Golden Axe is an arcade beat-'em-up game that puts players in the shoes of one of three heroes, each with their own reason for trying to overthrow the evil rule of Death-Adder. He kidnapped and imprisoned the King and his daughter and stole the legendary Golden Axe . This is a story about their quest to get it back.
The gameplay is similar to other fighting games, where you take one of the three characters - Ax Battler, Gilius Thunderhead or Tyris Flare - and bash everything that gets in your way. Each character has a special magical ability that can be charged by kicking small blue creatures that drop potions. There are also green creatures that drop food to replenish your health. Some enemies ride dragons and you can knock them off and use the creature to attack the enemies.
The original arcade game and most conversions allow players to play up to two characters at once, but some versions only have one playable character. The Sega Master System version of Golden Axe allows for two-player co-op, while the C64 version has limitations, such as fewer levels, limited enemy interactions and fewer dragon types.