The son of Thor!
Axel is a young boy with a hammer. No, he's not a raging lunatic but a young lad on a mission. His girlfriend, Lucy, has been kidnapped and is held in the dungeon of Mystic Castle. How did this tragedy happen I hear you cry. Well, a nasty green dragon called Nilmerg is the villain responsible. To rescue Lucy, he must be slain. Of course, Nilmerg is far away; we must cross several large continents before reaching his castle.
This journey is going to be long and treacherous. It begins in an old Roman village before climbing the "cliff section" to reach the ice caps that lead to a tropical jungle. The Egyptian Pyramids are next and preceded a rather interesting industrial stage. The penultimate level is within caves and woodlands before eventually reaching the castle. Could Alex have simply travelled in a straight line? Who knows lol
Anyhow, every level is crammed with nasties so Axel must defend himself with his hammer. But that's not all we can do as each screen has many destroyable areas. Those can help gain rewards or access to other regions. I love platformers and this one sounds rather interesting, especially being able to break stuff!
Let's pause my blabbering for some nifty screenshots from the earlier levels...
Each level has a secret or two to discover. These are often places with high rewards.
The second level takes us underground. Hey, they look quite familiar!
Things get chilly for the third level so bring a heavy coat and scarf.
Let's play!
Axel walks, leaps, and bashes critters (and blocks) throughout the levels. Anything can be killed if you hit it enough times like an insane serial killer. Only ghosts are immune to your clobbering but are rare until later. The status bar displays the score, items collected, and two bars for energy and a timer. Yes, a timer...
Getting around each screen is a breeze with responsive joystick controls. However, jumping diagonally is (initially) annoying because it's something you cannot do mid-jump. That needs to be initiated from the start to make the intended jump. Yeah, that might sound awkward but you easily get used to it.
Each screen offers the same troubles - monsters, obstacles, and destroyable blocks. The addition of smashing blocks is a fantastic feature that reveals many different power-up bonuses. Most of these provide extra points but you can also find weapon upgrades and energy/timer replenishment. Also, keys are scattered throughout which will unlock restricted areas with loads more bonuses. Yes, this game certainly loves bonuses!
I enjoy most platformers because of their mix of adventure, dexterity, and exploration - run, leap, fight, and explore new screens. That's it. I'm happy that Axel has this in abundance thanks to its great design, which is interesting and engaging. The added mechanic of block bashing isn't only for fun or power-ups - this can carve a different path to climb further in the room, collect (even more) bonuses, or uncover hidden places.
Let's take another pause for some rather sexy screenshots...
Jumping straight to level 5, we find ourselves in a place Daniel Jackson would love.
This is the entrance of an industrial complex which I enjoyed a bunch.
Finally, I'm at the castle. It's spooky and difficult near the end. Very difficult!
Aesthetics
From the moment, I saw the loading screen I thought this game was gonna suck big time. I'm not exactly a fan of its crude and childish artwork. Perhaps I'm being harsh there? Anyhow, the game itself is much better; all eight levels are attractive and diverse using a Kid Gloves/Mega Twins style I found most appealing.
There is no scrolling as the push effect is used to move from "room to room". If this was a Mario/Giana clone, it would fail miserably. But it's not. So, each screen has its own distinct mini-adventure and plays as such. Ignore what you might have heard, there is no need for scrolling whatsoever.
Disregarding the Egyptian level, all of the other levels are incredibly beautiful. Terry Lloyd designed gorgeous scenarios that are high in detail. I liked the sprites the most, as the creatures are cute, cunning, and well-drawn. You might even see some similarities with those from Rick Dangerous, for the obvious reason.
Musically, things are less impressive with one main theme tune by Ben Daglish. It's a good chiptune and suits the "young theme" but, hardly his best work. There are no in-game tunes but the sound effects are superb with many silly samples that work well. Like the graphics, you might hear the odd familiar sound effect.
Right then, I've got one more batch of screenshots to share before the gripping conclusion...
This is your big chance to slay the beast and grab the girl!
Of course, I did it and got a kiss too!! All without a trainer... ahem...
The map proves walking in a straight line would have been much quicker ;)
Hey, can you beat my score? Nah, I bet you can't.
Hey, can you beat my score? Nah, I bet you can't.
CryptO'pinion
I'm sure you can tell how much I've enjoyed playing Axel's Magic Hammer? It's a straightforward platformer with great controls and interesting levels, and we've been given a hammer to bash animals with. Not only that but this tool is also utilised to reach difficult parts of the screen, uncover bonuses, and hidden rooms. This adds so much depth to almost every room you visit. Yes, I have thoroughly enjoyed being young Axel.
As you might expect, nothing in this life is perfect and I have one of two niggles. Along with the weird diagonal jump, which takes some getting used to, I found a few rooms rather troublesome as their difficulty was suddenly harder than the rest of the game. Also, there is a completely unnecessary timer - whhhhhhhy!!
Axel is a humble platformer without many distinctive qualities but that doesn't stop it from being interesting and damn good fun. I have enjoyed hopping and bashing my way through the levels. It's playable and addictive, not to mention we have a hammer. I rate this a respectable 80% and highly recommend you have a bash!
Floppies can be nabbed via Atari Legend and 8BitChip has the hard drive version.
