I always been a huge fan of Golden Axe II. I can even argue some aspects it does a little better than the original Golden Axe. I felt to a degree the soundtrack was a little better. Some of the sound effects were a little better as well. You actually can control how much magic you use. Not only that when you throw enemies. You quickly decide left or right to throw em. A huge criticism is how similar the original Golden Axe the game was. Well there's some truth in that to a degree. At least they made mages that held spell books attack you. Also I loved the design of the creatures you ride more. Duel Mode was slightly better than the same mode in the original game. I also prefer the look of all the playable characters a bit more as well. The final boss is a bit of a disappointment. I still felt some of my favorite enemy designs in the franchise. I would say this is better than Streets of Rage 3. Despite a few areas SOR3 actually better in itself. Personally I didn't enjoy Golden Axe III much. I actually grew up with the first two Genesis games. I used to play Golden Axe II all the time. Still one of my fastest Genesis runs without fast forward I do occasionally. Golden Axe II always meant a lot to me. It's also included in several compilation games. I also enjoyed the animations for using magic as well. This game is heavily overlooked being a shame.