Virtual Console Wrap-up – 9/28

Apologies for our absence last week, but not too many of us had too much experience with Last Ninja 2 from the C64 (aside from Mr. Lucard, who called it the best Commodore 64 title ever) but we’re back this week with another new release: Altered Beast, the arcade version.

Altered Beast
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Original Release Date: 1988
Cost: 1000 Wii Points.

Christopher Bowen: Are you serious, Nintendo and Sega? No, seriously. Are you fucking serious? A shitty arcade game that hasn’t aged well since it started to stink in the early 90s, and for $2 more bucks than the (also shitty) Genesis version? Seriously?

I have nothing more to say. Don’t waste your time or money on this garbage.

Charlie Marsh: It’s a nostalgia buy really. If you liked this game way back when and want the arcade version, which really isn’t all that different from the Genesis version, aside from the $2 markup, then go for it. Not a must-have though.






M.L. Kennedy: It’s like this game keeps rising from its grave.

(see, cuz the voice said this thing. . .)

Though, I never noticed any real difference between the two, if we are allotted unlimited quarters it might be worth choosing the Arcade version over the Genesis.

Then again, I already own three copies of this game, and don’t really care for it.

I won’t be purchasing it.

Aileen Coe: Yeah, definite pass, especially since you can find the game in other compilations if you wanted to play it that badly. It’s not like there’s 200 points worth of differences (or much of any, really) between this version and the Genesis version.

Well, unless you have a thing for exploding limbs…actually, scratch that, still not worth the points even in that case.


Mark B.: Of the three versions of Altered Beast I’ve played, the Master System version is the hardest (single player only, four continues, and bosses take like an hour to fight each), the Arcade version is the prettiest (the graphics are cleaner than the Genesis version, and there are some animations and effects the Genesis version lacks), and the Genesis version is the most interesting (as it includes cheat codes that let you choose what beast form you use on each level and a level select). So, basically, if you want the prettiest game of the lot, this is the version to buy, but the Genesis version offers more interesting features to fool around with.

Personally, I have no problems with Altered Beast, as it’s still a fun, if a short, side-scrolling action game with a neat gimmick, but it’s archaic, and you probably don’t need to play it if you haven’t done so yet. Both the Genesis and arcade versions of Altered Beast come with Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection and the PS2 version of the Sega Genesis Collection, as well, so if you have access to a PS2, a 360 or a PS3, you can play BOTH versions of Altered Beast as well as a whole bunch of other games for only a little bit more than this game costs. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate the effort, as I do love the whole “let’s release arcade games” mentality here, but I think I’d sooner see something like an arcade version of Shinobi Shadow Dancer or Outrun, where there are significant enough differences to make owning the arcade version worthwhile, rather than this.

Wii Ware this week features Arkanoid Plus!, a remake of the arcade and NES homage to Breakout for 600 points and Driift Mania (for some reason, that’s not a typo), which looks similar to such games as R.C. Pro Am and Micro Machines for 800. Not a bad week for Wii Ware, but we hope the VC has a bit more to offer next week.


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