                                 GOLDEN AXE

Typed in by THUNDER of THE ANGELS.  Edited by PARASITE.


THE QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN AXE
A terrible scourge has settled on the land of Yuria.The evil reptilian
creature DeathAdder invaded the peaceful villages and by-ways of this ancient
land,putting the population to the sword (and worse!).His armies of thugs and
other murderous creatures now run amok in yuria,terrifying the innocent
citizens and exacting crippling taxes from the people.Food is running low,and
there is little hope of freedom.
The very existence of Yuria is now threatened - Death Adder has kidnapped the
king and his daughter,the beautiful Princess,and he is holding them captive in
their own castle.Death Adder has also found the Golden Axe,the magical emblem
of the land of Yuria,and plans to destroy it and kill the royal family unless
all the people of Yuria bow to his will,swearing an oath of allegiance to his
evil regime accepting him as ruler.
There seems to be little chance of defeating Death Adder and ridding Yuria of
his evil hordes -the King's armies were crushed long ago in fierce and bloody
battles.But an alliance of three warriors from the farthest corners of the
land may just manage the impossible...
Press Fire to start a one-player game or the second player's fire to start a
two-player game.At the start of play,you must select the character you wish
to control.In a two-player game,each player must choose a different character

AX-BATTLER
A barbarian from the far plains of Yuria,Ax-Battler is a fearsome warrior
motivated by hatred of Death-Adder.Soon after the invading armies arrived in
Yuria they put Ax-Battler's mother to a horrible and lingering death.Returning
from a quest,Ax-Battler was treated to the sound of this mother dying screams
and will not rest until he has heard the dying screams of Death Adder.
Ax-Battler can command Volcano Magic,which can reach up to four levels
of power depending on how many magic pots he is carrying when he casts a
destroy spell.

GILIUS-THUNDERHEAD
A Dwarf from the mines of Wolud,Gilius-Thunderhead lost his twin brother in
the battle to defend their homestead against the blood crazed soldiers of
Death-Adder.Members of the Dwarvish race are very closely bonded to their
relatives by emotional ties - and in the case of twins,this bonding is
immensely strong.Gilius Thunderhead has sworn by all he holds sacred to join
his brother in death by killing Death adder and then committing suicide.
Gilius-Thunderhead can command lightning magic,which can reach up to three
levels of power depending on how many magic pots he is carrying when he
casts a destroy spell.

TYRIS-FLARE
Tyris-Flare is an amazon warrior queen,the last surviving member of her jungle
tribe.She has nothing more to live for - her people were all put to the sword
by Death Adder's evil minoins and the jungle in which her race has lived for
generations was razed to the ground.She has sworn by all that is sacred to her
people that she will avenge their deaths by defeating Death Adder and
liberating the land of Yuria.Tyris-Flare can command fire magic,which can
reach up to six levels of power depending on how many magic pots she is
carrying when she casts a destroy spell.

GOLDEN AXE - THE QUEST
Your quest is straightforward in nature,but difficult to achieve,your goal
is to kill all of Death Adder's soldiers - and then face up to Death Adder
himself in the final showdown.
Kill off all the evil creatures in the land of Yuria,and you can liberate
the kidnapped king and princess and restore the land that you love to peace
and prosperity.Fail,and Death Adder will rule forever.

THE WOODS
Starting out in the woods outside Turtle village,your aim is to progress to
the right of the scrolling,clearing each section by killing off all of Death
Adder's minions.A sword appears at the top right of the screen with the
message 'GO' to show that your journey can continue.In the woods you meet the
lowliest of Death Adder's minions - they are the least skilled fighters in his
army,but you must stay on guard.They're dumb,but there's a lot of them! and
you meet up with the Twin Sumos and the Lizard Women.While you're in the Woods
try to grab and save as much magic as you can - you'll need it later on ...

TURTLE VILLAGE
All the people have been scared away from their homes in the village by Death
Adder's marauding hordes.The soldiers you meet on the streets are meaner and
and tougher than the raw recruits you met in the woods- some of therm are
riding bizarrians.

EAGLE ISLAND
This island is the back of a huge eagle - with Skeleton Swordmens hidding in
it's feathers.They're particulary difficult to beat - being dead,they have
no further fear of death! Narrow bridges make the battle even more hazardous.

