with the Super Swing.

After the bridge at the path after the eagle, you'll be able to enter the town of North Valley.

North Valley

Map (by Will Mallia)

An old man in the village will tell you that he lived a long time due to a Magic Stone, but he has lost it somewhere.

For some reason, a few of the villagers know who Ax Battler is. How and why is never really explained.

You'll find out that Death Adder has taken over the area.

In the last training room of the game, you'll face Death Adder again. Beating him gives you the Jump Attack. Hold Down and press 1 while in the air to hit enemies with a downward stab.

A stay at the inn in this village will cost 12 Vases.

If you go north of the town, cross the bridge to the west and search the gray swamp tile, you'll find the Magic Stone. This item is not required, but you will need it to keep yourself from being killed by Death Adder outright, since his moves can instantly kill you.

PrinceWatercress plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 4 of 7

You have no idea what I had to go through for this. Parts 4 and 5 were supposed to be one whole video, but Maze Forest and the next part of the overworld are so irritating that I had to make more parts for this than I wanted.

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Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

Past the bridge southwest of the town (and west of the exit from the cave) is Maze Forest.

You can fight Neo Barbarians, Bad Brothers and Knights randomly in this part of the overworld.

Maze Forest

Map (by Will Mallia)

The bats will swoop at you from above, so tread slowly. The wolves will jump up from the tree stumps and charge at you.

The werewolf will jump up and down and cause projectiles to drop down from above around it, but you can easily tell where the projectiles are going to drop down from. If you shoulder tackle them while they come down, you can knock them out of the way immediately.

The guards with the spears from Peninsula Tower also show up as enemies here, and they can take out an entire bar's worth of health if they get to you.

The tree to search is the one surrounded by gray land tiles to the west of the Maze Forest exit. By using the Search command on it, you'll find a Fruit. From here, head back to Brookhill.

PrinceWatercress plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 3 of 7

You have no idea how much trouble I had to go through just to get through the Cursed Cave. At this rate, the kid gloves come off.

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Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

Aside from the Skeleton and the Neo Amazon (who you can use the Upper Swing against), you can also face the Bad Bra. (Bad Brother) Keep backing away, and when the Bad Brother execute the shoulder tackle, turn around and whack him, then keep swinging with the Upper Swing and he will go down.

Desert Pyramid

Map (by Will Mallia)

The sand dunes to the south of Sand Marrow are your next destination.

The snakes slowly come after you, while beetles will go in and out of the sand. The Chicken Legs attacks with its tail. There are scorpions that shoot fireballs, too, but you won't be dealing with them at all if you know what to do. Instead of going into the pyramid, go up. You'll find the treasure: a key.

To the west of the pyramid as well as the desert itself is the town of Southwood.

Southwood

Map (by Will Mallia)

You'll hear about a forest on the other side of the nearby cave from the villagers. Another villager, should you have the Key at this point, will tell you that the pattern on the key is also found in the nearby cave. You'll soon find out that you'll need the Key in order to move out to sea and get elsewhere.

In this town's training room, you'll face a Bad Bra. (Bad Brother) Keep backing away, and when the Bad Brother execute the shoulder tackle, turn around and whack him, then keep swinging with the Upper Swing and he will go down. Winning here nets you the Super Swing, which allows you to do more damage by holding Up and pressing 1 while on the ground.

Your next destination is the cave to the west.

Cursed Cave

Map (by Will Mallia)

This cave is the first real test of your ability to play this game, so you need to come in here with full health and with the maximum of 31 vases if you are to have any chance of survival.

The skull heads that tumble down the stairs can easily be destroyed with the Super Swing, while the spiders that shoot four fireballs downwards can easily be downed with the Jump Swing. You can easily avoid the spiders' fireballs if you are directly below them.

Despite its appearance, the green water does not harm you. It also moves you around, so you can use the water to get over the low ceiling in one part to get to the end.

The red hedgehogs attack just like the gray ones.

