The Legendary Axe II - PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 Review

That's a weird looking axe. It's as if it can't decide what
it is. Am I an axe or a sword? I'll be both.

Game: The Legendary Axe II
Format: PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16
Developer/Publisher: Victor Interactive Software/NEC
Year Released: 1990
Also released on: Nothing

Now available on: Nothing

In a land dominated by home microcomputers back in the 1980s, it took a while for the console gaming market to really take off in the UK, and indeed over in the rest of Europe. Although Atari, Mattel and Coleco had all had a European presence since the dawn of the console industry, their machines were never really a threat to the mega-popular computers from Sinclair, Commodore, Amstrad and Acorn. It was only towards the end of the decade that things began to change. The Sega Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System both began to take some slices out of the home gaming pie as console sales started to pick up. Not wanting to share the market that they still dominated, Amstrad and Commodore attempted to release console-ised versions of their computers, the doomed Amstrad GX4000 and the equally ill-fated Commodore 64GS. For a variety of reasons, nobody was interested in them. Instead, they were looking to the future, to new more powerful consoles that were making their way from foreign lands in the East: the Sega Mega Drive, the Super Famicom, and the PC Engine.

Except, it seemed, that the manufacturers of these new machines of wonder weren't in any rush to get them over to Europe. After Europe had all but shunned consoles for much of the eighties, it seemed that Europe would remain at the back of the queue to get the shiny new machines. Sega and Nintendo held off launching their new machines for quite a while. The Sega Mega Drive finally made it to Europe in Autumn 1990, two years after its initial Japanese release, and the Super Nintendo didn't make it here until Spring 1992, almost two years after its release in Japan as the Super Famicom. But what about the PC Engine? Well, it appears that NEC, the company behind the tiny little console, weren't really that interested in the the European market at all, and didn't even release it over here. There was apparently a PAL version manufactured and distributed in very small quantities, but it hardly counts as an official release. Nope, if you wanted to play the PC Engine in Europe, you had to import one. So, why was this continent overlooked by NEC? And what did we miss?

The PC Engine was NEC's first console, and it was in their home market that they initially partook in battle. The console was released in 1987, and their first opponent was Nintendo. The 8-bit Famicom (NES for westerners) had dominated in Japan for a few years by then, but was beginning to look old. Well, it had always looked old. The PC Engine, despite also technically being an 8-bit console, played more like a 16-bit machine and got off to a great start, eating into some of Nintendo's share of the market. In its home market, the PC Engine even outsold the Mega Drive, released the following year. Nintendo would claw back some of its portion of the market with the release of the Super Famicom in 1990, while Sega were never able to overcome either, remaining in third place in Japan. 

Just as Nintendo had done with the Famicom a few years earlier, NEC wanted to take their new console over to America. Having had a successful stab a denting Nintendo's profits in Japan, NEC presumably thought they could do the same thing in the USA and decided to release their console there. However, Sega had similar plans, and they weren't going to let NEC get a head start this time. Both NEC and Sega released their renamed consoles, the TurboGrafx-16 and the Genesis, in America at about the same time. Sega already had a presence in America with their Master System console, but seeing as it only had a piddly percentage of the market, it hardly gave them any real advantage at all over NEC. What did give Sega the advantage though was a great marketing campaign. Sega's strategy seemed to be about demonstrating what the Genesis could do that its competitors couldn't, specifically Nintendo but they took shots at NEC too. As far as technology goes, the Genesis was clearly superior, and their marketing showed this. They were also keen to tap into a more mature market. The kids that had grown up with Nintendo consoles were now teenagers, and wanted something more edgy, more cool, not something for children. The Genesis was that console, not the Nintendo Entertainment System and not the TurboGrafx-16. Genesis had the sports licenses, the best arcade game conversions, and some unique original games were on their way too: Moonwalker, Castle of Illusion, Dick Tracy and of course a certain blue hedgehog. It was Sega, not NEC, that robbed Nintendo of a large chunk of their user base, and the market was split pretty much equally between Sega and Nintendo once the SNES arrived on the scene for the next few years.

