Golden Axe III

The fourth and final game I conquered today was Golden Axe III. I don't have much to say about this one. I loved (on a relative Sega Genesis scale) the first installment of this series and thought the second one lost some of the charm and appeal of the first one. This time around? Almost entirely unplayable. Golden Axe III somehow felt clunkier and slower and graphically inferior to the first two games. That doesn't make sense to me, but then, if there's one thing this Genesis project has taught me, it's that the video game industry outside of Nintendo was a scattered mess of arcade game ports and half-baked ideas running on the same gameplay engines as previous half-baked ideas. "This guy attacks people with his severed head!" "This game's levels are pages of a comic book!" 

I was worried I was going crazy - how could the third game in a trilogy look and feel completely inferior to the first game in a trilogy? - but I'll leave you with some pull quotes I found that offer me some reassurance. Take care everyone.

"Sega of Japan is not going to release this title here in the States - and for good reasons! The graphics are by far some of the most plain looking on the Mega Drive. Plus, the new magic effects aren't as impressive as before. So, if you are considering purchasing this title from an overseas seller, don't waste your bucks!" -Electronic Gaming Monthly

"Legend has it that SEGA thought the quality of the product was so low, that it would be worthless or, worse, damaging to even publish the game in the States. And whether or not that's actually true, the quality assessment at its heart is on target – because Golden Axe III is certainly the worst of its franchise trilogy." -IGN

Ecco: The Tides of Time
Ecco the Dolphin
Arrow Flash
Golden Axe
Alien Storm
Virtua Fighter 2
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Streets of Rage 3
Gain Ground
Streets of Rage 2
Golden Axe II
DecapAttack
Comix Zone
Vectorman 2
Vectorman
Streets of Rage
Chakan: The Forever Man
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
The Ooze
Columns III
Columns
Crack Down
Golden Axe III
Altered Beast
Bonanza Brothers