Oh, man! Today's Retro Rewind goes out to one of my all-time faves, Legendary Axe - and before we go any further, can I stress that this is the ULTIMATE name for a videogame cover band? Please? Can some one use this? I mean we have "the NESkimo's" but not "The Legendary Axe?" Am I the only brilliant person on this whole godforsaken, empty-hearted planet? It would seem so.
Right! Well, this game still blows me away, to this day. I first saw it prior to it's stateside release at a pre-launch event for the Turbografx-16 in 1989, it had released in Japan a year earlier. Basically it's just another Rastan/Rygar styled spinoff, half-naked Conan dude jumping through the woods killing mosters and trying to save his chick. That's all you need really.
I saw this game and my mind raced. It looked as good as an arcade game, it sounded WAY BETTER than an arcade game, it was difficult, it was fun. It was dripping with character.. I wasn't the sort who usually went for this theme, but when the game developers infused so much love and affection into their product, it was hard to ignore.
Another game that might not look too hot in the dinky screenshots, but I loved it. Videogames and Comptuer Entertainment crowned it Game of the Year over everyone else's favorite Ghouls 'n Ghosts (the Capcom title that launched with the more powerful Sega Genesis) - but hey, it was a close match. Fair enough. And I still haven't beat this game!
Never had a Turbo when I was a kid (sigh, one could only own so many system on a grocery bagger's wages) but I was sure to pick it up, umm, 20 years later. Still get a kick out of it, to this day. When I find some time, I am gonna hand Jagu his ASS.
A side note, I was pretty excited to see a similar title announced for the Genesis - Dando, or Vasum in Japan - it looked like a cross between this and Zelda II:The Adventure of Link. Are you kidding me?? My 15-year-old self was pretty high at that thought. Game never released after all, but geez...
Great, now you give me the title.
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