The three playable characters from the first Golden Axe, Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead, return in Golden Axe II to fight the new evil forces led by Dark Guild. The game features a total of seven levels: six scrolling levels and a final end of game boss battle against Dark Guild. Golden Axe II is a side-scrolling arcade hack 'n' slash game, very similar to the previous Golden Axe. The player is given a choice of three fighters: a battle axe-wielding dwarf, Gilius Thunderhead; a barbarian, Ax Battler, wielding a two handed broadsword; and long-sword wielding Tyris Flare, an amazon. Each of the fighters has a unique magic which can be used at any time in the game to inflict damage upon enemies. Each player is given a set of life bars which are lost one by one if the player is hit. Source: Wikipedia, Golden Axe II , available under the CC-BY-SA License.