The third Golden Axe game was initially only ever released in Japan, exclusively on the Megadrive in 1993. It wasn’t until two years later, in 1995, that it received a localised English language release in North America via the online-only Sega Channel.

Gameplay follows the same formula as previous Golden Axe games, with one or simultaneous two-player, scrolling hack and slash action that can be played at “normal” or “hard” difficulty.

Golden Axe III does have a small number of enhancements over previous games, with new playable characters, junction points with branching paths (as seen in Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder), and new moves such as ‘teamwork attacks’, ‘teamwork magic spells’, sweeps, blocks and special offensive and defensive moves that are unique to certain characters.

The four playable characters include a giant called “Proud Cragger“; a humanoid black panther called “Chronos Rait“; a swordsman called “Kain Grinder” (who resembles Ax Battler from the first two games), and a female warrior called Sarah Burn (who resembles Tyris Flare from previous Golden Axe games). Green dwarf Gilius Thunderhead is the only character who appears from previous games, though he isn’t playable and only appears during cut-scenes. Kain Grinder and Sarah Burn are referred to as Ax Battler and Tyris Flare respectively in the Sega Channel localization of the game.

Instead of the ‘Duel Mode’ of Golden Axe II there is a ‘Versus Mode’ where two players can duke it out, or one player can fight against a series of computer-controlled opponents. Unfortunately this play mode is weak, with poor backdrops and frustrating gameplay. It feels like a boring afterthought rather than a well-designed enhancement.

Graphically, Golden Axe III is pretty good, although it does have a few shortcomings, like the annoying flashing shadows that are a cheap way of trying to mimic transparency (and failing), and some sprite tearing.

The game does have some interesting sections, like fighting on a moving (dinosaur-driven) vehicle, although these are few and far between.

A number of ROM hacks exist for Golden Axe III, and it’s also still available to buy on Steam, at the time of writing (as are the previous two Golden Axe games).

More: Golden Axe III on Wikipedia
Steam: Golden Axe III on Steam