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Hi guys.

It is no secret that Makoto Uchida, creator of the original Golden Axe game, was influenced by the movie Conan the Barbarian. A solid connection between the movie and the Master System port of Golden Axe is visible in the ending! Haha... :)

Death Adder is also in the movie. Almost..

Ending-3.gif (4.99 KB)

Golden Axe ending

Skærmbillede 2013-12-08 kl. 16.50.35.png (123.51 KB)

Conan

That is cool !

Plenty more Arnold-alike art here for your enjoyment -
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tracing/tracing.htm

Haha - that action movies vs. retro games collection is the best way to start the day :)

The second and third image at the end of SMS's Golden Axe are, of course, inspired by the Arnold's Conan movie. But what about the first image? I remember reading that it was also taken or inspired by a movie scene. Does anyone know what the movie is?

I posted this on a previous topic about Golden Axe

golden-axe-conan.jpg (184.13 KB)

Crazy they could get away with such blatant plaguirism.

On a related note, does anyone know the real story why Ax-Battler was renamed "Tarik" in the Master System version? Obviously rumors and guesswork is around but have any official sources/people ever commented?

Always struck me as odd. And also seemed strange that they completely redid the cover art for the Master System version, nice as it is. Why wouldn't they just reuse the existing Japanese Mega Drive art? Especially since they reused that art for the Western Mega Drive/Genesis versions.

That said, personally I much prefer the Master System cover art.

Maybe they didn't use the Mega Drive cover because only one of the characters was selectable in the Master System version. Also, at that time, Master System covers used the regular font and a picture which wouldn't fully cover the front... maybe it was too much hassle to edit it.

Altered Beast also uses a different cover than the Mega Drive one.

It took a bit of finding but I found the source image for the second ending screen.

The first screen does look like it's someone different to Arnold. It looks like it could be from The Beastmaster (1982) or Deathstalker (1983). I'll have a look around for some publicity stills for those movies.

goldenaxe-2.jpg (27.4 KB)

Found it! It was The Beastmaster.

Any ideas for the title screen and magic select screen?

goldenaxe-3.jpg (28.05 KB)

So it seems the magic select screen image is an illustration of Conan by Dan Adkins from 1978

goldenaxe-4.jpg (35.24 KB)

These are all pretty blatant, but not exactly unique to Golden Axe. Thunder Blade also famously nabs images from Blue Thunder.

In the game Golden Axe Beast Riders (2008), when Tyris meets the barbarian, he introduces himself as

"I am Tarik Ax Battler, lord of the frozen north".

This confirms that the barbarian's name is Tarik. "Ax Battler" looks like to be a surname or a title. After 19 years (the SMS version is from 1989), the Master System version has been proven to be correct!

TheAssassin wrote

Crazy they could get away with such blatant plaguirism.

On a related note, does anyone know the real story why Ax-Battler was renamed "Tarik" in the Master System version? Obviously rumors and guesswork is around but have any official sources/people ever commented?

Always struck me as odd. And also seemed strange that they completely redid the cover art for the Master System version, nice as it is. Why wouldn't they just reuse the existing Japanese Mega Drive art? Especially since they reused that art for the Western Mega Drive/Genesis versions.

That said, personally I much prefer the Master System cover art.

ian wrote

Found it! It was The Beastmaster.

Any ideas for the title screen and magic select screen?

Good find, I knew it was Beastmaster, but I couldn't find the pic.

SMS Golden Axe Opening Screen | Boris Vallejo - 1984 - Exorcism

Credits:
https://nukesandknives.blogspot.com/2023/12/asset-plagiarism-fourth-theft.html

sms_golden_axe_boris-vallejo-1984-exorcism.jpg (206.87 KB)

Rather carefully cropped…

https://arthive.com/artists/61977~Boris_Vallejo_Valeggio/works/361736~The_exorci...

It seems he also did a bunch of movie and game art including multiple Sega games:

https://www.borisography.org/_e.html (just titles starting with “E”)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Vallejo

rgabriel15 wrote

SMS Golden Axe Opening Screen | Boris Vallejo - 1984 - Exorcism

Credits:
https://nukesandknives.blogspot.com/2023/12/asset-plagiarism-fourth-theft.html

Excellent find! That one's been bugging me for ages. I was sure it was going to be another Dan Adkins illustration, using a photo of a bodybuilder as reference (which he often did). I think there's a chance that Boris Vallejo did the same thing though. Google Images seems to think there's a resemblance to Lou Ferrigno in the movie Hercules (1983), although I wasn't able to find definitive proof.

Would the box illustration also be inspired by another illustration or movie?

Battle Out Run also has characters based on movies and series.

Author	Message
hang-on Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Posts: 611 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	SMS Golden Axe Ending - starring Arnold! Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 4:05 pm
	Hi guys. It is no secret that Makoto Uchida, creator of the original Golden Axe game, was influenced by the movie Conan the Barbarian. A solid connection between the movie and the Master System port of Golden Axe is visible in the ending! Haha... :) Death Adder is also in the movie. Almost.. Ending-3.gif (4.99 KB) Golden Axe ending Skærmbillede 2013-12-08 kl. 16.50.35.png (123.51 KB) Conan

TmEE Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 853 Location: Estonia, Rapla city	Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 4:40 pm
	That is cool !

