Golden Axe - Neo Geo Port
A downloadable game
Ported from the Sega System 16 arcade using a combination of reverse engineering and new development to ensure gameplay and visuals match the original to near perfection.
Features
- Support for MVS / AES and Neo Geo CD systems
- Original arcade difficulty settings
- Game region selectable (World / JP and selectable FBI warnings)
- Special Neo Geo CD soundtrack supplied by Richard Douglas ( https://www.richdouglas.net/ )
- Full MVS support including multi-slot game switching and credits
- SoftDIP settings available on AES and NeoGeo CD from title menu
- Files supplied to support most flash cart solutions, real hardware and emulators.
Conversion Notes
Went a little above and beyond for this one. During the port I found a youtube video which found a few of the sample sources for Golden Axe came from a selection of 80s movies, Conan, American Werewolf in London and Rambo. To get the best quailty possible I did a deep dive in these films and managed to replace 6 voice samples with new higher quality versions.
For the MVS / AES, the soundtrack is taken from the original System16 arcade PCB. High quality recordings were supplied by Artemio and then converted to run through the ADPCM-B. Neo Geo CD users get that classic 90s bonus of a full CD soundtrack of ultimate epicness from composer Richard Douglas.
A lot of effort went into getting this even more visually accurate than my previous port, requiring a huge reworking of my graphics converstion tools.. again!. There are a few minor differences and some edge case glitches which I decided to leave as the amount of work to iron them out really outweight the results they would bring. After all, we wanna play it right?
Thanks to the testers
.. Mpatou / Trifle and Lara / Gillaxian / Mr Kola / Old Style Gaming ..
Special thanks to..
Furrtek - that CDDA bug was making me cry!
Artemio - awesome recordings
Darksoft - thanks for the continued support
Neo Geo Dev Wiki - where I've learnt everything about the hardware
Arcade-Projects - a lovely little forum
FAQ
Q: Will you please consider porting [insert game here]
A: Like all good DJs, I don't take requests
Download
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Here is my way to say thanks!
aww thanks <3
Thanks. Now running on MultiMix emulator.
Thank you for your efforts I tested it on neo geo mvs and it works great. Is there a way to make a donation?
Awesome work. I know you don't take requests yourself, but you may want to consider getting in touch with jotd (https://jotd666.itch.io/) who has done some amazing transcodes/ports to the Amiga. He'd hit the ground running with your source base...
Thank you! Alien Storm would also be good on neo geo... 😁 😁
Hi! Thanks for the great port!!! I am using a NeoSD Pro (my bad) on an MVS - is there a way to get rid of that FREE PLAY text on the screen or at least replace it with CREDITS x? It is shown in any mode I try (MVS/AES/region)... I don't see that in the demo videos though
If it detects MVS hardware then it relies on the Freeplay dipswitch setting of the board. I'm guessing you're running a UniBios and using that to switch to AES? My guess is that it cannot mask the hardware flag for MVS, which is what I'm reading. I suppose in AES mode it doesn't show "PRESS D FOR OPTIONS" on the title screen either?
Simplest thing to do is to switch off free play on your MVS. Credits are supported.
Hey, thanks for your reply!
You are right, I am using Unibios. It is actually happening with console mode "Arcade". That issue is not there with my other games, so I guess it's not related to hardware switch settings, I will check it nevertheless. And if I set the console mode to AES, I am sadly not getting PRESS D FOR OPTIONS. But no problem, I will survive it :-) Thanks for your hard work!!! We love it!
Hello again, just a small update. The hard dip settings etc. seem to be okay. It's just that there are only two soft dip settings showing up. Diffculty and region. I have tried to build the rom again from the Mame set but with no effect.
This is awesome. Thank you so much! I would love to sign-up to be a tester for future ports if you need more folks (I work in a dev. studio and I’m pretty well trained at logging bugs). I have a MV-4FS / Big Red Cabinet with a Neo SD Pro MVS on the first slot. I also have a few 1-slot variants 1C/FZ that have been consolized. I also have quite a few boards :)
No blame or statement about causal relationship, but I do want to mention this here. Yesterday I downloaded the zip, copied the .neo file to my micro sd, loaded Golden Axe up to RAM on my NeoSD Pro MVS, played it for a bit. Works well, looks awesome, had fun. Then, next time I booted up my MVS, all of the sudden all game slots are empty and the micro sd cannot be read anymore. The micro sd can be read by the computer, but not by the NeoSD Pro. Very strange. Today I grabbed a different micro sd, copied my .neo file library to it and it does seem to work. No idea if this quirk has anything to do with the Golden Axe rom, but it's the first time I see this and I hope no one will ever see this happening again.
Unlikely to be related to anything I'm doing, I have no access to the NeoSD and how it operates with the SD card. Just sounds like you found an edge case bug in the NeoSD firmware.
lol, I'll let Terraonion know if I manage to reproduce it :)
Will this work with the dark soft multi cartridge for the arcade?
Yes. Make sure you've got the latest firmware and throw it in a homebrew slot
I love it thank you
Not working on my Neo Geo CDZ. "DISC I/0 ERROR"...
