Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax

Developer: Palace	Graphics:
Publisher: Palace	Sound:
Year: 1989	Difficulty:
Genre: Action	Replay value:
Number of players: 1	My overall rating:	7/10

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax, also known as Axe of Rage introduces the same three protagonists met in the first game: our barbian pal, the evil sorcerer (Drax), and the beautiful princess (Mariana), whom you've released (or not), and who is now a playable character.

Your goal is to find and defeat Drax, butchering everything you see on your way. In this regard, the baddies are much more diverse than before. You will have the opportunity to slaughter a lot of critters, furry, feathered, scaled, other . . . we don't really want to know.

The playing area extends this time on a succession of screens you have to cross, sword in hand, in the normal direction (left - right), with occasional entries in the background that take you on a perpendicular path, which may cause some problems to orient oneself. It is advisable to use the compass and scribble a map.

Controls are terrible: "up" to run, "down" to turn around, "running + up + button" to jump, "button + direction" to strike. You're going to turn your back on your target a lot, it's very annoying. Handling in Barbarian 2 (from Psygnosis) is much more intuitive (even if certain passages are quite exasperating too).

In short, be warned, here, contrary to appearances, it is not enough to be an oaf. You will need to get used to the controls first, then manage your timings perfectly to hit your target or jump over a ravine, and, most importantly, explore, from top to bottom, mazes represented in 1D. If you're a Harvard graduate, you're on the right lines.

Places to download:
Amiga Island
Amiga World
Emuparadise
Planet Emulation
The Game Archives
The Old Computer

To leave a comment or report a broken link, please use the forum.