Holes in the wall shoot slow-moving arrows. Watch out.

If you have one foot off the edge and the other on, you'll have a good chance of clearing gaps where the red hedgehogs will be.

If you need to, use the Thunder magic to clear the screen of enemies and projectiles.

You'll meet the Knight for the first time after you leave the cave. Wait for him to stop and slash at you - which he will fail at miserably. After the slash, walk up just a little bit and execute a Super Swing, then get away. Keep doing this until he falls. You can also see the Neo Barbarian as a normal enemy in these parts.

Northwest of the cave is the town of Brookhill.

Brookhill

Map (by Will Mallia)

You'll hear about the Maze Forest to the south from the villagers, and that you can get lost in there if you're not careful.

The soldier in the middle of town will give you a Compass if you talk to him. Take it.

The inn here costs eight magic vases.

The old man near the training room will tell you to search under a tree far to the west of the Maze Forest.

In this town's training room, you'll face a Knight. If you have faced them before outside of the village, you'll know what to do here. If not, wait for him to stop and slash at you - which he will fail at miserably. After the slash, walk up just a little bit and execute a Super Swing, then get away. Beating the Knight will give you the Tackle. Double-tap left or right to run, then press 1 to perform a shoulder tackle. By learning this move, you'll also learn how to run.

PrinceWatercress plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 2 of 7

In this entry, we get the Crystal from the Peninsula Tower, then summon the giant turtle to get to the desert to the south.

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Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

South of Firewood Village is Turtle Village. You'll want to go there before you do anything else.

Turtle Village

Map (by Will Mallia)

One of the villagers will tell you that if throw the Crystal into the sea, a giant turtle will appear. Another villager will tell you that the turtle has a city on his back.

In the training room for this village, you'll have the Neo Ama. (Neo Amazon) Do not get in close, and slash at her from a distance to win. Just keep standing there and swinging, and you'll win. By winning this battle, you'll learn the Upper Swing. Hold Down on the D-Pad and press 1 to swing upwards. You can only perform this move while crouching, and it is pretty powerful...twice as powerful as your normal swing, as a matter of fact.

You can talk to the Chicken Legs, but all they do is make tweet noises...almost. The one at the northwest corner of the village will tell you about the Crystal if you haven't found it yet, but if you've found it, the Chicken Legs will tell you to throw the Crystal into the sea.

From here, you'll want to go west. You'll find the tower.

Peninsula Tower

Map (by Will Mallia)

The statues will drop down when you walk past them...and they hurt! When they get close, jump back so you don't get stabbed. Hit them with the Upper Swing to get rid of them in one hit. When you beat them, you'll trigger an elevator to the next floor.

On the second floor, you'll meet the ghosts. You will have to wait for them to turn solid before you can hit them with the Upper Swing. (If they have a skeleton head, perform dive bomb attack and make a shrieking noise, they're solid. If you die, you'll be back at the password room of the last village you were in with fewer vases than before.

After beating all the ghosts on the second floor, you'll have to face more statues.

The gray hedgehog just rolls around slowly, and can be hit when they are out of their ball form.

The gray gates that continually raise and lower hurt you even if you run into them while they are down.

The brown jumping guy will throw bombs down that will eventually explode. They throw one near, then throw one a little further. The bombs alternate between landing to the left and to the right in two different spots, and if you can figure the pattern out, you can tell when you need to move in and strike.

The chest at the end contains a Crystal. To take out the bomb throwing guy just before the chest, get next to the wall and just below him, then perform the Upper Swing to take him out.

Go back to town and heal up, and farm for vases if you need to. When you're ready, use the Crystal at the desert tile south of Turtle Village. You'll summon the giant turtle. (Some of the villagers in Turtle Village will tell you this after you get the Crystal, and the Chicken Legs that talks from earlier will tell you flat out to do this.)

