Axelay

アクスレイ (Akusurei)SNES, Wii, Wii U1992

  1. JP1992
  2. NA1992
  3. EU1993
  4. RU—

Axelay was released in Japan as アクスレイ (Akusurei) and as Axelay in North America and Europe. The story differs between regions: the character Corliss, for example, is called "Mother" in the Japanese version. The game was later re-released on the Virtual Console for Wii and Wii U.

Axelay is a scrolling shooter that Konami released for the Super Famicom in Japan on 11 September 1992, followed by North America the same month and Europe in 1993. Konami had first planned it as a Japan-only title, but changed course after many letters from players and critics.

The game alternates between vertically and horizontally scrolling stages, an approach Konami had used in Life Force. Its top-down stages bend the scenery with warping effects to create a pseudo-3D look; IGN said its Mode 7 work made it feel like two games in one. The music was composed by Taro Kudo, and most of the team later went on to form Treasure.

Axelay was a modest seller in Japan, with 4,625 copies sold, but Western magazines praised it. It returned on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007 in North America and Australia and in 2008 in Japan, and on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015.1

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Axelay SNES September 1992 Konami 1
NA AxelayVirtual Console; also Australia in 2007 Wii 2007 Konami 1
JP アクスレイAkusurei SNES Sep 11, 1992 Konami 1
EU AxelayDate from the infobox; the article text says only "the following year" SNES Sep 30, 1993 Konami 1
JP アクスレイVirtual Console Wii 2008 Konami 1
WW AxelayVirtual Console, all regions Wii U 2015 Konami 1

Also known as: アクスレイ JP1

Box art by region

  • Axelay box art, North America release
    NA Axelay
  • Axelay box art, Europe release
    EU Axelay
  • アクスレイ box art, Japan release
    JP アクスレイ

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • TextSNES (JP)SNES (NA/EU)

    The story differs between regions; for example, Corliss is called "Mother" in the Japanese version.1

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly scored it 9, 9, 9 and 8 and Official Nintendo Magazine gave it 92%; GameRankings averages 81.14%. Famitsu was cooler at 7, 4, 6 and 6, and the game sold 4,625 copies in Japan. Nintendo Power later named it the 18th best SNES game.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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