Having had little success in the USA, it's probably likely that NEC took a look a Europe and decided not to bother. The PC Engine's release in Europe was rumoured to be around the time of the launch of the Mega Drive, and NEC probably expected to face the same issues when battling Sega in Europe. Probably even worse, seeing as Sega already had a success on their hands with the Master System in Europe. Sega had a more powerful console on its way, plus an already-established fan base.

Now, had NEC decided to release the PC Engine in Europe in 1989, at a price of around £99, things may just have been very different. The PC Engine did get coverage in the European gaming media, just as the Mega Drive did, as an import device, and probably in anticipation of an official launch in the not-too-distant future. So video gaming fans had an awareness of its existence. It was seen as part of the new generation of consoles, more powerful than anything currently available. A head start over the Mega Drive would have made it the only console available of the new generation. And even when the Mega Drive launched, it's possible that gamers would have stuck by it. Europeans are known for their loyalty to comparatively underpowered machines. The ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Sega Master System all managed to maintain support well into the 1990s, years after the technology in them was ancient. The PC Engine may just have been another console that Europeans took to their hearts, and loved and supported. But we never had the chance to love and support it. Instead we had the now-legendary battle between the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo. But how different could that have been if the PC Engine was involved in it too? Sadly, we'll never know. Europeans never really got the opportunity at the time to experience PC Engine games for themselves. This has changed in recent years. Many PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 games finally made their official European debuts on the Wii's Virtual Console service, and can still be purchased for however long the service continues. And of course, there is always emulation. Dodgy as it may be, it really is the only way to play PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 games, games not available on the Wii and that would otherwise be lost to history. And as a console that failed to make it into Europe, it has a library of games that remain undiscovered by many people, including myself. So, to right these wrongs, I've decided to explore some of the console's games, in the hope of finding some hidden gems.

He's got a good pair of gnashers. Could do with some
whitening toothpaste though.

First up, and representing a pretty good discovery straight away, is The Legendary Axe II. The Legendary Axe II is, as you've probably guessed, the sequel to The Legendary Axe. It's a sequel in name only though, as the two games are very different to each other. Some say that Legendary Axe II wasn't even developed as a sequel, it was a completely unique game that later became Legendary Axe II, probably as a way of making the most of the success of the first game. Regardless of whether or not it was developed as a true sequel, it is very different. I haven't played the first game, but from what I've seen and read about it, its tone is nowhere near as dark and depressing as that of its sequel. And it plays differently too. And the first game actually has a legendary axe in it. The Legendary Axe II does include an axe, but it's one of three main weapons, and probably the worst of those three.

Prince Sirius shows blue-haired bloke and red-haired chick his new sex toy.

Ow! My head! And why have I got a sword through my hand?

The story behind the game, as played out on screen before your very eyes just before you begin your adventure, is that the evil Prince Zach has claimed the throne after the death of his father, King, er, um, Phil. You play the part of his better behaved brother, Prince Sirius, and must hack and slash your way through a series of side scrolling levels, to dethrone Zach. take charge of the Kingdom and run it in a goodly manner. I think that's the plot anyway.

After watching the story unfold, you get on your way. You start off with a sword, and can collect items that defeated nasties leave behind to enhance its power, or other weapons if you feel like a change. As well as the axe mentioned earlier, there is also a morning star, whatever one of those is. A ball and chain I think. The sword is a pretty good all rounder, and is probably the weapon you'll use the most. The morning star has a good range and can attack in multiple directions. but isn't very strong. And the not-so-legendary axe is quite powerful, but has a short range, so isn't particularly brilliant. Other collectibles include bombs which when detonated, destroy everything on screen. These are usually most handy for the end of level bosses, but you don't really need to use them until later on in the game, so it's best just to save them up. You can also collect stars, moons and suns, which either give your energy meter a boost, fill it up to full fullness, or give you an extra life.

The thing behind the wall wants to get out. Not sure how he got there, and why his head and leg seems to be mispositioned.

There's nothing more annoying than treading in gum. Is
it yours? I'll whack you over the head with my axe if so.

