How? How do you mess up Altered Beast? Somehow they found a way with the PC Engine version. By now everyone agrees that Altered Beast was not a good game. The best thing Sega ever did with it was pack it in with the Genesis. But while it is an average brawler it was at least charming. What little charm Altered Beast possessed is completely gone in this import only port and what you are left with is simply a bad game.
Altered Beast was one of many Sega arcade classics ported to the PC Engine in Japan. These ports were of varying quality, with some like Shinobi turning out excellent. Altered Beast should have been an easy slam dunk. Instead it is one of the worst of the bunch. Note that there is also a PC Engine CD version of the game. However it is simply the Hucard game with added cutscenes. I question why they even bothered. Ain’t anyone playing Altered Beast for its gripping story.
The first question many will wonder is how the presentation is. The PC Engine version of Altered Beast has its good and bad points. The sprites are nearly the same size as the arcade which is a feat in itself. They don’t animate as well but the game never excelled in that department anyway. Unfortunately almost all of the backgrounds feature new art and look worse. All layers of scrolling are absent and many background elements are simply missing. The game takes a massive hit in the sound department as well. The sound effects are weak and all of the voice clips are missing. You don’t notice how much subtle sound bits add to a game until they are missing, making this a weaker overall title.
Unlike most brawlers Altered Beast moves at its own pace. The game moves at a slow pace as minor enemies spawn to wear you out. The cannon fodder is just a distraction as you wait for the two-headed wolves to appear and drop a power orb. At its core this has always been a simple game and it never pretended to be anything otherwise.
Somehow the already slow gameplay is even worse in this version. The game scrolls at a lethargic pace and the enemies aren’t any better. But worst of all are the sluggish controls. There is a delay when performing most actions which makes an already frustrating game worse. The delay in your actions makes certain enemies a nightmare to deal with. The Headless Horrors of the initial level are almost impossible to deal with using normal kicks and punches. That continues for the length of the game, just replace the enemy. As much as I lament the average gameplay at least Altered Beast was quick and easy to jump into. Not so here. You have to overlook some heavy flaws to enjoy it.
The one saving grace were the beast transformations. All of the jank was worth it when you finally collected three orbs and went through that cool transformation. For the most part that still intact. The impact of the transformation is lost a little bit when you hear the terrible beast scream. But other than that once you change the game becomes tolerable. You just have to put up with its flaws long enough to reach that point.
Even though it was a short game Altered Beast was a little difficult. It was an arcade game after all. They myriad control issues this port has make an already tough game worse. The large sprites are impressive but from a gameplay standpoint is a detriment in this game. Dodging attacks is near impossible; the second boss in particular can drain your life in seconds if you are hit even once. That actually applies to almost any enemy. Enemies can juggle you to death which is not fun and happens way too often. To an extent the arcade game had the same problem but it is more pronounced here. The gameplay was already lacking as is and yet somehow the developers made it worse. Incredible.
In Closing
The Turbo Grafx was in need of brawlers. Sadly this ain’t it. Leave this version of Altered Beast to obscurity seek your beat em up thrills elsewhere.
