It’s been almost 20 years since the original Golden Axe and its respective sequels were released in arcades and console format on the Genesis, and it’s time to see where Sega is taking the the latest incarnation of the long-running franchise.

Some screenshots from Golden Axe: Beast Rider have just been released (check the gallery), and I’m probably not the only one who thinks the left beast in the above screen is looking dangerously close to the dragons in Factor 5’s Lair. But it’s a bit premature to judge the game based on just a face full of polygons, so let’s move on.

What’s known about Beast Rider so far is that you can only play as one character — a sexy female named Tyris Flar — which is a direct contrast to the original and its sequels where the player had three characters to choose from. The game takes place in an open world environment and encourages you to take advantage of using various beast for transportation, and also pick a few fights along the way(unique combat is promised) to round out the gameplay.

Here’s what Scott Steinberg from Sega says about the game: “Golden Axe is one of our most treasured brands and is a complete re-imagining of the story that will take gamers on an unforgettable journey. The vision we have for the remake of Golden Axe is nothing short of remarkable..”

The game was announced back in 2006, and was initially set for a 2007 release on both PS3 and Xbox 360. But since that obviously didn’t happen, we’ll have to keep our eyes and ears open.

[See also: Golden Axe: Beast Rider gallery]