The Legendary Axe II

Overview

Legendary Axe II/Ankoku Densetsu is an action platformer and in terms of theme has little to do with the original title; nevertheless it is a sequel to the first Legendary Axe. It has a much darker tone than the first game, which is better reflected in the Japanese title (Ankoku Densetsu/ 暗黒伝説 = Dark Legend).

Story

Many years ago, a mighty hero named Brace defeated the Demon King Drodam, returning light and peace to the world. Rescuing the beautiful Grace from Drodam's clutches, he eventually established a kingdom and Grace bore him two children, Selius and Zark. Selius was first in line, and Zark grew increasingly jealous of his brother; he eventually made a deal with the fallen Drodam and established a cult to gain power. With the death of Brace and Grace, Zark and Selius fight over the throne! All of this culminates as Zark throws his brother Selius from the top of his mighty dark castle....

Gameplay

Gameplay is simple; the player controls Selius' motion with the D-pad, attacks with the "II" button and jumps with the "I" button. Pressing the "run" button while playing the game will also cause Selius to throw a bomb (provided he has any) Picking up additional weapons will power up weapon strength, to a maximum of six levels. The life gauge also maxes out at 10, and Selius can only hold 10 bombs in stock.

Items

• Life Gauge Up: Appearing as a star, this adds one permanent point to the life meter. It will disappear if Selius dies.
• Life point: Resembling a moon, this refills one depleted point of the life meter.
• Full life restore: A sun that fully restores all lost life points.
• 1up: An extra life.
• 7up: 7 extra lives. Rare!
• chain: An iron weight on the end of a chain that resembles a plumb-bob. It is the weakest of the three weapons, but has the most range and fast attack speed.
• Axe: A powerful weapon, but it has bad range and is too slow to be useful.
• Sword: The starting weapon, it has good strength and range, and good speed!
• Bomb: A bomb. Damages or destroys all enemies on screen when thrown!

Stages

• Stage 1: Selius lands at the base of Zark's dark tower, miraculously still alive. He picks up his sword and proceeds to begin the process of climbing to the top again. En route he is attacked by hordes of violent cultists, bizarrely called "Pumpman". The boss of the stage is a strange demonic entity that likes to suddenly kick Selius.
• Stage 2: Selius enters a sewer to gain access to the tower. Large numbers of zombies and disgusting giant cockroaches swarm this area. The boss is a strange head-like creature referred to as "Cloud Genesis" in the manual.
• Stage 3: Selius continues to scale the tower, and continues to be assaulted at every turn by monsters. Strange skeletal beasts are in the walls here, and are eager to burst out and cause harm. The boss is midget with an iron ball called "Iron Punk"; after his death, the ball itself continues the attack!
• Stage 4: Ever higher our hero climbs. Miniature dragons now stand in his way, and the journey upwards isn't helped by collapsing skull platforms! The boss is a spooky haunted doll.
• Stage 5: The tower takes a decidedly demonic turn; this part consists of pulsating flesh and the walls and floor are coated with villi. Hordes of zombies abound, and strange new creatures put in a cameo. The boss is a giant worm.
• Stage 6: Selius is close to the end now! Climbing the exterior of the tower, Selius battles even more hordes of cultists and skeletons, all while avoid being struck by lightning. If only those creepy lightning rods worked better... the boss is a strange golden man who shoots balls from his chest and energy from his navel.
• Stage 7: What's going on here? Suddenly the area is largely mechanical and populated by robots. Selius' metal weaponry can be a liability here, as the floors, walls, and ceiling all have magnets secreted in them. At the end awaits the self-crowned King Zark, and quite possibly the revived Drodam himself... but another question remains; is Selius any better than Zark?