Prince Sirius moves well to your commands, jumps fairly high and carries out your attacking wishes satisfactorily. He's not one of those characters that goes slipping and sliding off platforms and suchlike, and when he gets attacked, he doesn't get pushed around like whatshisface from Castlevania. He'll not be frustrating you at all, which is a good thing in a game like this. Enemies are also not frustrating either. They are plentiful, but the fight against them is always fair. The game moves along at a nippy pace too - it's not a plodding affair.

The Legendary Axe II is a dark dark game. Not just in graphics, but in tone. It just feels sombre, threatening, depressing, oppressive and menacing. It's not the sort of game you'd play if you need cheering up. You'll play through some very dark, and often quite bizarre, levels. One level has a skeleton trapped behind the wall in the background, trying to escape through gaps in it, another sees you jumping from a platform of skulls to another platform of skulls. There is a level where you descend deeper and deeper through caverns of slime-covered walls. End of level bosses are equally as odd. One is a midget swinging a massive ball at you, another is a what appears to be a doll or young girl who splits into other young girls and then transforms into standard enemies from the game. In contrast to everything that has gone before, you end the game in some sort of futuristic maze. Rather than being attacked by the undead, your foes are robots. Finding your way through the maze is quite a challenge, and once you've managed it, you're faced with a rather tough end of game boss. Even the ending will baffle you. When you've completed the game and just as you take your seat on the throne, a woman appears to fly at you out of the blue with some malicious intent. Before you know what's going on, the end credits begin. If you play the Japanese version, she appears to have forgotten to put her clothes on too.  

Balls

I offered to babysit, and then the kids went all weird on me.
Never again.

Graphics in this game aren't particularly amazing, but they do get better as you progress through the game. Characters and other sprites are well animated and some of the end of level baddies are stunning. They definitely do the job though and portray the game's tone fantastically. Music is good too, definitely suiting the style of game, with melancholy organ-style melodies playing throughout.

The game does throw a good challenge at you but is beatable. It is similar in style to games like Castlevania, but isn't as ridiculously tough and unfair as that. However, it seems to lack Castlevania's charm and probably isn't something you'll want to come back to soon after completing it. The feeling of dread that characterises it isn't always going to appeal to somebody looking for a quick game to play. But it's fun nevertheless and is a good example of a game that us Europeans were deprived of. Shame on you NEC. Why did you spare us from such joys? Humph!

Ever wondered what Big Bird would look like without his feathers? Well wonder no more.

Prince Sirius has a rather odd looking toilet in his house.
The eye is actually the flusher, and a finger on the left hand
holds the toilet roll.

RATINGS

Presentation: 70%

A simple main screen, no options to speak of, but the game begins with a short intro giving a bit of background to why you are doing what you do.

Graphics: 78%

Dark, dull, depressing, but in a good way. Great if you like the colours grey and brown. Animation is good, and end of level baddies are great.  

Sound: 75%

Atmospheric tunes and suitable sound effects. 
Playability: 80%
Instantly enjoyable and stays entertaining throughout, although you probably need to be in the right mood to want to play it. Throws a good challenge at you but never feels unfair.
Overall: 78%
A surreal, creepy little game, well worth seeking out if you have a PC Engine or TurboGrafx-16. 

BONUS SCREENSHOTS
Seeing as I spent most of this review going on about the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 and why it didn't make its way to Europe and not the game itself, I've got a few left over screenshots of the game. It's a shame to waste them, so here they are:

It might look like Prince Sirius has just knocked out that nasty, but he actually fell over the rock on the floor. Sirius is
actually levitating for no apparent reason.

Stop it! That tickles!

Parp!

I really don't know what to say here. Except, why doesn't Prince Sirius wear many clothes. I'm sure
most royal types don't wander around semi-naked. At least I hope not. Urgh! Prince Charles in his undies.

Achoo! Yes, that's snake snot there.

Parp! 

Roboman gives Sirius the finger. Bad Roboman.

Sirius camply scarpers with one of Pat Butcher's earrings.

Still scarpering, still with Pat's earring. But in a disco where only one light works.

Sirius meets Zach, his evil brother, sitting atop a, um, don't know what.

When toilets attack

After defeating Zach, Sirius takes his place on top of whatever it is. All of a sudden, a lady launches
herself at him. What happens next? Who knows?