Turtle Island

Map (by Will Mallia)

The fish simply jump up and down from the water at the bottom. The dragons will advance towards you and spit out fireballs. The birds that fly by will drop boulders when you are almost exactly below them.

When you reach the end, you'll be able to enter another village.

Sand Marrow

Map (by Will Mallia)

The inn here will cost six vases instead of four.

You'll learn about a treasure in a nearby pyramid from the villagers of Sand Morrow, and that it is located in the nearby Desert of Death.

In this town's training room, you'll face another Skeleton. Compared to the last two training rooms, this is easy, especially if you know how to fight the Skeleton and you use the Upper Swing to do more damage in less time. You'll get the Jump Swing from this one. While jumping, hold Up and press 1 to slash downwards.

PrinceWatercress plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 1 of 7

Here it is: the Golden Axe RPG in all its glory!

Next | End

Long, long ago, the gods gave a gift to mortals. This gift was the Golden Axe. Legends say that the world will bow down to whomever takes the axe in hand. Countless battles took place among mortals to gain possession of the axe. Finally the king became full of sorrow and hid the axe deep in his castle where no one could find it. Peace once again returned to the world.

After many years had passed and the name of the axe as forgotten, an army of evil warriors destroyed the castle and stole the Golden Axe. The peace-loving king called on a young warrior to regain the axe. In doing so, he entrusted the fate of the world to the warrior Guided by love and courage, the warrior started on his lonely journey.

His name was...Ax Battler.

Firewood Castle

Map (by Will Mallia)

The game starts with the evil forces attacking the castle. The King asks his men to summon Ax Battler, the only man who can take ax back. Ax Battler already knows what to do. From here, you're free to move around.

The D-Pad lets you move around, while Button 2 lets you open the command menu (which allows you to talk to people, use items and search nearby) and select one of the three aforementioned options. To close the menu, press Button 1. Pressing Start will allow you to see how much life you have, how many vases you have collected, look at your magic (and how many vases you need to cast a spell) and see what special attacks you have.

The guard to the left of the king mentions a town south of the cave, and another guard to the right of the entrance will say it is to the east. Another NPC will tell you to talk to people in towns, and another still will tell you that there are monsters outside of the castle.

Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

Going through the south end of the castle leads to the overworld. Use the D-Pad to move around. You can access the command window with 2.

If you hear frantic music at any point, that means you have just entered a random battle. During battle, you can move left and right and crouch down with the D-Pad, press 2 to jump, press 1 to attack and Start to use your magic.

The Barbarians will slowly move forward, but you can easily kill them with your sword. Just stand there and keep swinging, and you will easily beat them. By beating enemies, you will be able to get magic vases to power up your spells, and you can see how many items you have in the status screen when you press Start.

Your first destination is the cave to the east.

Spooky Cave

Map (by Will Mallia)

In the cave, you'll be in a side-scrolling mode much like with the random battles on the map. You'll be facing bats, snakes, skeletons and fireball spitting flowers, but they aren't too hard. The flowers will go down in a couple of hits, and as long as you watch where you're going, you'll know when the bats are going to swoop down in an effort to hit you. Enemies will respawn, so if you're forced to backtrack, you'll have to face them all over again.

You're better off getting away from the bats. You'll need to crouch down to hit the snakes. As for the flowers, back off and wait for them to spit projectiles, then move in and strike.

Your health will be in the lower-left hand corner, and as you take damage, the bars will turn from blue to orange to non-existent. When you lose all your bars, the game is over.

When you reach the treasure chest in the cave, you will automatically leave. Inside the chest is a bomb, which you'll need for later.

From the cave, you will want to go southwest to the bridge. Whenever you get on a bridge, you will automatically enter a battle with a random enemy. Skeletons can be pretty powerful, and they will knock you back - and probably out of the battlefield. To avoid this, hit the skeleton, move left so you don't get struck, then turn around and hit it again. Keep moving left and hitting the skeleton after it attacks until it falls. If you miss, the skeleton will leap back, then charge at you. Hit the skeleton during the charge. You'll then need to move left to avoid getting hit again, then move back towards the skeleton after the attack and strike. The skeleton will drop two vases when defeated.

