Altered Beast Reviews – Reviews of Both the Genesis and Arcade Versions, Plus Cheat Codes for the Home Port!

For much of the 80’s and 90’s, the pack-in game for a console was of great importance. It set the tone for the system and showcased what it offered to consumers over the competition. For the Sega Genesis, one key focus of the system was to bring the arcade experience home. Having Altered Beast as the pack-in game at launch was a big part of that message.

First Impressions of the System

Upon startup we’re greeted with the SEGA logo with a neat shining effect, and then the first images appear. The wall in the background is detailed, with relief sculptures of over half a dozen characters clearly visible before the title text comes into view. Already, we can tell that this new system is different than what we may have owned before. The diversity and size of characters is much greater than what was possible on 8-bit hardware from Nintendo. Moreover, the font of the game’s title screen is crisp and the colors pop. First impressions are good!

Watching the attract sequence, there’s more to like. Two-player simultaneous gameplay is shown from the start, just like the arcade. Additionally, the two centurions who Zeus raises from the dead (the player characters) seem to move well, and even with multiple sprites on screen, there is no slowdown.

Starting the game up we immediately get going. Zeus tells us audibly, “Rise from your grave!” The voice sample isn’t perfectly clear, but it is still a good improvement over the NES. The music starts, and the quality is pretty close to the arcade game! The Yamaha YM2612 sound chip is bold and has its own flavor over the NES.

Just as an aside, I am a big fan of this game’s music, especially the themes for the little scenes between levels and the ending credit theme (click here for a video of the ending). Back in the day I beat the game repeatedly, partly so I could hear the ending that plays as Zeus’ daughter is brought back to you. I am still very nostalgic for it! In like manner, I am also a fan of Golden Axe’s credit music as well!

Looking at the graphics again, within a few seconds zombies appear, then multiple pillars, and the wolf beasts as well. The diversity of characters is impressive, as is the color depth of the graphics. Even early on in the game, there are a variety of shades on screen. A cursory scan shows blue, brown, green, grey, purple, and red all visible at once. This is a good step up from older hardware. As are the sprite sizes and amount of animation frames.

Control

Moreover, with the three buttons on the controller, movement options are more diverse and easier to access than before. Punches and kicks have their own dedicated button, without needing to press up to jump. Instead, both attacks and jump are all mapped to their own buttons. While having a third button doesn’t sound like a lot today, it was a quality upgrade for the control options at the time.

As the game progressed, it played like many beat ‘em ups of the late 80’s. Although your characters couldn’t move up or down the screen like in Double Dragon, you could still jump up to platforms in many stages. And while your move list was initially limited to punches, kicks, and a couple variations of each, being able to transform was a big deal.

Becoming an Altered Beast

After obtaining three spirit balls from the albino Three-headed wolves, your character transforms into one of five different beasts depending on the stage. These may be a werewolf, a weredragon (my favorite), a weretiger, or something else. My family always thought the werebear was hilarious! When the transformation was complete, your character would often have a projectile attack and another special move. In the case of the dragon, he had a super cool looking laser barrier. Each of these moves could be used an unlimited number of times and made fighting enemies much easier.

Playing as these characters is the true highlight of the game. Since most of the beast forms are so much stronger than being a human, playing as them is really satisfying. They also move much faster than when playing as a centurion, thus making the game more interesting to play during those times.

The Bosses

Speaking of interesting, one other positive aspect of the title is fighting the bosses. Once you’re transformed, the antagonist of the game, Neff (or a fake), transforms into a great monster and attacks you when you see him again during the stage.

His first stage form is famous as the hulking beast that is about half of the height of the screen and throws copies of his head down on the player repeatedly. Each boss has its own attack pattern and is entertaining to tackle as you learn to use your beast form to defeat it effectively. One of my most unintentionally hilarious moments in the game is when playing as the weredragon in stage 2. While Fake Neff is transforming, you can fly up close to where he will appear and keep using your laser barrier attack on him in rapid succession. Doing so will defeat him before he can even get any of his attacks to come near you!

Further Reflection

While all of this is pretty fun, and it was when I first played it, I don’t really think the game holds up much today. While the music is still good, the art design is classic SEGA, and the beast forms are entertaining, the title doesn’t have a ton of depth for players of today.

Since it was the pack-in game, the amount of data on the cart is small. There are only 5 stages in the game, and once you learn how to defeat the white wolves efficiently in each stage, you can fight Neff the first time you see him. This means you usually only have a few minutes of playtime before taking on the boss. And to make matters worse, you may only play as the beast for a minute or less before losing the power again!

To me, that is the biggest drawback of the game. After a few days, you can master the stage layouts and boss patterns, and then repetition and boredom set in.

Plus, I grew to dislike the controls for the game. Not the fact that it has three buttons, mind you. Rather, it’s that when playing as the centurion your movement is typically slow and the range of attacks is short. Often times I would try and punch or kick the enemy, miss because I am too far away, and then get knocked down by their own attack, or one of the charging wolves.

Cheat Codes

However, perhaps one thing that helps mitigate some repetition are the cheat codes hidden away in the Genesis version of the game. As a kid, I was a big fan of entering the Beast Select menu so I could just play as my favorite beasts on each stage. According to GameFaqs, holding down A, B, and C, plus down/left on the controller, and then hitting Start on the title screen will take you to this menu.

Additionally, Holding B and pressing Start brings up the Level Select. Holding A and C, plus up/right on the controller, and hitting Start turns on the Sound Test.

Finally, after a game over, holding A and pressing Start will continue the game from the last level you played.

All of these add a little more depth to the game, and are welcome additions.

Review of the Arcade Game

In preparation for this review, one thing I wanted to do was to also review the arcade version of Altered Beast and see how it compared with the Genesis port. This is because the arcade version of the game is included as an unlockable bonus game on Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360, which is the version I played for this review.

After starting the arcade version and seeing the original attract sequence, additional details are immediately apparent. For example, your punches and kicks have a more transparent look to them when you’re powered up. Furthermore, the spirit balls themselves feature a little transparent effect on them where it says “GET IT.”

After putting a couple quarters in the new effects are even more pronounced. At the beginning when Zeus speaks to you, the image of him scales in and out smoothly. Likewise, the smoke effect prior to you appearing on screen is larger and less choppy. There are a greater number of tombstones near the beginning of the stage, pieces of the Slow Feet zombies (Wiki) burst toward the screen when killed, the white wolves flash multiple colors constantly, when in beast form there are more frames of animation, and movement feels smoother and faster for your player character. Frankly, the arcade version just seems a bit better all around.

Essentially, the graphics are significantly improved over the Genesis version so that there is more visual feedback to the player and a smoother sense of control. This makes the game more fun to play compared to the home port. The main thing I dislike in the arcade version is the music and speed of the cinemas between levels. I really like how the music sounds in the Genesis version, and the arcade original just sounds wrong to me. I have similar feelings for the ending music as well.

Yet, I do think the arcade is significantly better than the Genesis version. The greater scaling effects when defeating enemies and the higher rate of speed makes things just a bit more fun to play. Because of this, even though the Genesis version was a big deal when it came out, and blew many of us away, I’d rather just recommend the arcade version a little bit more. Feel free to play the home port for the nostalgia and the music, though.

Title: Altered Beast (Arcade)
Genre: Beat ’em up
Year Released: 1988
Developer: SEGA
Played On: Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection on Xbox 360 through Xenia.
Price Paid: $0.13, or $6.84 for Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection.

Remember, we can have different opinions about the games we play. If you like something more (or less) than I do, both of our perspectives are valid.