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Back in 1988, in a school bus in Tehran, I heard two of my schoolmates arguing loud. When I listened closer it seemed like that one of them was claiming that Barbarian II was exactly the same game as Nebulus, and the other one was dismissing it. They went so far as betting on it, and I'm sure there is no need to tell you who won the bet. That was my first introduction to Barbarian (and Nebulus).
Later I realised that my friend must have been mistaking Nebulus with Axes of Rage, the name that Epyx used to distribute Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax. Aside from the differences in the name and the distributor, there are only two other (minor) differences between Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax and Axe of Rage. The intro picture is different and so is the big text at the top of the game screen. To my knowledge Barbarian II was the PAL and Axe of Rage was the NTSC version. Therefore, from now on I will refer to both games as Barbarian II.
First things first, I have to mention Maria Whittaker. She gave half the population of earth wet dreams back in those days. I am sure having her on the cover (and one of the main character being based on her) contributed a lot to the success of this game. Remember there was no such thing as 'Internet' back then. I wonder how much money she got for it.
Now that the important point is out of the way(!), I can get on with the review. Barbarian II was not in the same vein as Barbarian I. The two-player fighting concept of the first game was replaced by an 'arcade-adventure' concept. So those two games were different from grounds up. A lot of people regarded Barbarian II a disappointment compared to Barbarian I (even if it featured Maria Whittaker), which is more or less fair. The complex set of movements and attacks were replaced my a somewhat sluggish arcade game with clumsy controls and very limited movements.
Although it was not as good as the first game, this game still kicked some serious rear-end. The whole epic journey was a unique experience, combined with the interesting places you got visit, monsters you got to fight and the obstacles (such as pits and fires) you had to avoid/overcome. Who can forget the dinosaur eating your head in one bite, or the heart being ripped out of the body of the fat man in the second level, dropping on the ground while still beating?! The final show-down with Drax was also very cool.
Still the gameplay got a little repetitive, mainly due to the maze-like levels.
A couple of hints: Make sure to collect all the items you find during the journey, if you want to be able to go through the last level. To kill Drax, stay out of his magic attacks and try to chop his head off.
Downloads: Music, Advert
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| GRAPHICS - 8/10 |
The graphics were even better than the first game. Both backgrounds and the sprites were very good.
| | SOUND - 8/10 |
A little bit of mixed feelings here. Some people regarded the FX as sub par, some other loved it. In my opinion they were pretty average. The music, however, was a Richard Joseph classic.
| | PLAYABILITY - 8/10 |
Once you accept the fact that this game is different from Barbarian I, you will realise that it is actually a fun game to finish.
| | OVERALL - 8/10 |
Not much replayability value (unlike Barbarian I), but still a nice game to own.
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| COVER |
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