The Legendary Axe II - The Video

Oh yes, as a special reward for getting your way through this review, you can watch the game in action from start to finish. Enjoy!

Conversion Comparisons - Number One: Pac-Land

The Arcade Version's title screen. Thrilling!

Once upon a time a range of computers and consoles happily co-existed. They were all completely different to each other, each with their unique strengths and weaknesses and numerous quirks. Developers had to write code specific to each system, to enable their programs to take advantage of the respective platform's features and capabilities. This meant that one game could look and play completely differently on one machine to the next. The differences could be slight, or they could be massive. This situation gave fuel to the playground arguments about which system was best. And, er, I'm boring myself now. Basically, this section, named "Conversion Comparisons" will pick a game and look at how it fared when converted from its original platform. We start with Pac-Land.

Pac-Man jumps over a car driven by a pink ghost. As you do.

Pac-Land was one of the first true side-scrolling platform games, and was released in 1984 by Namco. It was a sequel to Pac-Man and took much of its inspiration from the Pac-Man cartoon. The general idea was to get Pac-Man from one end of the Pac-Land to another, collect a pair of magic boots from a fairy, and then go back home. And then, a little later in the day, do the same thing again. I'm not sure if the objective was for Pac-Man to obtain as many magic boots as possible for the Pac Family to hoard, but it seems plausible enough. Making Pac-Man's journey slightly more difficult were the ghosts, intent on attacking him from all angles and in all kinds of vehicles and disguises.  Pac-Man can only attack them after popping a power pill - otherwise he can only avoid them. Other hazards include seemingly endless bodies of water, collapsing bridges and bottomless pits. The return journey was easier than the outward journey as the magic boots gave Pac-Man the ability to float. Kind of. Pac-Land featured colourful levels, cartoony visuals (impressive for the time) and the theme tune playing constantly with accompanying sound effects. They all complimented each other perfectly, and the game, although simple, was fun and addictive and rewarded skilful playing.

Pac-Land was converted to many of the major platforms during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Here is a summary of some of the conversions from worst to best.

Title on Sir Lord Alan Sugar's compy.

1. WORST VERSION: Amstrad CPC - The Amstrad version features full colour graphics (very pink though) and plays fairly closely to the Spectrum version, which will appear in this list in the not-too-distant future. It has a good rendition of the theme tune but suffers from a couple of major flaws: unresponsive controls and no side-scrolling graphics. The problem with the game not having side-scrolling graphics is that sometimes an enemy will enter the screen from the right just as you're about to exit it. The unresponsive controls mean that avoiding this enemy is impossible. In other instances, making a split-second change of mind is impossible. The game feels slugglish and is frustrating to play, and is in my opinion the worst version of the bunch.

Amstrad: Pac-Land on the Amstrad is rather pink.

The Phantom is pure genius and Tangerine Dream is Fab, apparently

2 - Sinclair Spectrum - This is a very close second-worst. Graphically, it does away with the colours of the Amstrad version, replacing them with drab dark blues and yellows, which makes it look like Pac-Man is wandering about the streets of Pac-Land at night. Its rendition of the arcade game's theme tune is identical to the Amstrad's version, and quite impressive it is too. Unfortunately, the game also replicates the Amstrad's flip screen technique, and therefore suffers from the same problems that not having side-scrolling levels causes. What prevents this from being the worst version though is that the controls feel ever-so-slightly smoother and a bit more responsive. Even so, Pac-Man will come to an unavoidable end much too often and it won't be long until you give up on helping him find magic shoes to hoard. Incidentally, both this and the Amstrad version feature a slightly modified version of the game's theme for the return journey, which is commendable.

Sinclair Spectrum: The street lamps in Pac-Land make everything look yellow

The rather beautiful title screen of the NES version.

