Altered Beast

~ ALTERED BEAST ~

NEC Avenue / Sega

HuCard

1989

Before I purchased PCE Altered Beast, I'd seen screens of it lined up against caps from the Genesis version, and the comparisons left me disappointed with (and very critical of) the HuCard's visuals. So I was absolutely amazed to find that said visuals are actually extremely appealing when viewed firsthand, mainly thanks to the gorgeous colors the artists employed. And some of the foreground objects and backgrounds that I'd scoffed at ended up looking not so bad onscreen. Parallax scrolling or no, the PCE version of AB looks fantastic. In fact, the colors add so much to the experience that I'd say I prefer the graphics here to those in the Genesis game.

Familiar enemies and backgrounds look extremely nice in this version.

I was also shocked by just how wonderful the tunes sound. This was crucial: one of the main reasons I'd bothered to hold on to the practically worthless Genesis cartridge for many years was its quality music, which I thought would undoubtedly be stronger than whatever the PCE chip could manage to crank out. As it turns out, the tracks sound very rich here, "lacking" only the shrillness and tin of their Genny counterparts.

I wish I could play some of the tunes for you right now. I can't, so... here are some pics of a girl being changed into a bird instead.

And then there's the challenging gameplay. I had to memorize the level layouts, learning the exact locations where my enemies would appear and determining the most effective techniques to utilize against them. And the bosses in this version require that you come up with strategies; some schemes I devised actually made me feel proud, as each of the big beasts can really put up a fight. Yes, this is an Altered Beast that, believe it or not, actually makes you think.

Bosses we all know well. The eyeball guy who goes down so easily in the Genny game is a bastard here.

But make no mistake about it: this is rough-and-tumble stuff. While the Genesis AB was the laughingstock of every seventh grader back in the day because of how easy it is, the PCE version will pummel you over and over again. Using the directional pad rather than a button to leap might not feel intuitive to players weaned on the Genesis version (although I was surprised by how well it works). Much more of a concern are the enemies who'll knock you to the turf and stomp on your helpless avatar until your life has been drained completely. Frankly, the game can feel cheap at times, so just know what you're getting yourself into before you buy it. Heck, I love it and I've mastered it, but even I get pissed at it every now and then.

This is as far as most people get. I kid you not.

But I can forgive it for that stuff. In fact, it's a version of Altered Beast that I can actually say I own and enjoy for the game itself and not just for nostalgic purposes, which wasn't the case with the Genesis cartridge (which, by the way, I came to view as expendable and eventually disposed of, as the PCE version endeared itself to me so much that eighteen years' worth of Genesis-version sentimentality had been effectively obliterated).

Only the hardiest of champions will be able to earn the golden werewolf form and finish the job.