23/04/212
Even as we’re hyped about a new console generation of ever more detailed graphical fidelity, pixel art remains a timeless aesthetic. Yet while plenty of indies love to use that style, the real veterans from the 8-bit and 16-bit days are much rarer, which is why retro fans should feel privileged to be able to play a new game from legendary pixel artist Henk Nieborg.
Having previously worked with Bitmap Bureau on the crowdfunded Mega Drive/Genesis sci-fi arena shooter Xeno Crisis, it seemed apt for the partnership to continue with Nieborg’s own passion project. Battle Axe is a fantasy top-down brawler very much in the vein of Gauntlet or Golden Axe. With a bare-bones plot of defeating the evil sorceress Etheldred, you simply pick from a line-up of three heroes – Rooney the Viking warrior, Fae the dark elf, and Iolo the elderly druid – before hacking and slashing your way to the end.