Altered Beast

[Darth Revan of the Sith]

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Title: Altered Beast
Style: Beat "Em Up
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Release year: 1988
Classification for review: 80's Arcade

[spoiler=My Review]
As a fan of 80's arcade I was stumbling around old one's until I came across this game one day. I recognized the title from a skit on Mega64 and immediately wasted no time in playing it. I was playing the Playstation Network version which differed little from the actual game except for it's controls. What I found was extroadinary!

Gameplay: The Gameplay of Altered Beast is excellent. Basicly, you control a roman centurion who is killed but ressurected by Zeus to rescue his kidnapped daughter Athena. There are five levels in the original version. The character runs around attacking all sorts of monsters while gaining dropped orbs from a certain enemy. These power up orbs give the character power and he gets stronger, three orbs turns him into an Altered Beast which gives him many abilities specific to each different form he takes depending on the level.
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Other than when being an Altered Beast, normal and powered up versions of the character can punch and kick and do a wide range of abilities. The serene gameplay revolves for a simple but effective 80's Arcade game that is surely a classic.

Multiplayer: As is with the multiplayer, two people can play together at once. Playstation Network has been kind enough to give me network play, online leaderboards and the works. Multiplayer was nice as the extra help was good for completing the game.
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The most intriguing thing I noticed though was the heightened difficulty level in multiplayer. Now I don't know if this was in the original and I don't even know if it was heightened or if I was having a bad gaming day, but it was good nonetheless.

Graphics: As with every 80's Arcade Beat 'Em Up, 2D graphics did not have its heyday in the 80's. However the graphics I saw in Altered Beast were terrific (Adding on the HD quality from Playstation Network). Action sequences were dazzling and the movement's from AI were astounding.

Artificial Intelligence: As for AI I must say I was equally impressed. I noticed a heightened reaction time among the AI in Altered Beast than I have in seen in many other 80's Arcade games. It did not feel like Mario where AI would droll around back and forth not noticing you until you killed them. However Mario is a totally different thing.

All in all this game is an instant classic! And for good reason too! I have been told that no version of Altered Beast was ever better than the original Arcade one. If this is true I wish I could play it.
I give it a 3/3
1-Bad
2-Mediocre
3-Good[/spoiler]

For those who have played the game, what do you think about it? What version did you play it on? And Why do you think it was good or bad?

Just a quick note: If you hate me unconditionally or think I am bad at everything I do then please just ignore my review of the game (I put it in a spoiler so you aren't forced to read it) I am not forcing anyone to read it, just to talk about the game.

[Lazer Yoshi]

I played Altered Beast on Sonic's Ultimate Game Collection for the 360. It certainly felt dated, but it was fun nonetheless.