The same as trying to burn a copy protected disc rom file.
Bios is still original???
Yes, original.
Don't have a CDZ system I'm afraid but most CD issues are down to media or burning speed / software. I've played it on my NeoGeo CD from disc and it works fine.
Some of the later Neo Geo CD games used copy protection. The front and top loaders didn't use it... but the CDZ did! Some of the later games have been patched to work on the CDZ. I don't know if you're using images of games to build these, if you use a later game it might be the cause?!?
I'll see if I can get my toploader to work (broken lid) to double check.
Thanks for all the effort..especially for Shinobi..!
Eswat and Alien Syndrome next...?
Same disc works on the toploader!
Definitely copy write protected on the CDZ.
If you need me to test anything out on the CDZ in the future just let me know!
Hello. It does not work in my NEO GEO CD. I burned 2 discs but it does not start. Playing sound files only. Shinobi worked good. Is there any way to fix it. Thank you
It does work not sure what your doing ?
Burned third disc. Working good. Not sure why 2 others did not load
Did the tracks played in correct order?
I believe yes.
Mr. Hoffman, congratulations again! Outstanding work. That extra mile you did with the samples... oh yeah!
One doubt: there's a "special" difficulty level on the DIP switch settings. Is it something harder than the normal hard arcade setting?
Thank you again, sir!
I think it's actually easier. 5 lives and life bars maybe.
You sure? IIRC it was the same life bars and lives from hard setting...
I'm sure at this point. I've been playing on special and I have 5 health and 4 lives displayed on the HUD.
Oh thanks for confirming! I must have selected hard and got confused.
Thank you very much!
Your work is excellent, but I’d like to point out a few minor issues.
The image above compares the final stage of the game. Notice how the sky has an orange hue in the NEO GEO version, while in the arcade version, it is blue. A similar issue occurs in the castle room—the floor and walls in the arcade version have a grayish tone, whereas in the NEO GEO version, they once again have an orange hue. But regarding the castle, I might be wrong—it could just be differences in screen color adjustments.
Another issue I’d like to mention is that the axe, after defeating Death Adder, takes almost twice as long to fall on him.
I also want to reinforce a bug that occurs in the hardest difficulty level. I have reported it before but haven’t received a response, so I’m bringing it up again: the health bar does not appear in the hardest level if we skip the dialogue with Alex at the beginning of the game. The bar only reappears after taking a hit.
Lastly, I’d also like to reinforce the feather bug—the ink is appearing on top of the feather, which seems strange to me.
Comments like yours are a good way to discourage someone from offering us many more hours of their hard work FOR FREE in the future.
I can see mentioning the feather because he might be interested. I think it might also be somewhat hardware specific.
The comments about the colors being different in a few cases are completely unnecessary and come off as nit picking or OCD.
hOffman has acknowledged that there are some differences.
Enjoy the game, say thank you, and don't nit pick.
I understand your perspective, but I respectfully disagree. I believe that community feedback is valuable in making the game even better, especially since it may go through revisions.
Some issues, like hardware limitations, might be difficult to address, but color differences seem like an easier fix and could make the port even more faithful to the arcade version.
The reason I mention these details is precisely because I appreciate and admire hOffman’s work. I enjoy contributing where I can, and since I tend to notice differences easily, I’d even be happy to help as a tester if he ever needed one.
That said, I truly appreciate hOffman’s efforts in bringing this to us for free. If he ever considers a crowdfunding campaign to support more NEO GEO ports, I’d certainly be interested in contributing!
I respectfully think you should consider that he knows he changed the color of the background.
I'm sure you as a tester would be a real treat.
I simply pointed it out because I thought it might be something worth adjusting in a future revision. I have a good eye for details and enjoy helping when possible. My goal is to contribute positively, as I appreciate the effort behind projects like this.
As a software developer of 30+ years, I would like to add that being 'nit picking or OCD' is how you fix bugs and reach a complete project. Returning to a complex project years later for an update isn't as fun as it sounds!
"A lot of effort went into getting this even more visually accurate than my previous port..." To me, this reads that pointing out the background isn't blue-morning but instead orange-evening could be extremely significant. There is no mention of this change in the release notes. As a result, I to would assume it's an overlooked bug.
Your comments were respectful, detailed, and informative. What the developer decides to do is up to them and xchester77 shouldn't be speaking for someone else.
Peace.
As developer my self i think he would know all these and like he said up there fixing these glitches is not worth the effort .. I quote ```There are a few minor differences and some edge case glitches which I decided to leave as the amount of work to iron them out really outweight the results they would bring. After all, we wanna play it right?``` SO he knows of all of them this is not the same hardware it's a neogeo ..
wow..!! Amazing ! Tthank you !!!
Very pretty the label.
Is it possible to have the same without 106 mega?
Yes.
Great thank you very much
Already sold on AliExpress ;)
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005008515515595.html
I tried this on polymega using the Neo Geo CD version. Works great as long as your playing it using the official Neo Geo CD bios. On a side note..... Hoffman any chance on doing Simpson's arcade, bucky O'hare or Metamorphic force?