If you get struck by an enemy, you will automatically retreat. 

If you walk onto a bridge, you will automatically trigger an enemy encounter no matter what. Take advantage of this to get practice on enemies and get more magic vases.

From the bridge, stay near the river and head east. When you see sand, go north. You'll find the town that the guards were talking about. Go to the item menu and use the bomb on the mountain to enter the town.

Firewood City

Map (by Will Mallia)

The building with "INN" on it is the inn. The magic vases not only act as magic power, but they also double as currency for the game. By paying for a room, you'll be able to fully replenish your health.

The three magics - earth, thunder and fire - can be casted by pressing Start. You can select your magic while in a town or on the overworld map, but only in those two types of locations. Earth is the weakest, while Fire is the strongest, meaning that the more magic vases a spell costs, the more powerful it will be. Keep in mind that you can only carry a maximum of 31 vases.

The building with "PW" on it is the password room. Going in here and talking to the bunny girl (Japanese bunny girls in a Golden Axe game? Weird...) will give you a password to use when you want to come back from the game. Be sure to carry the password and keep it in a safe place. Thankfully, it is only 16 characters long and split into four sections.

One of the people in town well tell you about a tower to the west, and that you should undergo training before going there.

The building with "TR" on it is a training room. By going in here, you can fight a monster in battle and learn a new ability if you win.

The Neo Bar. (Neo Barbarian) is a nastier version of the Barbarian, and has more health. Thankfully, you can fight him just like you did the Barbarian.

By beating the Neo Barbarian, you'll be able to perform a High Jump. By holding Up on the D-Pad and pressing 2, you can jump higher.

To beat the Amazon, wait for the Amazon to jump towards you, then move forward just a little bit and swing the sword. When you hit her, move forward and swing again. Keep doing this until she dies.

Ax Battler: A Legend Of Golden Axe - The OST

Here's every music track from Ax Battler: A Legend Of Golden Axe.

newfiebangaa plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 4 of 4

The game reaches its proper conclusion as we fight Death Adder once and for all!

Wait, what's that?

Seriously?

Really?!?

You don't say.

Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

After the bridge at the path after the eagle, you'll be able to enter the town of North Valley.

North Valley

Map (by Will Mallia)

An old man in the village will tell you that he lived a long time due to a Magic Stone, but he has lost it somewhere.

For some reason, a few of the villagers know who Ax Battler is. How and why is never really explained.

You'll find out that Death Adder has taken over the area.

In the last training room of the game, you'll face Death Adder again. Beating him gives you the Jump Attack. Hold Down and press 1 while in the air to hit enemies with a downward stab.

A stay at the inn in this village will cost 12 Vases.

If you go north of the town, cross the bridge to the west and search the gray swamp tile, you'll find the Magic Stone. This item is not required, but you will need it to keep yourself from being killed by Death Adder outright, since his moves can instantly kill you.

South of North Valley is the Ice Cliffs.

Snow Slope

Map (by Will Mallia)

The enemies in this area are enemies you've met before, such as the wolves and the snakes.

Keep jumping across the platforms when you see the avalanche so you can get past it. Use the rafts you see afterwards to get across the waterfall. Use the Jump Attack to get rid of any snakes in this part, then run to get past the avalanche.

After this, you'll be taking a path to Death Adder's castle, the final area in the game.

Death Adder's Castle

Map (by Will Mallia)

As you move across the castle, spikes will jut in and out of the floor and ceiling. Be ready to jump to a platform to avoid getting impaled by them, and be ready to attack hedgehogs.

By getting to the end of each room, you will find a mirror that will take you to the next section of the castle.

The platforms with the spikes below them obviously hurt you if you jump into their undersides.