3 - Nintendo Entertainment System - This version does away with the cartoony graphics from the original, and makes it look a bit like Pac-Man is travelling through a giant Lego version of Pac-Land. The sprites, both for Pac-Man and the enemies, are about half the size of those in the original, and are dwarfed in comparison to the backdrops. The music is OK, whereas the sound effects are quite close to the arcade's. What lets this game down though are the controls. For some reason, Namco thought it would be good to use the NES controller's two A and B buttons to control Pac-Man left and right, and any direction on the D-pad to jump. Why??? Doesn't the very design of the control pad make it obvious which buttons should do what? The D in D-pad stands for directional, which gives you a clear idea of its purpose! You kind of get used to the stupid controls after sticking with them for a while, but when you come across an obstacle that requires some sort of split second decision, you'll suddently forget that you're meant to be using the controller back-to-front and press the wrong button. There's probably some way of reconfiguring the controls, but there shouldn't really be any need to do so for a game which by default should have clear controls. In addition, the levels appear to have been messed around with a little bit, and the game doesn't really feel much like you're playing Pac-Land. It's not awful, but it could have been much better.

NES: I don't know why, but everytime I look at the graphics for the NES version, I feel thirsty.

These title screens get sexier and sexier, don't they?

4 - Commodore Amiga - Graphically, this is one of the best looking versions of the game, with sprites and backdrops that closely resemble those of the arcade game. The music is also pretty good too, and the fact that the game doesn't require a fire button means that you can use the controller's trigger button to jump, rather than having to push up (having to push up to jump in Amiga games was always a pet hate of mine). The level layouts are also fairly faithful to the arcade version's layouts, and unlike a lot of the other versions (Amstrad, Speccy, NES and C64), you are able to stand on top of vehicles, a feature of the arcade game. However, letting this game down is its scrolling. For some reason, Pac-Man's journey to retrieve magic shoes from the fairy at the other end of Pac-Land is literally not a smooth one. The scrolling is terribly jerky, and seems to get worse when there's more going on. At some points, it feels like you're playing the game in slow motion. This disrupts the arcadey flow of the game, and almost ruins what could have been a perfect conversion.

Commordore Amiga: Looks nice, but if you could see this moving, you'll be tearing the disk out of its drive and flushing it down your toilet in minutes.

Another gorgeous title screen.

5 - Commodore 64 - Of the 8-Bit home computer versions, this is by far the best. Although the graphics aren't as colourful as the Amstrad's, which is partly down to the Commodore 64's washed-out pallette, they are drawn much closer to the arcade's, and the screens scroll. And, unlike the Amiga version, they scroll smoothly, and this is what puts it just ahead of the Amiga version.Which begs the question, if it could be done on the C64, why couldn't the Amiga do it? The game does still suffer from some frustrating deaths, and you aren't able to stand on top of vehicles, which takes something away from the fun of the arcade game, and the level design is slightly different from the original. Even so, this is a very good conversion of the arcade game and is miles ahead of the versions on the computer's contemporaries.

Commodore 64: I love how these old Commodore 64 games have always looked old.

Woah! The Commodore 64 graphics may be washed out, but this certainly isn't!

6 - Atari Lynx - This is a very faithful conversion of the arcade game, probably the most faithful of the bunch, incorporating virtually all of the original's features, even the parallax scrolling, It plays well on the small screen, but is perhaps a little too tough and doesn't feel as whizzy as its arcade parent.

Atari Lynx: Pac-Man on the small screen.

Quite simply the most beautiful title screen in existence. Ever.

6 - BEST VERSION: PC Engine/Turbografx - Simply the best version of Pac-Land is the one released for the PC Engine. Although the colour scheme has been tampered with a little, and the music is a tiny bit different, everything else from the arcade game is pretty much intact. The game does give the option of playing it with the bizarre control system used on the NES version, but makes it easy to change to what they call "Lever control". This is the version that feels most like the arcade version, and pips the Lynx version to the post simply by being more fun to play.

PC Engine: Pac-Man has a power pill just above his head, and is ready to gobble up the ghosties. Unfortunately, he ended up getting squashed by the two cars as I was fannying about trying to get a screenshot.

Video

Here's a video demonstrating each of the above versions of the game in action!

An Extra Treat!!!

While waiting for the home computer versions to load, you were treated to a rather funky map of Pac-Land. And, here they are. Exciting!

The Amstrad Loading Screen

The Spectrum Loading screen. Looks like the artists gave up half way - look at the house towards the top right, 

The Commodore 64 loading screen in a wonderful watercolour style.

The Commodore Amiga loading screen - plush and full of colour and life. I'd like to move there right now.