APPROACHING THE CASTLE
On your way of Death Adder's lair you have to fight through cobbled streets,
defeating wave upon wave of evil enemies.

THE CASTLE
Prepare forthe final battle with Death Adder.If you win this conflict,then
your quest will be successful.

RIDING BIZARRIANS
Death Adder has imported some very strange creatures to the land of Yuria,
which some of his soldiers ride as cavalry animals.Called Bizarrians,these
creatures can give you a real edge during combat - if you can knock the
rider off the back of a bizarrian,it's possible to climb into the saddle
and use the animal itself as a powerful weapon.As an additional bonus,the
bizarrian takes the hits until you are unsaddled.
Bizarrians have different attributes,depending on their breed.Some will spit
flame or fireballs in the direction they are facing when you press the fire
button,while others can inflict damage on the enemy with their sweeping
tails - just move the joystick to the left or right to make the creature
turn around when one of the Death Adder's soldiers is close by.
Although Bizarrians are fairly docile mounts,waiting quietly for a rider
to mount them no-one rides them.Try and stay in the saddle for as long as
you can...
And if you complete a section of the game while you're mounted on a
Bizarrian,it departs when you make camp and rest up for a while before
attempting the next section of the quest.

COLLECTING AND USING MAGIC
You start the quest to liberate Yuria with one magic pot - but you're sure
to need more than that to complete the battles ahead.
Every so often,you'll come across little Elves who scamper around the
current screen area clutching sacks.If you chase after them and nudge them,
or strenght bars.If you walk over a magic pot,it is added to your
character's magic reserves;similarly walking over a strenght bar allows you
to increase your energy reserves by one unit.
Watch out for the Elves that sometimes appear when you are resting up at the
end of a section.Under the cover of darkness,they attempt to steal pots of
magic ans strenght bars from these visitors...
Whenever you use magic,your character will cast a spell that uses up all
the magic he or she is carrying in the form of magic pots (shown in the
status panel).This may prove powerful enough to kill off all the hostile
crfeatures in the current screen area,but if you are facing particularly
strong opponents of Death Adder's creatures may be able to recover from
the spell and fight some more.

STRENGTH AND CREDITS
You start the game with three lives,divided into units of strenght and
displayed at the bottom of the screen in a bar readout that is your Hit
Meter.Each time your character takes hits,strenght is lost,but you can
replenish strenght if you can persuade an Elf to drop a strenght bar...
When you finally run out of lives the game ends and the score board appears.

SURVIVAL SKILLS
* Practice work on your jump and attack skills to get your timing perfect-
mastering the attack and all its variations is the best way to win.
* Experiment with the joystick to discover all the special moves.
* Ride a Bizarrian whenever you can.
* Learm the shortcomings of each enemy,then concentrate on defeating them
by attacking their vulnerable spots.
* Assess each situation to decide whether to retreat to a better position
or close in for the attack.
* Learn to jump and twirl to get behind an attacker - blows to the back
are usually fatal,so make sure you are always facing your foe.

COMBAT CONTROLS
It is important that you master the controls that are used during combat
- quick reflexes are needed to win battles,and you will almost certainly
lose a fight if you have to think about what you are doing.
Pressing fire while your character is standing still results in a basic
slashing motion with the weapon that he or she is holding.
Up,Down,Left and Right on the joystick cause the hero you are controlling
to walk up,down,left and right in the current screen are.You can't off to
the left of the current screen area at any time,and can only walk into a
new area to the right when the pointer sword and the word 'GO' appears
at the top right of the current screen area.

UP + FIRE              Jump
UP + FIRE + FIRE       Pile Drive
DOWN + FIRE            Overhead sword swing for Tyris-Flare and Ax-Battler
                       forward roll for Gilius-Thunderhead
LEFT + LEFT            Run left
RIGHT + RIGHT          Run right
LEFT + LEFT + FIRE     Barge/leap left
RIGHT + RIGHT + FIRE   Barge/leap right
P                      Pause
F10 while Paused       Abort
LEFT ALT               Player 1 magic
RIGHT ALT              Player 2 magic (Amiga)
CAPSLOCK               Player 2 magic (St)

Player 2 can join in the game at any time by pressing fire on the joystick.
To select a character,player 2 must keep fire pressed and move the stick
left or right.Once fire is released,the game will stop and the graphics for
player 2's character will load in.

End/
