So for shits and giggles, I decided to check out the arcade original of Altered Beast, after seeing how exceedingly fine and average the Genesis port/pack-in was. And well, I can sorta understand the infamy to a degree now.

AB is something you're supposed to do a run or two to get a feel for the enemies and how they work, but in the Genesis port they're so pitifully easy even in your initial state that it doesn't really matter. Here though, you NEED to actually keep yourself on edge, since they can and will hitstun the shit out of you if you're not careful. I only had difficulty with Stage 4 there, while here Stage 3 and 5 were giving me a hard time with how often enemies can appear, as well as your initial state actually feeling super weak before you get powered up, taking about 3-4 hits instead of 1-2. Controls are also stiffer, making it harder to get to the white wolves in time as well as pull off jumps and punches quickly due to turning and jumping not being as consistent ehre.

Even with this newfound insight... I still think this game is easy and short enough to not really get mad or bitter over. Annoyed, sure, but its difficulty is seriously overblown. In ABG, only annoying boss was in Stage 4, while here? Every boss is a joke, easily downed with the B-button spam. It's even possible for the last boss to get Toad Maned by jumping and pressing that button, since the range is just enough to damage and go through their head. It also doesn't change how you don't get immediately hit until the enemy's sprite and animation is actually ready to deck you, just bumping into them neutrally is fine.

I dunno, is this just one of those cases where I actually had to experience it as it was originally presented? I can see maybe getting mad if I had to pop in several quarters instead of using FinalBurn Neo's insert coin button repeatedly, or having only this as my Genesis game for a bit instead of just emulating it whenever. Still, that's a huge maybe, cause it's like, The Game Ever Made at the end of it all.

This game is dated. For the time , I’m sure it was great, but it does not hold up today. You play as a guy risen from death called to live life by moving left to right on auto scroll levels to fight wolves, monsters, and demons. Your goal is to power up your character three times until he transforms into a human-animal hybrid strong enough to take on the boss. Each level has its own transformation adding some dynamic to the game. Aside fro, that every level is basically the same. Playing with another person can make it more fun or frustrating depending on how serious you take this game. My friend and I would play this for hours cracking up at how silly this game is and quoting catchphrases from the game. It’s a historic part of game history and was a selling point for sega consoles before Sonic. But now a days it’s kind of a mess. Worth checking out once. But that’s it.

Extremamente simples e extremamente memorável.

É um clássico não tem jeito, envelheceu da mesma forma que foi lançado, é um jogo originário de arcade né então é bastante curto e levemente difícil, caso tenha paciência conseguirá decorar o jogo de trás pra frente tranquilo

Eu acho o game também bem bonito e os efeitos sonoros e vozes são bem feitos e grudam na cabeça

Mais nada a declarar.

Não é ruim mas também não é bom/divertido. O jogo tem inimigos e chefes com uma dificuldade moderada mas o que torna o game difícil mesmo é a pouca quantidade de vidas e a falta de itens de cura. Os gráficos tem uma boa ambientação e também é legal o personagem se transformando nos animais. A jogabilidade é bem datada mas conseguiu me prender.

RAAAAAISE FROM YOUR GRAAVE!
Welcome to your doom!

The Mega Drive launch titles are very strange. They have this drab and sad sound to them, and it really carries over into how this game looks as well. It's a weirdly miserable game, but it's not shit or anything, just very mid. Out of the three launch titles, Space Harrier II is slightly better, but both triumph over Super Thunder Blade very considerably. Super Thunder Blade is a complete joke both in general and as an actual one between friends and I need to talk about it some time.

Basically no thoughts changed on this revisit, so I decided to check out the arcade version as well. It's still drab and tedious. Gootbye

I have a very fond memory of playing this game at a friend's house and sharing a very crispy thin crust pepperoni pizza topped with tobasco. I don't think we ever beat the second level, but it's hard not to reflect on that and appreciate how simple a time it was. A few years ago I put together a list of 250 retro games which I committed to completing, and Altered Beast was one of the first ones I added to it. When it finally came time to sit down and fire it up again, I made sure I wasn't without another thin crust and a bottle of tobasco, just to make the experience complete.

Well, the pizza was good. The game freakin sucks, man.

It's a very early Genesis title, and as I've written about before, games of this era share a certain cheapness to them. Audio is tinny because composers were still getting the hang of the Genesis' sound, controls feel wonky, and the graphics lack color depth and detail. But where games like Streets of Rage and Revenge of Shinobi found some success in bringing the feel of arcade games into the home, Altered Beast completely flounders.

The gameplay loop is as bare bones simple as it gets: Walk to the right (and only the right, you can't go back), punch bad guys, collect orb, and turn into a sort of... beast? It's like a man beast. A beast that has been altered, perhaps. Each level ends in a boss that will probably give you a frustrating amount of crap to deal with despite levels being so devoid of challenge that you don't even need a brain your body to play them. The reason my friend and I never got past the second level wasn't because the second level was hard, it's because the boss was an asshole.

Bosses, beasts, enemies, and even level graphics repeat so frequently that it feels like they had about two levels worth of content that they stretched out. I'm being a bit hyperbolic, sure, but it is nonetheless remarkable to me how lacking the game is even when considering the unique moment in time it released. The most it has going for it is a few fun garbled sound bites and an iconic transformation sequence, but god knows you've probably seen both enough times that you've absorbed everything you need of Altered Beast through osmosis.

'Rise from your grave'? Uh, heh, how about no?? I'd rather be dead than play this game again.