When you reach the area with the red background halfway through, you will want to watch out for arrows shooting out of the right-hand wall as you ride on the platform there. If you need to, get rid of them with your magic.

When you've reached the waterfalls, you're almost there. There will be no spikes behind the waterfalls, so feel free to use them as safe zones.

When you reach the end, you'll finally face Death Adder! Instead of a proper boss battle, Ax Battler defeats Death Adder in one swift blow and the castle blows up in the most anti-climactic ending ever, where Ax Battler takes the Golden Axe and gets on a giant eagle to show that he has brought peace back to the world. Why did we play this game again?

newfiebangaa plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 3 of 4

Can you believe how short this game is?

Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

To the west of the pyramid as well as the desert itself is the town of Southwood.

Southwood

Map (by Will Mallia)

You'll hear about a forest on the other side of the nearby cave from the villagers. Another villager, should you have the Key at this point, will tell you that the pattern on the key is also found in the nearby cave. You'll soon find out that you'll need the Key in order to move out to sea and get elsewhere.

In this town's training room, you'll face a Bad Bra. (Bad Brother) Keep backing away, and when the Bad Brother execute the shoulder tackle, turn around and whack him, then keep repeating the pattern. Winning here nets you the Super Swing, which allows you to do more damage by holding Up and pressing 1 while on the ground.

Your next destination is the cave to the west.

Cursed Cave

Map (by Will Mallia)

The skull heads that tumble down the stairs can easily be destroyed with the Super Swing, while the spiders that shoot four fireballs downwards can easily be downed with the Jump Swing.

Despite its appearance, the green water does not harm you. It also moves you around, so you can use the water to get over the low ceiling in one part to get to the end.

The red hedgehogs attack just like the gray ones.

Holes in the wall shoot slow-moving arrows. Watch out.

You'll meet the Knight for the first time after you leave the cave. Wait for him to stop and slash at you - which he will fail at miserably. After the slash, walk up just a little bit and execute a Super Swing, then get away. Keep doing this until he falls.

Northwest of the cave is the town of Brookhill.

Brookhill

Map (by Will Mallia)

You'll hear about the Maze Forest to the south from the villagers, and that you can get lost in there if you're not careful.

The soldier in the middle of town will give you a Compass if you talk to him. Take it.

The inn here costs eight magic vases.

The old man near the training room will tell you to search under a tree far to the west of the Maze Forest.

In this town's training room, you'll face a Knight. If you have faced them before outside of the village, you'll know what to do here. Beating the Knight will give you the Tackle. Double-tap left or right to run, then press 1 to perform a shoulder tackle. By learning this move, you'll also learn how to run.

Past the bridge southwest of the town (and west of the exit from the cave) is Maze Forest.

Maze Forest

Map (by Will Mallia)

The bats will swoop at you from above, so tread slowly. The wolves will jump up from the tree stumps and charge at you.

The werewolf will jump up and down and cause projectiles to drop down from above around it, but you can easily tell where the projectiles are going to drop down from. If you shoulder tackle them while they come down, you can knock them out of the way immediately.

The tree to search is the one surrounded by gray land titles to the west of the Maze Forest exit. By using the Search command on it, you'll find a Fruit. From here, head back to Brookhill and cross the nearby bridge. (Thankfully, you won't have to go through an action scene when you go back through the Maze Forest again). Follow the path, and you'll end up at Gayn Mountain.

Gayn Mountain

Map (by Will Mallia)

At the beginning, be ready to jump over the boulders that bounce towards you. The lizard that comes out of the wall shoots blue fire at you, but you can easily walk away from him. Use the shoulder tackle to break the wall.

At the waterfall, wait for the log to show up (which takes forever), then keep jumping to the right. The ground will start forming pits at this point; keep going to avoid them as well as the boulders. At the end, you'll take a ride on an eagle and land on the Great Great Eagle.

Great Great Eagle

Map (by Will Mallia)

Defeat the Skeletons that pop out of the ground with the Super Swing. Tread slowly so you can catch them.

