14 DAY TRIAL // For some time, we've been playing games that have no place in modernity here, at Softpedia. This is the direct result of getting access to the SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection, which contains such old-time gems like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe. But the game in the pack that has (re)captivated me the most has been one that is, in part, better than worse than those classics at the same time. It's Altered Beast, a title that I have only played on arcades and then promptly forgotten about (probably because I was less than able to master it at the tender age of about 13).
Rediscovering Altered Beast is a sort of revelation. The game implements a lot of great ideas. First of all, it has level-up mechanics. By picking up the Spirit bubbles that appear after defeating certain enemies, you can upgrade the overall abilities of your character, making them more capable of projecting power. It's not like in the other beat-'em-ups where picking up stuff either increased your health or offered you the chance to deploy a special attack, it's actually more complex, as “leveling up” is designed to allow a better, overall survivability. It's all primitive enough, but seeing the Centurion develop and become a tough beast left a deep impression on my psyche when I was young and now shows how easily you can implement a sort of evolutionary mechanic in the most basic of games.
Secondly, it has the co-operative play, which actually pushes the players to communicate. Back in the arcade era, most games could be played by two people, but rarely did they really work together as a team, covering their backs and actually talking and sharing the items that the game dropped for them. In Altered Beast, the way characters evolve makes it more beneficial to have two characters that are equally powerful than having a tough one and one that is relatively powerless. The upgrades, which emphasize the ranged attacks, also allow for two players to actually completely cover the playing area and provide simple visual cues for how team work beats solo play.
It's not much by today's standards, but Altered Beast is easy to grasp by a lot of people and also offers some interesting mechanics. There's even an Xbox Live Arcade version that has been recently released, which offers the added attraction of online leaderboards and that is the most appealing choice for all those interested in experiencing Altered Beast for the first time.