From Sonic to Tekken, plenty of video games have inspired animated TV adaptations, but a retro cartoon based on Sega's high-fantasy side-scrolling beat-’em-up Golden Axe was not on my bingo card for 2026. Even less expected was that the animated revival of the best sword and sorcery game of 1989 would be... a comedy?
The 2D animation, I can get behind. It's giving nostalgic Saturday morning vibes. But the self-aware gags? Golden Axe's 16-bit graphics might look rudimentary today, but this was a gritty game with gravitas, atmosphere, and blood-curdling movie-sampled screams when you killed someone.
Coming to Paramount+, the Golden Axe animation features the three playable characters from the original game. Matthew Rhys voices Gilius Thunderhead, “a grumpy battle dwarf with exceptionally poor hygiene and a chip on his shoulder,” Liam McIntyre is Ax Battler, “a barbarian warrior with a strict code of honor and sweet golden retriever demeanor,” and Lisa Gilroy is Tyris Flare “deadly in a fight and even deadlier with her sharp wit.”
There's also Chronos "Evil" Lait, Golden Axe III's humanoid panther, who you may or may not consider to be canon, as well as the Cocatriz (or "trusty purple mutant thingys" as they're now called, and Golden Axe II's menacing headless Death Armor.
But series creators Mike McMahan (Star Trek: Lower Decks) and Joe Chandler (American Dad) are also taking some controversial liberties with the, admittedly rather sparse, Golden Axe lore. A new comedy character has been introduced in the form of Hampton Squib, an eager and unqualified newcomer played by Danny Pudi.
For those who don't remember the arcade game, Tyris helpfully sums up the premise in the trailer. The team has to "face a series of progressively harder enemies until we have a big final battle with Death Adder. And then we kill him for good.” Death Adder is bad, as you may have guessed from his name.
It's great to see new 2D animation, but a knowing meta comedy overlooks the atmosphere of Makoto Uchida's 16-bit masterpiece (above). Some games like Sonic and Mario make perfect sense adapted as light comedies, but Golden Axe was grim business.
As they hacked away at skeletons that rise from the ground like in Jason and the Argonauts, our three heroes were working through the trauma of their parents and siblings' deaths at the hands of a sinister giant who's stolen a golden axe. Now they sound like characters from Scooby Doo.
After Masters of the Universe, does every nostalgic sword and sorcery fantasy revival now have to be a parody?
Golden Axe will premiere on Paramount+ on 16 September. If you want some real retro gaming action, check out our guides to the best retro gaming consoles and the best retro handheld consoles.
