If you were an arcade gamer in the late 80s or early 90s (or even a Pizzeria gamer), then the name Golden Axe will hold a fond place in your heart. Much like Vigilante, Golden Axe was one of the most notable arcade beat 'em up games. To this day I remember losing an endless amount of my mom's quarters playing that game. Golden Axe and Golden Axe II hit the Sega home consoles and they were instant buys for arcade vagabonds like myself. While Golden Axe II didn't offer much of an upgrade from its predecessor, it still had a few gameplay nuances that made it worth playing - a lot. Now, Golden Axe II is available on iOS as part of Sega's continuing effort to remind gamers about the Golden Age of Sega.

Golden Axe II has a fairly simple story, befitting of the era it was originally released in. I could talk about the Lord of Darkness, Dark Guld, who has risen once again. Or, I could let you know that Guld has the infamous Golden Axe; he is planning on wreaking terror on the world with his evil clan of minions and undead warriors.

I could tell you all these things and more, but if you're picking up Golden Axe II chances are you already played it. The only difference is that now you're using a touch screen instead of a control pad. Also, unlike Sonic Spinball or Altered Beast, you can navigate around the screen in full view with the A, B and C buttons lying on the right side of the screen. In the Spinball and Altered Beast, it was preferable to switch to a smaller screen view so that you could see and move about the entire game screen without your thumb getting in the way. The way the action works in Golden Axe, you will stay in the middle of the screen for most of the fighting so you can get by in full screen view.

Now, that the core difference is out of the way, the remainder of this review is going to go in a slightly different direction. Instead, let's just talk about why this game was so awesome to play in the arcade.

Stealing Meat and Magic
There's something awesome about laying waste to endless monsters and undead creatures with your axe or sword (depending on if you played with Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, or Gilius Thunderhead). However, what's even more awesome is that Golden Axe and Golden Axe II both had these little gnome-like creatures that you would hack and slash for items. They never died. You could stab and slash them endless times or use your magic items on them and they would just drop pieces of meat or magic outside of their goodie bag. What was even better was playing this game with more than one player. If you worked as a team, you would tell your partner, "You grab the meat" or say "I'm out of magic, let me grab that." Then you'd get angry when they accidentally took the meat or magic up anyway.

Jumping on the backs of Giant Lizards with Beaks
What the heck were those giant lizard creatures in Golden Axe? Nobody really knew, but it was a great time knocking an undead rider off its lizard and taking it. Lizard-jacking is now banned in several states. Sometimes you got a cool lizard that breathed fire. At other times, there were useless lizards that only turned around to whip their enemy with a tail attack. This would have been great if they turned back around, but instead it left you with an open weak spot if there were two enemies in that direction.

Hack 'n Slash and MAGIC
In Golden Axe II, gamers could jump and slash enemies by turning left and right in mid-air. It may sound like nothing major, but it was a major step up from its predecessor. However, the greatest Golden Axe joy was letting loose your magic. If you're entire magic meter was filled up, you could unleash hurricanes or explosions against all the enemies on the board. This was even cooler because your character stuck his weapon up in the air like He-Man. Sadly, none of the characters said, "By the power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWER!"

So, there you have it. Golden Axe II is back and on the iPhone and Touch for $2.99.

Final Grade: B+