At the front of the eagle, drop down and defeat the Chicken Legs, then make your way to the right to cross the bridge and end this area.

The Neo Ske. (Neo Skeleton) will try to attack you with a jumping downward stab. When it leaps up, move away, then turn around and hit it with a Super Swing when it lands.

The Neo Kni. (Neo Knight) is rather fast and will move back and forth. After the fake-out where it goes back, forward and back, execute the Super Swing.

One of the enemies on the path after the Great Great Eagle is D. Adder (Death Adder). Jump straight up over the trail of fire when it travels across the ground, then hit him with a Super Swing when he rears his ax back.

newfiebangaa plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 2 of 4

Our short adventure continues as we trek across a turtle and cross a daunting desert.

Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

Peninsula Tower Map (by Will Mallia)

After beating all the ghosts on the second floor, you'll have to face more statues.

The gray hedgehog just rolls around slowly, and can be hit when they are out of their ball form.

The gray gates that continually raise and lower hurt you even if you run into them while they are down.

The brown jumping guy will throw bombs down that will eventually explode. They throw one near, then throw one a little further.

The chest at the end contains a Crystal.

The next town is southeast of the tower, and while you could have gotten there earlier, you wouldn't have been able to do much.

Turtle Village

Map (by Will Mallia)

One of the villagers will tell you that if throw the Crystal into the sea, a giant turtle will appear. Another villager will tell you that the turtle has a city on his back.

In the training room for this village, you'll have the Neo Ama. (Neo Amazon) Do not get in close, and slash at her from a distance to win. By winning this battle, you'll learn the Upper Swing. Hold Down on the D-Pad and press 1 to swing upwards. You can only perform this move while crouching, and it is pretty powerful.

You can talk to the Chicken Legs, but all they do is make tweet noises...almost. The one at the northwest corner of the village will tell you about the Crystal if you haven't found it yet, but if you've found it, the Chicken Legs will tell you to throw the Crystal into the sea.

When you leave the town, use the Crystal at the desert tile south of Turtle Village. You'll summon the giant turtle.

Turtle Island

Map (by Will Mallia)

The fish simply jump up and down from the water at the bottom. The dragons will advance towards you and spit out fireballs. The birds that fly by will drop boulders when you are almost exactly below them.

When you reach the end, you'll be able to enter another village.

Sand Marrow

Map (by Will Mallia)

The inn here will cost six vases instead of four.

You'll learn about a treasure in a nearby pyramid from the villagers of Sand Morrow, and that it is located in the nearby Desert of Death.

In this town's training room, you'll face another Skeleton. Compared to the last two training rooms, this is easy. You'll get the Jump Swing from this one. While jumping, hold Up and press 1 to slash downwards.

The sand dunes to the south of Sand Marrow are your next destination.

Desert Pyramid

Map (by Will Mallia)

The snakes slowly come after you, while beetles will go in and out of the sand. The Chicken Legs attacks with its tail. There are scorpions that shoot fireballs, too, but you won't be dealing with them at all if you know what to do. Instead of going into the pyramid, go up. You'll find the treasure: a key.

newfiebangaa plays Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe - Part 1 of 4

Here it is: the Golden Axe RPG in all its glory!

Long, long ago, the gods gave a gift to mortals. This gift was the Golden Axe. Legends say that the world will bow down to whomever takes the axe in hand. Countless battles took place among mortals to gain possession of the axe. Finally the king became full of sorrow and hid the axe deep in his castle where no one could find it. Peace once again returned to the world.

After many years had passed and the name of the axe was forgotten, an army of evil warriors destroyed the castle and stole the Golden Axe. The peace-loving king called on a young warrior to regain the axe. In doing so, he entrusted the fate of the world to the warrior. Guided by love and courage, the warrior started on his lonely journey.

His name was...Ax Battler.

