Play Axe of Rage Online

Game Overview

So Axe of Rage (or Barbarian II if you're not in North America) is this weird little 1988 MS-DOS sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior. You'd think a follow-up to a swordfighting game would double down on combat, but nope—this one ditches the two-player brawls and sends you solo through a maze-like dungeon instead. You pick either the princess or the barbarian (though honestly, their moves feel pretty similar), then hack your way through skeletons and lizard men to take down some wizard named Drax.

The whole thing feels janky by today's standards—your character moves like they're stuck in molasses, and the combat's way simpler than the first game. But there's something oddly charming about its clunky animations and that classic "hit something and watch pixelated blood spray everywhere" vibe. Oh, and Palace Software pulled the same stunt as the first game by putting a topless model on the cover for shock value. Subtle, guys.

Some reviewers back then loved the gory atmosphere, others called it a boring slog. Honestly? It's both. But if you're into retro dungeon crawlers with more attitude than polish, it's a weird little time capsule.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".