Makyō Densetsu
魔境伝説1988Makyō Densetsu
魔境伝説ALSO KNOWN AS THE LEGENDARY AXE
Barbarian Gogan swings an axe through six zones to rescue his friend.
The Legendary Axe is a side-scrolling action and platform game from 1988. Gogan fights through six zones to rescue his childhood friend from a cult. It was a TurboGrafx-16 launch title in North America, and critics praised its sprites and music.
| RELEASED IN JAPAN | 23 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| NORTH AMERICA RELEASE | 29 August 1989, as a TurboGrafx-16 launch title |
| PUBLISHER IN JAPAN | Victor Musical Industries |
| JAPANESE PRICE | 5,200 yen |
Gogan swings the axe Sting at enemies in each zone. A strength meter at the top of the screen empties after each swing and refills slowly.
Crystal containers raise the meter by 25 percent. You can wait for a full meter and strike once, or make several weaker blows.
Jagu idols scattered through the zones reveal power-ups when destroyed. Power-ups include wings that speed up attacks and power balls that restore health.
Each zone ends with a boss, and the game gives four continues.
Each year, the people of Minofu must give one person as a sacrifice to the cult of Jagu. This year, the victim is Flare, Gogan's childhood friend.
The village elders give Gogan the axe Sting, and he goes to the Evil Place in the mountains to defeat Jagu.
NEC retitled the game for North America and showed it at the 1989 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
A sequel, The Legendary Axe II, came out from Victor in 1990 and dropped the strength meter.
The game was one of the console's flagship titles in Japan. Its reviews made it a reference point for action games on the machine.
- The strength meter was removed from the sequel.
- The game did not come to the Wii Virtual Console.
- Its popularity in Japan led to its use as a North American launch title.
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