Does anyone rate TG16's Legendary Axe and Sequel?

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

I have LA2 and I really enjoy it. The first is on my to get list.

[tomaitheous]

I'm going to start using a new term here. Slash 'n Run. Just like run 'n gun, but sword/slash play. You know, kill the enemy as fast as you can, move on to the next target. Do a little platforming here and there. Keep the movement of the characters fast and the pace of the level the same. Ala.. Slash 'n Run.

LA2 is all Slash 'n Run. LA1 in comparison is not. That's the biggest difference between the games. LA1 is slow moving/pacing. The character reflects this. Combat is based on strategy of place and timed attacks and reactive dodging, etc. The powerup/recharge of the weapon heavily plays into this. Bosses are an exact extension of this type of combat. You don't blow through this game. Even on the platforming parts.

LA2 is the exact opposite of LA1. In combat, in pacing, in platforming and in boss fighting. The graphic style, the dark atmosphere, the types of enemies, even the mood of the music.

LA1 was very interesting and unique for its time, IMO. And maybe that's what people see in it. "The Astyanax" arcade and Famicom game came out after LA came out, for the record. LA1 gameplay, design, and graphics feels like a mix between an Amiga game and a Japanese game IMO. LA2 is pure traditional Japanese style arcade gameplay. And I love the dark colors in that game. I think it pulls it off rather well. My only complaint is the lack of more detail in the backgrounds, but given it's an earlier hucard - it's a little easier to over look. It's only a 2megabit game. Would have been nice if it was 3 or 4megabits. I love the bosses in the game too. The creep possed spinning doll. The little demon with the giant ball chain, etc. Even the goofy looking first boss.

The graphics kind of fit the Turbografx BITD. When this game was released, there were quite a few TG16 titles with darker colors. Dungeon Explorer, Double Dungeons, Blazing Lasers. Even games that weren't as dark, still seemed to fit within the style - like JJ and Jeff (the colors overall are darker) and Ninja Spirit. A bunch of PCE hucards use dark-ish colors as well. Little bit hard to describe.

[Joe Redifer]

Legendary Axe 2 wins, I think... especially in music. I turn both games off the second I die. I do not like being set back and having all of my power taken away. I could live with the setting back if all of my hard-earned leveling was left intact. This makes LA1 a chore to play. Only fun until you die.

Moving thread.

[Kamahl]

Hehe, I also think DE, DD and Ninja Spirit look like crap

The bosses in LD(LA2) are disgusting/frightening in an awesome way that's for sure.

I really don't like to treat them as two games in the same series, they're completely different.

[Joe Redifer]

Who cares? Wonder Boy in Monster Land is just as different from Wonder Boy if not even more so and nobody gives a care.

[tomaitheous]

Hehe, I also think DE, DD and Ninja Spirit look like crap

.... ಠ_ಠ .... them is fightin' words!

[Zoltor]

Who cares? Wonder Boy in Monster Land is just as different from Wonder Boy if not even more so and nobody gives a care.

The same can be said about a lot of things(unless the game was marketed as a true sequal, people shouldn't hold it against the game, as long as It's good anyway).


Look how amazing Sonic CD, Link, SA2, Gauntlet Legends, SMB2, Tactic's Ogre: Knight of Lodis and exc are. They are nothing like the original games, yet damn they are some of the best games.

[Curryman123]

Ninja spirit looks anything but crap, see it through Duo-R Av cable in appropriate TV set, it looks very sharp.

[sketch]

Personally, I loved the graphics in LA2. They have a more creepy, serious atmosphere than the first, which have a typical, 16-bit "barbarian hack'n'slash" feel to them. That's not to say LA has bad graphics, just that they were fairly typical good graphics. LA2 has a unique feel that I've always loved.

I feel level design in LA2 is excellent as well, and the difficulty ramps up nicely. It's no cakewalk. It has a unique feel, nice graphics, good level design and difficulty, and fun gameplay. Next to Gate of Thunder, it's the game I put the most time into back when I had a Duo (which I miss a lot, but I won't pay the crazy prices on ebay for the system or the games to get my collection back).

[Kamahl]

The difficulty and level progression is a lot better on LA2, no doubt about it.

People really shouldn't take my comments on what looks like crap very seriously , I have very strange tastes.

[sketch]

The difficulty and level progression is a lot better on LA2, no doubt about it.

People really shouldn't take my comments on what looks like crap very seriously , I have very strange tastes.

Heh; I like the look of Ninja Spirit, but the strength of that game was the gameplay. A fun ninja game with some unique weapons and power-ups. I beat this game a number of times (and I rarely replay games I've beaten)...

[Curryman123]

Games that look like crap-
energy

nuff said

[A Black Falcon]

Legendary Axe... eh, it's okay, but I dopn't love it. I've never really liked charge-meter battle systems like that, Astyanax, or Secret of mana... Legendary Axe is okay, but I like other things more. I have only played maybe halfway through at most though, never stuck with it.

I really don't understand why they didn't make a 'proper' sequel to LA1.

If you like Legendary Axe, have you played the arcade and NES versions of Astyanax? The game came out a year after Legendary Axe, and though it's from a different studio and publisher, the lead designer if the same guy who did the first Legendary Axe. You can tell, because the game design is quite similar -- you have a weapon with a charge meter where you have to wait a while between attacks to attack at full power, a large character sprite, etc. I find the NES version a little mediocre, but it's alright. It is a lot like Legendary Axe. The arcade game's different from the NES one, but supposedly it's also at least decent.

Most likely the best 1st gen game for TG16.

Legendary Axe was a 1988 game in Japan, and the PCE game out in '87... maybe it's first gen, depends on how you count things. And sure, it's good, but it's not better than R-Type, and both parts of PCE R-Type were released in Japan before Legendary Axe. Also, I think Keith Courage's kind of good... a lot of people seem to really dislike it, but it's a fun game. It's not great, but it's some fun.

If I had to choose though, I'd say Blazing Lazers should have been the pack in, if possible. (That was an '89 release in Japan too)

[runinruder]

I think some of the first Axe's backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous (level 4C's especially), and I also love its soundtrack--very inspirational at times and pretty ominous at others. And like Kamahl said, smashing something with the full-power axe is a blast.

I love Axe 2 for how brooding and somber it is--very unique for an old-school action game. And as Tom alluded to, the ending is awesome.

Incidentally, in Japan, Ankoku Densetsu (LA2) was indeed advertised and treated by publications as a follow-up to Makyou Densetsu (LA1).

Anyone interested in playing something more in the spirit of MD/Axe1 should check out ICOM's Shape Shifter.

[Alianger]

Only played the first, but it was pretty meh except for the distinctive art direction. Too bad they changed that for the sequel. Rating.. well, 6/10 seems about right.