Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Size: 8 megs
No. of players: 2(simultaneously)
Got it for: $25, complete. Got it off an auction on ebay, kind of. Told the guy if he lowered it to $20 or $25 I'd take it off his hands immediately. He did, so I got it!
Time for another journey into the old world of Golden Axe. This time, the familiar Axe Battler and Amazon are joined by a barbarian and panther-type guy. A new, deeper combo system along with new magic spells, enemies and bizarrians to ride make this fight to (yet again)recover the Golden Axe the series' finest journey.

What's it all about?
Just like in the last two Golden Axe games, you move about on the playing field attacking enemies with your weapon as you make your way to the boss of that level. Again, you can pick up vials of magic that can be used to unleash devastating special magic attacks that dazzle the screen with a multitude of various special effects. The bizarrians are back, and there are even a few new species you can jump on and use to whip the enemies' ass with. Finally, rather than being a strictly linear journey like the first two, you can now choose which way you'd like to go at certain points in the game...
Graphics - Ranges from plain, old school GA-style scenes to some graphically impressive areas. All of the characters are gorgeously detailed, and the all new magic spells use some nice special effects. It's great to see the familiar GA art style continued on in the third game.
Sound - The music sounds like a mix of older GA stuff with a dash of an upbeat tempo to help you get into the groove of the faster gameplay. The screams and hit noises are pretty much the same as they ever were: adequate.
Control - Rock-fucking-solid! All of the new moves can be done quite easily, and your character responds immediately to all commands given.
AI - A mixed bag of fair and insanely frustrating. For the most part, the enemies won't do anything too outrageously cheap, but there are those that will frustrate the piss out of you with their jumping attacks and magical ability to grab you out of a combo.
Replay value - Damn high! With the multiple paths, four characters and two endings you'll be playing this one for a long while, and will want to come back time and time again.
Tips for better gaming experiences:
The "back attack" works on ALL enemies, every single one of them will fall for it. This is extremely helpful for those bastard skeletons, the four armed fiends and the hammer wielding vikings. Just walk a little ways in front of them, turn your back, when they get close enough go for it.

Also, every character in the game has multiple special moves as well as auto-combos and other things you just won't know about unless you own the manual. For those of you who don't have the manual, and even those who do, be sure to check out glacialbear's Golden Axe III FAQ. This is an amazingly informative FAQ that will really help you get the most out of each of the character's abilities.

 Game Genie:
Region Bypass: BT7T-CA9E + AA7T-CA9R

My serious thanks go out to Trevor Wilson for creating this code, and his wonderful FAQ!!!

My rating: 92(out of 100) - Old school Golden Axe gameplay with two new characters, a deeper fighting engine, co-op attacks and some impressive special effects, what more could you ask for? I find this game to be a much more worthy addition to the GA series than Streets of Rage 3 was to the SoR series. I highly recommend you ignore the general public's slamming and give GA3 a try, you'll be glad you did!

Cat's Friskiness: For once, I am in complete agreement with Bel, this game fucking rocks. Why reviewers or anyone else pans it, I have no idea. That panther dude is my new hero!

You can use the ultra, over powered hawk-man in Versus mode.
The cat guy is great, very frisky!
There's the amazon, tearing ass up on the back of the bird.
The barbarian is fucking slow, but can knock guys out as little as one combo. Think of him as your more neanderthal version of SoR2's Max...
Shame unto thou:
EGM said that this game was so bad that Sega actually refused to bring it to America. I think they were talking out of their ass(as usual). Also, be sure to check out the box scan, there's a sticker on the front stating this game is the "ASIAN Version".