It seems to me like it was yesterday. I remember hearing the school bell at 3:30 pm. Holding my right pocket, I already knew that I can rely on my 2 or maybe 3 quarters that I had saved for a few days. Knowing that I had one hour before the school bus pick us up. I ran like an Olympic runner in the 100 meter competition with my 2 best friends from high school. The environment was filled with happiness, laughter, and the sound of the coins in our pockets. The more we ran, the more noises were coming out of our backpacks jumping up and down like it was a military gear as we were getting closer to the arcade center back in our small town. We all had only one thing in mind, Golden Axe. One of the Sega's most popular arcade games at that time, and we were hooked like fish. And even though many other compilations came after Golden Axe, nobody could beat the original.

Now back to reality. Our friends from Sega never forgot about those kids that now are grown men. Like the bus from school they are picking us up all again one by one. Although the arcades are becoming a dying breed these days, Sega has given the series new life on the Xbox 360 with its latest release, Golden Axe: Beast Rider.

Golden Axe: Beast Rider is what Sega considers a "re-imagination" of the original game. The story centers around Tyris Flare, who was a character from the original game in case you didn't know, and her Assyrian Priestess clan who are the protectors of the last remaining dragon in the world. Death Adder, who was the main bad guy from the original game, has sent his evil minions to capture the beast and use it for a sacrifice. Due to this act of treachery, Tyris is sent on a quest to rescue the dragon and destroy Death Adder once and for all. While this sounds great so far, I'm kinda missing the dwarf and the warrior that helped make the original game cool, but there is nothing wrong with a beast riding chick who can kick ass.

Tyris Flare's attacks are full of fluid movements and slashes (or as some people call it "hack-n-slash") which gives her life, unlike the clunkiness in the original game because your movements were limited. That's right, no more Up, Slash, Up and Slash like the old days.

You'll have quick and strong attacks and you'll be able to combine them for massive combos as well as blocking, countering, and parrying for defense. Along with her arsenal of weapon-based attacks, Tyris also has access to five different beasts, the Abrax, Lynth, Miragore, Krommath, and Megabrax. Remember that in the original game your character can ride beasts to add powerful attacks. This holds true here as well, because it wouldn't feel like Golden Axe without it. Each of these mountable beasts have their own unique skills and powers that Tyris can take advantage of to trave across large areas and deal loads of bloody damage upon Death Adder's expendable minions. Finally, Tyris also has magic spells just like in the original coin-op which can be helpful in the large battles.

Golden Axe: Beast Rider is a game that is full of action and adventure that will please the fans of the original game. The levels are large and cover alot of territory. Sega has taken the time here to make this game look jaw dropping good. If your a fan of the series you may also catch some pretty popular landmarks from the past games in the series. They've also payed homage to the original game by adding the health and magic dropping gnomes that you kicked around. This time however, they added three other gnomes to the mix. These gnomes can either drop items that can help or even possibly hurt you so make sure you choose wisely. Also added are plenty of secrets and huge bosses to fight to add to the experience.

While all this is sounding good so far, I must stop there to address some issues. For one thing, I wish this game had some sort of multiplayer. This is where I wish I also had the axe-wielding dwarf and the hulking warrior added to the mix for some co-op action. Sega seems to have missed an opportunity here. This also hurts the game's replay value because lets face it. Once you finish the game, which like most action games doesn't take more than 10-12 hours, your not going to want to play again. This holds true unless your going for those achievements everyone wants.

Golden Axe: Beast Rider is a hack-n-slash adventure that keeps to it's roots to please old school fans of the original arcade game while attracting some new fans as well. This is a game full of action ,adventure, blood, quick thinking situations, beast riding, and beautiful magic. Add in the jaw dropping environments, gnome kicking, and last but not least the big bosses to fight. For fans, this game is at least worth a rental and don't forget the original arcade game is on Xbox Live Arcade. Let's just hope that Sega brings us a Golden Axe game featuring all the original characters in a new adventure in the future.