Nintendo Life: Altered Beast occupies a strange place in Sega's library; when it was first released it garnered a lukewarm response, and its choice as a pack-in title for the freshly-launched Mega Drive / Genesis was a curious one — although its large, bold sprites were impressive for the time, it certainly wasn't strong enough in terms of gameplay to "sell" the console to the masses.
Rise from your grave, because it's time to take a look at one of Sega's earliest Genesis games. For many, Altered Beast was more than a pack-in with Sega's system; it was their very first 16-bit experience. Talk about disappointing. These days Altered Beast is mocked and considered one of Sega's worst Genesis games. Did the critics agree with this assessment when it first came out? We turn to Sega Pro, MegaTech, Mean Machines and Mega Drive Advanced to find the answer.
Ahh man... amazing game in its day. Was only a kid but it used to piss me off rotten if I missed a power up & then couldn't turn into one of the beasts lol
PREPARE FOR YOUR DOOM!!!
I spent so much money at Wal-Mart on this and other games as a kid although got a Sega Genesis later on ;)
For all that though one of my favorite games on the system had to be Mutant League Football! Hockey was cool too but not quite the same and the cartoon was a blast.
SEGA, can you just hire Vanillaware to make a new Altered Beast or Golden Axe?!
I definitely buy it day 1 if that's happening :3
It was a really short game, but everything in it was fun gorgeous to look at.
Wise Fwom Your Gwave!
For some reason I totally remember Dominick Diamond's comments about this game back in the day on the Channel 4 TV show GamesMaster:
Dominick: "Walk along, kick, walk along, kick, walk along, kick. What an experience!" :D
PixlBit | "Altered Beast was Sega’s showcase game for the Genesis debut, doing its best to attract extreme-minded 90s teens with its muscular protagonist who could transform into kick-ass werewolves and dragons. Although I was smack dab in the middle of the game’s focus group at the time, I was dorkier than Sega ever imagined and wasn’t interested in the least. With M2’s 3D conversion of Altered Beast hitting the 3DS, I figured it deserved another chance, and boy am I completely indifferent about my experience."
Pure Nintendo: "Early Genesis adopters may have fond memories of this game, but those of us who picked up the console once Sonic was leading the way probably don’t. I respect that some still consider this a classic, and I respect M2’s noble but ill-advised efforts. This game just isn’t for me though, and while sales may paint one picture, most critics echo similar sentiments. If you find Altered Beast in the arcade, spend a quarter or two and play it for old times sake or a laugh. But don’t spend $5.99 on a game you’ll beat once and rarely return to. Buy some of the other SEGA 3D classics instead."
Freakin classic, hope this is better.