Makyou Densetsu (1988)

AKA: 魔境伝説. The jungles surrounding the village of Minofu are under the thumb of the evil Jagu cult who require a blood sacrifice. A beautiful young woman named Flare has been selected as this season’s offering, however her boyfriend Gogan will not stand for it. Equipped with the legendary axe ‘Sting’, he braves the six zones of Jagu’s territory to defeat the cult and save his love. Throughout the zones are breakable Jagu idols which drop various sized gems for points leading to extra lives, health revitalizing orbs of differing strength, crown-like crystal containers, and wing icons. Four crystal containers can be earned which charge the destructive power of Sting’s strike, while up to two wings can be collected increasing the speed of subsequent strikes. Each time you use the axe, the power meter drains completely then recharges as long as you don’t continue to swing. The added strategy of - is it better to dodge and charge the axe for a crushing blow, or is it better to hack away as fast as possible – sets this game apart from most other hack-n-slashers. When you die, one level of speed and axe power is taken away and you must re-find an icon to get it back. The game doesn’t lock you to only scrolling right, so there are times where you can backtrack to find items. -http://www.pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Legendary_Axe.htm

• Release Date: October 23, 1988