For some of us, video games are like comfort food. You know it's bad for you, but something about it just makes you happy.
For a lot of people that grew up with a Genesis, Altered Beast seems to be one of those games. Originally released as an arcade game in 1988, Altered Beast eventually became a pack in game with Sega's new 16-bit console. It was ported to dozens of other consoles and computers as well, but for today, we are discussing the Genesis version. It's the one I played and the one I am most familiar with. I wasn't really a Sega kid growing up, but most people that were would always bring up this game as one they felt some affinity for. Today, it's looked at with a lot of fondness and nostalgia by those that played it when it first came out.
At the same time, even those that are nostalgic for the title recognize that it isn't actually that great. Even with all the nostalgia surrounding it, most Genesis fans recognize its not in the same category as Sonic or anything like that. It was a fun diversion and a way to relieve stress by punching zombies and turning into a wolf, but not much more. To be honest, I had never really played Altered Beast before this week. I'd heard so much about it, but never got a chance to experience this game. It's a rare case where I came in with my expectations tempered by its fans rather than inflated. I was told that while it may have been fondly remembered for nostalgic purposes, I shouldn't expect too much. It may have been a memorable game, but it wasn't great and I've heard from many people that it borderline wasn't good.
We will start with the story, which sees Zeus, the Greek god of Thunder, resurrecting a warrior to rescue his daughter Athena from the clutches of the evil Neff. That's about it, although the game does show you a few still frames in between levels to show you what's going on and progress the story. The warrior must traipse through five levels, each with a variety of enemies, to accomplish his goal. And unfortunately for him, it's a goal he is ill equipped to accomplish. You see, when you start out in Altered Beast, your attacks barely do anything. It can take two to three shots to take down one enemy, which is a problem because you are always being swarmed. You need to defeat the flashing beast enemies, as they drop powerups that increase your attack damage and range (and make you look comically jacked). Collect three and the warrior will transform into a beast, with each level showcasing a different transformation. Once you do transform, the tables are turned. You can clear out large swaths of enemies with the push of a button as you march ever slowly to the battle with the stage boss. It's simple, except its not at all.
The biggest problem here is the speed at which your character moves relative to the enemies. The enemies move slowly. But the warrior moves reaaaalllly slowly. Simply put, if you miss an attack you are going to take a ton of damage. Each attack takes so long to come out and retract that even if they do hit, the other enemies on the screen are probably going to hit you at least once. This is especially true of the horsemen and demons in the later levels, if you don't one-shot them they are almost definitely going to get a hit in on you. The frustration is even further compounded by the fact that you are basically useless unless you are in beast mode. Even with two powerups, your attacks are so feeble that you will need multiple hits on most enemies. Having an attack that is both slow and weak is problematic and it makes the game feel unbalanced at best an unfair at worst.
And that's made even worse by the straight up awful hit detection. Sometimes your attacks hit, sometimes they don't. It's especially bad against flying enemies, I could never consistently land shots on them. The controls as a whole are very stiff, jumping is a nightmare and everything feels delayed and unresponsive. Even when you enter beats mode it feels like you keep getting hit because everything happens so slowly and the inputs feel so delayed. It felt like more of Altered Beast's challenge came from fighting against the broken controls than it did from anything else. I should also mention the screen autoscrolls constantly, making it almost impossible to plan your attacks or get enemy timing down. It's good there really isn't any platforming, I think it would have made the game essentially impossible.
While it may be slow paced an poorly designed, the game is not without its charm. I'm not going to call the graphics great, but they are technically serviceable. More importantly, they are unique. When you see a screenshot of Altered Beast, you know exactly what game you are looking at. I'm not sure I've ever seen a game that looks quite like this, for better and for worse. The sound is great too, though the voice samples are horrible. It's a Genesis game from the 80's, what did you expect? Funny, that may be the worst part of the game yet it's what it's most known for (RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!). It's harder than it should be to get powered up all the way, but once you do enter beast mode it's a blast to just truck through hordes of enemies and take on bosses. The bosses all have really cool designs and feature some top tier graphics, though they are a bit too easy. All in all, it's the presentation and not gameplay the makes Altered Beast stand out.
Just because a game isn't technically good doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. A few years ago I gave Primal Rage a similar score to what I'm about to give here and I definitely go back and play that more often than some superior games. It holds a special place in my personal gaming story, even if it isn't actually good. I understand what drew people to Altered Beast back in the day. It's visual style, presentation and focus on what at the time were considered some suggestive themes were unique and a breath of fresh air in the arcades and on home consoles. It was extremely frustrating and limited, but I definitely had a few moments of fun across the relatively short five or so levels. If this game brings you joy, go ahead and keep playing it. However, I can't really recommend Altered Beast to gamers who want to pick it up and play it as something new. It's too short, too shallow and too frustrating.
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