Firewood Castle

Map (by Will Mallia)

The game starts with the evil forces attacking the castle. The King asks his men to summon Ax Battler, the only man who can take ax back. Ax Battler already knows what to do. From here, you're free to move around.

The D-Pad lets you move around, while Button 2 lets you open the command menu (which allows you to talk to people, use items and search nearby) and select one of the three aforementioned options. To close the menu, press Button 1. Pressing Start will allow you to see how much life you have, how many vases you have collected, look at your magic (and how many vases you need to cast a spell) and see what special attacks you have.

The guard to the left of the king mentions a town south of the cave, and another guard to the right of the entrance will say it is to the east. Another NPC will tell you to talk to people in towns, and another still will tell you that there are monsters outside of the castle.

Overworld Map (by Will Mallia and Maxim)

Going through the south end of the castle leads to the overworld. Use the D-Pad to move around. You can access the command window with 2.

If you hear frantic music at any point, that means you have just entered a random battle. During battle, you can move left and right and crouch down with the D-Pad, press 2 to jump, press 1 to attack and Start to use your magic.

The Barbarians will slowly move forward, but you can easily kill them with your sword. By beating enemies, you will be able to get magic vases to power up your spells, and you can see how many items you have in the status screen when you press Start.

Your first destination is the cave to the east.

Spooky Cave

Map (by Will Mallia)

In the cave, you'll be in a side-scrolling mode much like with the random battles on the map. You'll be facing bats, snakes, skeletons and fireball spitting flowers, but they aren't too hard. The flowers will go down in a couple of hits, and as long as you watch where you're going, you'll know when the bats are going to swoop down in an effort to hit you. Enemies will re-spawn, so if you're forced to backtrack, you'll have to face them all over again.

Your health will be in the lower-left hand corner, and as you take damage, the bars will turn from blue to orange to non-existent. When you lose all your bars, the game is over.

When you reach the treasure chest in the cave, you will automatically leave. Inside the chest is a bomb, which you'll need for later.

From the cave, you will want to go southwest to the bridge. Whenever you get on a bridge, you will automatically enter a battle with a random enemy. Skeletons can be pretty powerful, and they will knock you back - and probably out of the battlefield. To avoid this, hit the skeleton, move left so you don't get struck, then turn around and hit him again. Keep moving left and hitting the skeleton until it falls.

From the bridge, stay near the river and head east. When you see sand, go north. You'll find the town that the guards were talking about. Go to the item menu and use the bomb on the mountain to enter the town.

Firewood City

Map (by Will Mallia)

The building with "INN" on it is the inn. The magic vases not only act as magic power, but they also double as currency for the game. By paying for a room, you'll be able to fully replenish your health.

The building with "PW" on it is the password room. Going in here and talking to the bunny girl (Japanese bunny girls in a Golden Axe game? Weird...) will give you a password to use when you want to come back from the game. Be sure to carry the password and keep it in a safe place. Thankfully, it is only 16 characters long and split into four sections.

One of the people in town well tell you about a tower to the west, and that you should undergo training before going there.

The building with "TR" on it is a training room. By going in here, you can fight a monster in battle and learn a new ability if you win.

The Neo Bar. (Neo Barbarian) is a nastier version of the Barbarian, and has more health. Move back, then turn around and hit him when he performs a running shoulder tackle.

By beating the Neo Barbarian, you'll be able to perform a High Jump. By holding Up on the D-Pad and pressing 2, you can jump higher.

From here, you want to go back south from the town, then head west when you're able. You'll find the tower.

Peninsula Tower

Map (by Will Mallia)

The statues will drop down when you walk past them...and they hurt! When they get close, jump back so you don't get stabbed. When you beat them, you'll trigger an elevator to the next floor.

On the second floor, you'll meet the ghosts. You will have to wait for them to turn solid before you can hit them. (If they have a skeleton head, perform a dive bomb attack and make a shrieking noise, they're solid.) If you die, you'll be back at the password room of the last village you were in with fewer vases than before.