Altered Beast
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
Upon the release of the Sega Genesis way back in '89, the
entire focus of the video game industry changed. The new
name of the game was graphics - at least for a time. Here's
a little secret between you and me: it took quite a long
time for the 16-bit systems to catch up to the "ancient"
NES when it came to silly little elements such as depth and
replay value. But hey - those early Genesis games were
visually stunning. Game play took a back seat to huge bosses
and layers upon layers of scrolling. The leader of this
"revolution" was Altered Beast, a simple action game that
came packaged with the Genesis.
While many have questioned the quality of Altered Beast, you
can't really fault Sega's reasoning when it came to
including this game with their new system. Players were
excited about the capabilities of these shiny new 16-bit
powerhouses, and Sega gave them a game that featured some of
the most impressive visuals that had yet appeared on a home
console. While screen shots of Altered Beast for the Genesis
will undoubtedly appear primitive today, compare them to
pics of the version that came out for the Sega Master System
and it's easy to understand why so many players were
thrilled to get their hands on the game.
But besides the revolutionary graphics, Altered Beast was
already a proven commodity. The massive success that the
game had achieved in arcades granted Sega a marketing ploy
that they didn't pass up. The recognition that Altered Beast
had already garnered gave Sega the opportunity to prove to
thousands of gamers that their new system was able to boast
graphics and sounds worthy of the arcades. They pulled this
off flawlessly; although many players won't admit to the
fact today, the inclusion of Altered Beast with the Sega
Genesis had a great deal to do with their purchasing of the
system. Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, the game that came
packed with NEC's Turbografx-16, was actually even more
impressive than Altered Beast when it came to the
superficial elements - but how many kids in America had ever
heard of a guy named Keith Courage? Sega's prudence combined
with NEC's mistake led to a very successful launch for the
Genesis - and thus Altered Beast became entrenched in video
game history.
Well, it didn't take very long for most players to realize
that Altered Beast wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But
that's what happens when a game is created around a gimmick.
Along with the impressive graphics, Altered Beast introduced
the clever idea of allowing the hero of the game to
transform into various creatures during the course of his
adventure. Unfortunately, this adventure only lasts for
about ten or fifteen minutes.
The basic premise of the game had some potential: a
once-legendary hero is brought back to life by the gods in
order to defeat a maniacal evildoer (who has of course
kidnapped a girl, but let's ignore that for a second). Along
the way, the hero can metamorphize into fantastic beasts in
order to slay the many fiends who stand in his way.
Unfortunately, the promising premise becomes irrelevant once
you begin playing the game. Your "legendary warrior" looks
and acts like a mindless simpleton. The mythological aspect
of the game's story is completely ignored once you begin
beating up on zombies and ravaging boss creatures.
The game slowly proceeds from the left to the right. You're
responsible for punching or kicking anything and everything
that you come across. The screen scrolls along on its own;
if you're in a hurry to get through a level, too bad. You
have to take what the game gives you - and be able to handle
however many monsters are thrown at you at once. Not that
this is at all difficult; the enemies in the game are
apparently even denser than the muscle-bound moron that you
control. Most of them just leisurely approach you, as if
they were about to shake your hand rather than deck you.
Every so often a blue bull will appear; should you kill this
creature, it will release a special icon that will slowly
float towards the top of the screen. Grab this icon before
it ascends off screen and your character will be powered-up.
One icon will turn you from a generic, skinny little man
into a reasonably fit hero. The second icon that you acquire
will turn you into a big strong, powerful, body-building
dude. Finally, should you gain a third icon, you will be
transformed into one of the five different creatures in the
game. The boss creatures only appear after you have attained
three of the power-up icons. Otherwise, the level will
continue on endlessly; the longer you take, the more
difficult the enemies becomes.
There is a particular creature that you can become in each
stage of the game. Stage One, which takes place in the
graveyard where you had been buried, demands that you learn
the skills of a Werewolf. Stage Two allows you to take a
break from punching and kicking and fly around a dark cavern
as a dragon. Stage Three takes place in a pit-filled cave,
and asks that you become an oaf of a bear in order to make
it out alive. You'll roam the corridors of Stage Four as a
Tiger, and conquer the final enemy in Stage Five as the
magnificent Golden Werewolf. Every creature controls
differently and has different powers. This is probably the
most appealing aspect of the entire game; unfortunately,
should you attain the first three power-up icons that you
come across, the boss will appear almost immediately after
your transformation has taken place. In other words, you
won't get to enjoy being a creature for very long. Before
you know it, the level will be over and you'll be nothing
more than a skinny walking dead guy again.
The transformations aren't the only worthwhile element in
Altered Beast, however. The game allows for two players to
give it a go simultaneously. Destroying a blue bull will
release two power-up icons rather than one, and the second
player will morph into creatures of different colors than
the first player.
Of course, the graphics and sounds in Altered Beast are very
noteworthy. The boss creatures were most impressive when
this game was originally released. These guys were
incredibly huge, and oftentimes repulsive. The powers of the
Genesis were put to good use when it came time for these
end-of-level battles. The music in Altered Beast appealed to
me even more than the graphics, however. The slow, low key
tunes provide the perfect backdrop for this slow, dark video
game. The voices were extremely effective as well. Right
before a boss appears, you hear your enemy's voice say,
"Welcome to your doom!" You've got to understand that this
seemed extremely cool the first time I heard it; after all,
Bowser and Ganon had never taken the time to talk to me or
threaten me.
While Altered Beast certainly has its moments, the game is
incredibly repetitive and disgracefully short. Kick every
enemy that pops up, use a simple trick to annihilate a boss,
and move on to the next level. There are little intermission
scenes (more like intermission "images") that appear in
between levels. These simply show the evildoer turning the
kidnapped girl into a bird (don't ask me why he's doing it).
Don't worry though - she'll only have to remain a bird for
the ten minutes or so that it'll take you to get through the
game; beat the bad guy and she'll be back in her normal
human form in no time.
Once you do conquer the game and see what kind of powers
each different creature has to offer, there really isn't any
reason to return to Altered Beast. Good graphics can only
carry a game for so long. Altered Beast is sorely lacking in
depth and challenge. There are no secrets to be discovered
in the game; no hidden paths to explore. Each time you play
it, you'll experience the exact same game over and over again.
While I gave Altered Beast a respectable rating of 6, I took
into account the fact that the game was somewhat
revolutionary in its own right, and that there is some
nostalgia value to this cart. However, should younger
players who weren't around to experience the Genesis in its
heyday give this game a try, those factors I just mentioned
will mean absolutely nothing to them. This is the kind of
title that has a place in every expansive video game library
- where it can constantly remain sitting and be remembered
for what its value was in the first place.
Overall: 6 / 10
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