Golden Axe (?????????, Gooruden Akkusu) is a side-scrolling, beat 'em up, hack and slash arcade video game released in 1989 by Sega for the System 16-B arcade hardware. It is the first game in the Golden Axe series. Makoto Uchida was the lead designer of the game, and also was responsible for the creation of Altered Beast. The game was ported to the Sega Genesis and Master System consoles, among many other systems.