I'll refer you to the FAQ section.. ;)
Awesome work!!
I ve tested in a real neocd, and notice that after 2 bonus stage, soundtrack don’t play correctly (continue to play bonus stage track).
Great job, a big golden axe fan.
I definitely want to play now as this is the biggest gift to Neo Geo fans.
Per your notes there are some minor bugs, the only thing I noticed is the death blow axe rotation animation frames when killing Death Adder. Layer priority issue with the pen and red writing on the map. Maybe some other issues on my aging Neo Geo AES(I did not see this on one long plays of the Neo Geo CD port on YouTube but did on others maybe emulation?), black line tile seem near back of animated eagle eye. this may help with other owners of aging hardware.
your https://h0ffman.itch.io/ links to an old X account @djh0ffman must have been a bad boy, with no Elon pardon ;)
was looking for your donation info.
Awesome job!
Thatbwas an amazingly short time after the release of the Shinobi port.
Wow, the new soundtrack and samples really do seem to make the Neo Geo CD version the definitiv version of Golden Axe. Hats off for the amazing work and thank you so much for the effort you put into this and your other conversions!
very good
Just for funsies, made covers for the MVSX and Arcade Stick Pro
Same funsies here ! :-)
TY. It saves me time!
Hi Guys !
For those interested, you can download this PDF with an MVS label template for golden axe.
ENjoy !
Direct link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kxZg5jT7oxx8uHF3MNFxvgFlkqOsAE7b?usp=sha...
Version MVS, is 106 Mega
64MegaV + 32MegaC + 8MegaP + 1MegaS + 1MegaM
The .neo version works great on MiSTer! Though I can't seem to get the CD version running on it.
I've posted a link above to a CHD of the CD version. That works great.
Not seeing it? But either way, I already tried CHD and it didn't work either. I tried both CHD and bin/cue format. Also noticed that the CD version of the Shinobi port doesn't work either. Never had issues with other Neo Geo CD games, but these two don't seem to work on MiSTer.
If you’re still having issues, try changing the “CD Type” in the NeoGeo core OSD to “CD” instead of “CDZ” and saving settings
Yeah, I figured it out yesterday. It was indeed the CDZ setting. Weird that it doesn't work with that setting, but easy enough to change it either way.
Congratulations for this great creation!. Thanks for giving us more games to play on Neo-Geo! :)
Do you have a suggestion to which emulator to try this on? really want to review it for you :)
First of all, I want to say that I absolutely love your Neo Geo conversion of Golden Axe! You did an incredible job bringing this classic to the system, and I truly appreciate the effort and attention to detail.
I just wanted to report a small bug I encountered while playing on AES with the
.neofile. At the start of the game, the life bar does not appear until the character takes the first hit (as shown below). It’s nothing major, but I figured you’d like to know.Thanks again for this fantastic port! I look forward to future updates and projects.
EDIT:
I now discovered that the bug only happens in the hardest and easiest!
If you read the entire dialogue with Alex, the bug doesn't happen
I now discovered that the bug only happens in the hardest and easiest!
If you read the entire dialogue with Alex, the bug doesn't happen
You rule buddy, thanks alot!
Fantastic :)
2 major games in a few weeks that's great! I don't have a NeoGeo but NeoGeo users are sure spoiled with 1:1 (even more) arcade port
Hi there! First of all, thanks a lot for the amazing job. I've been playing the game on a CRT and I'm so enamoured of the crisp visuals and sounds... Shinobi was great but this one shines even brighter.
Also, I'm not sure if this is the place to report bugs but I downloaded the game, burned a cd and started playing on a toploader. The game works fine but the music does not. It is as if it lost track of what music it should play. By the time you arrive at the 3rd stage, it continues playing the campfire song and after that the map theme so it's as if they went out of sync or something. When you reach the end boss it plays the correct theme but when you beat him and reach the campfire the issue repeats again. Just for you to know. My console is JAP moded to USA and has no problem reading burned CD's.
Also, it happens that, when you start the game and cut the intro, you can't see your life bar until you receive the first hit. No big deal really.
Again, thank you very much for the effort. I hope you don't find the post intrusive and apologies if that's the case. You're a heaven sent for the NEOGEO community : )
Edit: Finished game with the three characters. Editing comments for the sake of accuracy.
I'm having the same issue playing from an actual cd. My system is not modded though. Almost sounds like the songs are not being cut, but paused on my end. And instead of playing the proper song for the next area/scene, it continues playing the audio tracks until they are completed. It starts at the first map screen for me. The thief music will stop/start again at this point.
I am also having the same issue. Unmodded Japanese console. But I could finish the game with all the three characters. Thanks alot!
in the goldenaxe mame folder the Romset says mslug2.zip 😁
Thanks for this works great.
Hi. The DarkSoft ROM works great on the Analogue Pocket. Thank you! For anyone wondering, I used 2020 Super Baseball.json as a donor for this port.
The included readme is still geared towards the Shinobi release and contains info for that port.
Cheers!