We were massively drawn to the amazing pixel art and the fantasy elements that belong to the Golden Axe franchise, having to experience it in a PVP fighting game was a new experience that turned to be just a lot a fun, it was not hard to get into, it's forgiving for new players. Amazing art and character design, in my opinion it looked better than many other fighting games of an era dominated by Capcom or SNK.
I only had the demo disc for the Sega Saturn, and I played it non-stop VS the CPU or my siblings. It was over 25 years ago, and I remember having a blast playing it, and I was bummed out for not being able to find the full game at the local stores.
One of those games that would be an instant buy from me if it reached the GOG preservation program,