DMEnduro Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 420 Location: Australia	Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 5:27 am
	Plenty more Arnold-alike art here for your enjoyment - http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tracing/tracing.htm

hang-on Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Posts: 611 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 5:40 am
	Haha - that action movies vs. retro games collection is the best way to start the day :)

rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 10:53 pm Last edited by rgabriel15 on Wed Jul 24, 2024 4:46 am; edited 1 time in total
rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	The second and third image at the end of SMS's Golden Axe are, of course, inspired by the Arnold's Conan movie. But what about the first image? I remember reading that it was also taken or inspired by a movie scene. Does anyone know what the movie is?

ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 1:22 am
ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	I posted this on a previous topic about Golden Axe golden-axe-conan.jpg (184.13 KB)

TheAssassin Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 177	Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 10:23 am
TheAssassin Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 177	Crazy they could get away with such blatant plaguirism. On a related note, does anyone know the real story why Ax-Battler was renamed "Tarik" in the Master System version? Obviously rumors and guesswork is around but have any official sources/people ever commented? Always struck me as odd. And also seemed strange that they completely redid the cover art for the Master System version, nice as it is. Why wouldn't they just reuse the existing Japanese Mega Drive art? Especially since they reused that art for the Western Mega Drive/Genesis versions. That said, personally I much prefer the Master System cover art.

Akomander Joined: 09 Mar 2022 Posts: 22	Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 4:09 pm
Akomander Joined: 09 Mar 2022 Posts: 22	Maybe they didn't use the Mega Drive cover because only one of the characters was selectable in the Master System version. Also, at that time, Master System covers used the regular font and a picture which wouldn't fully cover the front... maybe it was too much hassle to edit it. Altered Beast also uses a different cover than the Mega Drive one.

ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 10:53 am
ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	It took a bit of finding but I found the source image for the second ending screen. The first screen does look like it's someone different to Arnold. It looks like it could be from The Beastmaster (1982) or Deathstalker (1983). I'll have a look around for some publicity stills for those movies. goldenaxe-2.jpg (27.4 KB)

ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 11:15 am
ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	Found it! It was The Beastmaster. Any ideas for the title screen and magic select screen? goldenaxe-3.jpg (28.05 KB)

ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 2:14 pm
ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	So it seems the magic select screen image is an illustration of Conan by Dan Adkins from 1978 goldenaxe-4.jpg (35.24 KB)

SavagePencil Joined: 23 Aug 2009 Posts: 219 Location: Seattle, WA	Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 7:07 pm
	These are all pretty blatant, but not exactly unique to Golden Axe. Thunder Blade also famously nabs images from Blue Thunder.

rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2022 5:53 am Last edited by rgabriel15 on Sun Jan 01, 2023 2:13 am; edited 4 times in total
rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	In the game Golden Axe Beast Riders (2008), when Tyris meets the barbarian, he introduces himself as "I am Tarik Ax Battler, lord of the frozen north". This confirms that the barbarian's name is Tarik. "Ax Battler" looks like to be a surname or a title. After 19 years (the SMS version is from 1989), the Master System version has been proven to be correct! TheAssassin wrote Crazy they could get away with such blatant plaguirism. On a related note, does anyone know the real story why Ax-Battler was renamed "Tarik" in the Master System version? Obviously rumors and guesswork is around but have any official sources/people ever commented? Always struck me as odd. And also seemed strange that they completely redid the cover art for the Master System version, nice as it is. Why wouldn't they just reuse the existing Japanese Mega Drive art? Especially since they reused that art for the Western Mega Drive/Genesis versions. That said, personally I much prefer the Master System cover art.

xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 387	Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:31 pm
xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 387	ian wrote Found it! It was The Beastmaster. Any ideas for the title screen and magic select screen? Good find, I knew it was Beastmaster, but I couldn't find the pic.

rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	SMS Golden Axe Opening Screen \| Boris Vallejo - 1984 - Exorcism Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 4:30 am
rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	SMS Golden Axe Opening Screen \| Boris Vallejo - 1984 - Exorcism Credits: https://nukesandknives.blogspot.com/2023/12/asset-plagiarism-fourth-theft.html sms_golden_axe_boris-vallejo-1984-exorcism.jpg (206.87 KB)

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14844 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 7:44 am
	Rather carefully cropped… https://arthive.com/artists/61977~Boris_Vallejo_Valeggio/works/361736~The_exorci... It seems he also did a bunch of movie and game art including multiple Sega games: https://www.borisography.org/_e.html (just titles starting with “E”) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Vallejo

ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 11:03 pm
ian Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 88 Location: Essex, UK	rgabriel15 wrote SMS Golden Axe Opening Screen \| Boris Vallejo - 1984 - Exorcism Credits: https://nukesandknives.blogspot.com/2023/12/asset-plagiarism-fourth-theft.html Excellent find! That one's been bugging me for ages. I was sure it was going to be another Dan Adkins illustration, using a photo of a bodybuilder as reference (which he often did). I think there's a chance that Boris Vallejo did the same thing though. Google Images seems to think there's a resemblance to Lou Ferrigno in the movie Hercules (1983), although I wasn't able to find definitive proof.

rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2024 3:10 pm
rgabriel15 Joined: 18 Dec 2022 Posts: 4	Would the box illustration also be inspired by another illustration or movie?

drwerneck Joined: 31 May 2014 Posts: 2	Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2024 6:49 pm
drwerneck Joined: 31 May 2014 Posts: 2	Battle Out Run also has characters based on movies and series.

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