Altered Beat was not a good game, let’s get that out of the way right now. While many have fond memories of it I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it’s because it was the Genesis’ initial pack-in title. For many it was probably also the first 16-bit game they played. It might as well have been a revelation compared to the NES titles we were used to. But once you get over the graphics it was strictly average. So how would an 8-bit Famicom version fare? Surprisingly well actually.
Once you get over the shock of seeing the Sega logo associated with an NES game you’ll find that this version of Altered Beast is far more ambitious than the arcade original. Since Altered Beast is an arcade game it was also structured like one and pretty short. The Famicom version adds a few more levels to make it a true console experience. That doesn’t mean it’s all great however. Altered Beast for Famicom still suffers from the same flaws as the original which brings it down overall. That being said it is still interesting.
Regardless of whatever memories you have attached to it Altered Beast was a simple beat em up at its core. Your unnamed protagonist is armed with a few melee moves to beat the slowly advancing hordes of enemies into submission. The arcade and Genesis versions were already frustrating as enemies attacked in groups and your slow attacks barely kept up. Here the smaller sprites make hitting enemies even harder. It also makes it easy to miss out on power-up orbs and have to cycle the level again. At least in this version there are less of them to contend with.
The real reason anyone tolerated the game was for its beast transformations and sadly their impact has been lessened. You don’t get the cool scene of the dude transforming, it just happens in unceremonious fashion. They look about as well as the Famicom can manage but I will say that the main selling point of the game is ruined by the system’s lack of power.
If there is one area that the Famicom title has improved over the other versions it is in its length. At 5 stages the game was insanely short, even more so if you collected all three power-ups in one run and fought Neff shortly after. There are three additional levels with new beast forms to match sprinkled throughout the course of the game to make this seem like a new game. The new animal forms (Shark, phoenix, and lion) are pretty cool and their end level boss designs are some of the best in the game. The content still has the same issues as the rest of the game but it does help make this a more well-rounded experience.
Ab was already a slightly difficult title but is made even more so by the dodgy hit detection. It’s all over the place. Since the sprites have been reduced in size the hit boxes are hard to line up. I have seen my fist and feet go completely through enemies with no effect. Meanwhile a punch that was widely off the mark somehow still registers. When it works in your favor its great I just wish it were more consistent. Because of the inconsistency you’ll take lots of cheap hits and miss out on the power-up orbs, forcing you to cycle through the level again. It’s a weird contrast since the levels are less populated but are no less frustrating.
Considering the differences in hardware the Famicom version of Altered Beast actually looks pretty good for what it is. The backgrounds have lost a significant amount of detail but still look similar. What took the biggest hit are the sprites. They have been reduced in size dramatically aside from the bosses. This lessens the impact of the beast transformations which was the game’s biggest selling point. It isn’t all bad however. The new transformations and their accompanying stages all look great which makes me wonder how much better the game would have been if it were completely original. I will say this though; its far better than the pathetic Master System port Sega produced which was choppy, flickering barely playable mess that didn’t even have all of the arcade game’s content. Let that sink in.
In Closing
I have a hard time grading this one. It is flawed like the original but not to the point the game is unplayable unlike the terrible PlayStation 2 game only released in Japan and Europe. The additional content really helps to make Altered Beast well-rounded and I enjoyed it. In the end it comes down to how much you really like Altered Beast and if you would like more of it.
