Alt. Beast.

This blog has an admittedly romanticized view of the late 80's to early 90's period in video game history. As such most of the reviews consist of me talking about how much I missed a certain game, how much I enjoyed it and how much I enjoy it now that we have been reunited. Well get ready to rock the proverbial boat because this is not one of those.

Altered Beast for the Sega Master System was one of the first games I played as a kid. It was a time when my allegiances were squarely with Sega and I considered all their games, from this to My Hero and Sonic, way better than Mario and his motley crew of castmates. I would change my mind quickly with time but this is how it was at first, and I indeed enjoyed this game to no end.

The main plot is pretty simple: you play a skinny white dude who walks around in a leotard punching zombies and assorted greek mythological beings in hopes of getting power ups that at first make him stronger (insert steroid joke here) and later turn him into one of four beasts (one for each stage).

While the plot is exceptional (and even more so to a young child), time has not been kind to the game. The game itself is slow, the main character is erratic in his punches and groin kicks, jumping requires too much technique and even though most cyclops' can be killed with one punch their sheer number makes for one difficult game. The level of difficulty is admirable the technological limitations make for some frustrating gameplay.

This is only a problem when our hero is in human form, once he converts to beast (wolf, dragon, tiger or the lazily powerful golden wolf) he speeds up and strengthens dramatically. The problem with this is that the game is only fun when the main character is a beast, at other times it feels like you're simply controlling an imbecile. This is quite a shame because the game does have an exorbitant amount of win in it, from the standard man-saves-woman plot to the mythological setting, the bosses and the excellent cut scenes once the protagonist is, well, altered.

This is a game I really wanted to like, I really wanted to buy it again and I really had it high on a pedestal as one of the best games for the old Sega system. But even though the concept is great, so much so that there was a PS2 sequel with some great stylized beasts, I simply could not get over how badly it has aged. Maybe one day I'll have a few too many Sapporos and download it on a whim, for now though it is one of only a handful of disappointments.