Golden Axe CD

[Black Tiger]

I guess a lot of people didn't like it so much because it is very different than the first two GA games. It does have a different BG style with a lot of moving parallax.  It plays really different as well from the moves, control etc.... Also, GA3 never made it to the US other than the SEGA Channel. I played it on the Genesis Collection for PS2 and enjoyed it somewhat, but not nearly as much as GA 1 and 2. I still like to play my 4-in-1 Sega CD Classics Collection with SOR 1, GA 1, Columns, and Revenge of Shinobi.

I didn't realize that it was on the Sega Genesis Collection. I'm going to have to try it out now.

[ceti alpha]

Rastan, in any incarnation, sucks. A lot. I will not have Rastan bullshit polluting my GA thread.

LMFAO!! 

[Joe Redifer]

Here is the Golden Axe 3 tune.  I think it is an OverClocked ReMix arrangement, but I don't know who did it.  Gets a bit lame with the synth-sax after about halfway through, but gets better again.
http://www.joeredifer.com/crap/Golden_Axe_III_-_Beat_the_Beat.mp3
- 3.36MB

[ceti alpha]

Gets a bit lame with the synth-sax after about halfway through

haha. Gotta love the cheesy midi synth sax. 

[spenoza]

Golden Axe 3 is a little cheap. The timing on the jump attack is a little odd but the enemies get it right every time. Fun game, but meaner than the earlier ones.

[nat]

I got the jump attack down pretty good yesterday.

[spenoza]

I think it's just that the female character isn't as good as in previous games.

[Kitsunexus]

I think it's just that the female character isn't as good as in previous games.

She has actual physics modelling (after your mom).

[spenoza]

I'm not sure I want my mom to be that hot (or pixellated).

[OldTurboBastard]

Multiplayer was removed because due to system limitations at the time, the system could only hold one player. The second player would have to stream directly from disc, and considering 90's console CD access times, it would be unplayable and thus was scrapped.

This of course is 100% bullshit but sounds more logical than anything anyone else has put out so far.

Its probably as simple as the console could'nt handle the extra sprites.

[spenoza]

It couldn't handle them loading them from CD where it could loading them from cartridge? Nope, that ain't it. Try again. I think it was just laziness on the part of the programmers, either that or limitations in how much game data they could store in system RAM at any given time.

[OldTurboBastard]

It couldn't handle them loading them from CD where it could loading them from cartridge? Nope, that ain't it. Try again. I think it was just laziness on the part of the programmers, either that or limitations in how much game data they could store in system RAM at any given time.

Actually, What I'm refering to is the maximum of 64 on-screen sprites that the turbo GPU can handle simultaneously. I don't think the transfer of data from media to RAM has much to do with it - the GPU could'nt handle the sprites regardless of whether the data for them could be stored in RAM.  The turbo could handle larger sprites, but not as many as the genesis (which I believe could handle 80 smaller sprites).  Hence the two player mode on the Genesis port. Could it be that the hardware just could'nt handle it on our beloved turbo??? GASP!!!

Programmers get "lazy" when hardware limitations make things difficult to pull off..... If i have to come up with some ingenious algorithm every time I want to get around the hardware limits i am gonna be less likely to do it. Having said that i've seen the golden axe port and i'm sure a better job could have been done on the PC engine port. Two Players??? I'm sure it could have been done by sacrificing other in game sprites or using some other compromising method.

[Joe Redifer]

Hence the two player mode on the Genesis port.

But not the Sega CD version of the same game, which is what we're trying to figure out.

[nat]

It couldn't handle them loading them from CD where it could loading them from cartridge? Nope, that ain't it. Try again. I think it was just laziness on the part of the programmers, either that or limitations in how much game data they could store in system RAM at any given time.

Actually, What I'm refering to is the maximum of 64 on-screen sprites that the turbo GPU can handle simultaneously. I don't think the transfer of data from media to RAM has much to do with it - the GPU could'nt handle the sprites regardless of whether the data for them could be stored in RAM.  The turbo could handle larger sprites, but not as many as the genesis (which I believe could handle 80 smaller sprites).  Hence the two player mode on the Genesis port. Could it be that the hardware just could'nt handle it on our beloved turbo??? GASP!!!

Programmers get "lazy" when hardware limitations make things difficult to pull off..... If i have to come up with some ingenious algorithm every time I want to get around the hardware limits i am gonna be less likely to do it. Having said that i've seen the golden axe port and i'm sure a better job could have been done on the PC engine port. Two Players??? I'm sure it could have been done by sacrificing other in game sprites or using some other compromising method.

You're nuts. I remember this shit from the Genesis vs. Turbo thread a few months back. You have some whacky preconceptions about the Turbo hardware.

Golden Axe barely has any sprites on screen at all at any given time. Not even close to the limit. The Turbo is fully competent to handle a few sprites in a two-player version of Golden Axe with plenty to spare. One more wouldn't make an ounce of difference. If you think this is due to some inherent hardware limitation, you're living in la-la land.

I think the "laziness" in the case of the Turbo version is just that-- pure laziness. When you see how lazy they were with the in-game graphics, it's no small wonder.

It's a much bigger mystery why the SEGA CD version of the game lacks the two-player mode, considering a 2 player version of the game had already been created for the system. Laziness was obviously not the issue-- it would take far more work to remove the 2 player functionality than to just leave it in.

[Black Tiger]

You're nuts. I remember this shit from the Genesis vs. Turbo thread a few months back. You have some whacky preconceptions about the Turbo hardware.

Golden Axe barely has any sprites on screen at all at any given time. Not even close to the limit. The Turbo is fully competent to handle a few sprites in a two-player version of Golden Axe with plenty to spare. One more wouldn't make an ounce of difference. If you think this is due to some inherent hardware limitation, you're living in la-la land.

Although anyone familiar with a few Turbo/PCE games should know that Golden Axe would not be a challenge sprite-wise, a good example would be Riot Zone, another 2 player beat 'em up.