Another Golden Axe Discovery
While taking screenshots for the last entry, I tried out every version of Golden Axe supported by MAME, just for the hell of it. I was half-hoping to find the rumored bootleg edition that had been hacked so that enemies spurt blood and collapse into a pile of gore when killed.
Sadly, the Rated M for Mature version of Golden Axe doesn’t seem to exist. As Hardcore Gaming 101 notes, the closest we got to such a thing was the Japanese release, which — you may want to sit down for this — has blood dripping from the words “Select Player” on the character selection screen.
Daaaaamn.
After letting the game loop through its attract mode a couple of times, though, I discovered another difference that HG101 didn’t catch. This delightful little vignette is exclusive to the Set 4, Japan version of Golden Axe, and is not found in any other official release:
(Please send your children out of the room before clicking through.)
Jesus, Ax Battler! Jesus!
Aaaaah!
May 15th, 2010 at 3:10 am
I think I would’ve enjoyed Golden Axe even more if you could randomly decapitate your foes.
Maybe the designers of Golden Axe were originally planning to make the game more gory and gruesome, and then Sega told them to tone it down?
May 15th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Sega toning it down back in the 90’s? That kinda breaks my heart. It’s kinda like being told Santa is a pedophile. I guess Midway is where the balls were at back then.
October 27th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Awesome find, I’ll have to update the article. :)
November 6th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Here’s a surprise: you know that Golden Axe compilation Sega released a few months ago on Xbox LIVE Arcade?
The Japanese ROM included on it is in fact this one, and they even kept the decapitation! In all releases!
October 9th, 2019 at 4:39 am
?Je suis s?r que nous aurons l’occasion de parler d’autres, et je suis s?r qu’il va parler à d’autres.