Altered Beast Series Review and Retrospective - Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, GBA, PS2 - Kim Justice

[@Kim_Justice]

If you liked this then think about having a gander through my social media, and get yourself on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/KimbleJustice

[@Larry]

I only found out recently, there's a cheat on the Mega Drive port that remixes the beasts on each stage. So you can play as the bear on stage 1 etc.

[@FroMarty]

Would the dragon be a bit of a game breaker on levels it's not built for?

[@AT-gk1tw]

Larry Bundy Jr woah its larry! Im a fan

[@rabidrabbitshuggers]

“WISE FROM YOUR GWAVE.”

[@Ducksauce33]

Awesome content. Make some more. Thumbs up so Kim Justice knows how much we like the content of the content.

[@Kim_Justice]

+Ducksauce Why you little...

[@Ducksauce33]

+Kim Justice :)

[@ciscovaiese7535]

+Kim Justice did you know the original altered beast was release on xbox 360 in sonic gems collection with the genesis version on the same game

[@UNKANNYENTERTAINMENT]

this game was the reason i bought a genesis !!! This game was awesome on console and arcade!!! a true classic!!

[@GretaA.]

I was so hoping you'd talk about the good things in PAB, but i'm surprised you hate it, as well. I thought it was nice that the team wanted to do a new spin, and it made the game genuinely creepy.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

AB on the Genesis is all the Altered Beast I'll ever need.

[@diegofloor]

Really good video. "Jump at birds for 5 minutes" What a deep and complex game.

[@manuelkanakaris64]

its nittpicking at its purist sure it was anoying but when i was 6 years old i got past that part, this idiot makes a review of a game he has obviously barley played..

[@sinbysin666]

Beast Mode probably comes from the CGI animated cartoon Beast Wars. Which has a pretty interesting licensed game on the PS1. Also about transforming into beasts.

[@mechamania]

CaptainAtomSmasher Altered Beast was made in 1988, and Beast Wars (Transformers) debuted in 1996. So...

[@OfficialTruDru]

@@mechamania he wasn't a thought then that's why he said that.

[@higgins007]

At the time, it was the sprite size which gave this game appeal. It was really something new and impressive to have such big sprites on a console.

[@OhNoItsBo]

used to play this on my fathers sega console when i was like 8 this gave me major nostalgia

[@JohnSTF72]

I never thought Altered Beast was an amazing game, but i enjoyed playing it.The overall presentation, big sprites, fast gameplay and the sound ("Wise from your Gwave" as Kim would say it) make the game have its own charm as a whole, despite its simplicity.

[@pliniomsann]

When I was a kid, I just had access to the Master System version, and I loved at that time, all of my friends also loved, had lots of fun... it's a mix of feelings seeing people bashing the game today...

[@myhamismad]

Thumbs up for the Matthew Sweet reference. Really under-appreciated Canadian act

[@kayeplaguedoc9054]

I remember when I first played the game in the arcade, I couldn't stop laughing at how as his muscles grew his body got bigger and bigger save for his head, which soon became tiny.

[@04dcd]

Easily a top 5 channel on KZbin. Thanks for the continued awesomeness Kim!

[@ShapeyFiend]

I always enjoyed a bit of Altered Beast. Best fun in 'hardest' mode on the Mega Drive in that it's really hectic but not as unfair as the arcade machine.

[@stickershock66]

You even included the Altered Beast dream sequence from Parker Lewis Can't Lewis. Absolutely complete.

[@franciscor390]

the research and productions of your videos are amazing.

[@daveruda]

The master system version is Moody. It was one of the first games I saw for the Master System...and the Music is quite nice. Slow, choppy but a good memory. The arcade looks and sounds good even today. Really impressive stuff they made on the arcade Machines in those Days. Nothing could compete with them.

[@Hairofthewolf]

Kim Justice to the old Altered beast video : "RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE"

[@ShabbaRanksMF]

I would say the only decent transformation is the first one as it's the only one they seemingly put any effort at all into. I remember having a pissy fit in an arcade the first time I saw the lazy transformations from the dragon onward! God damn them! I wanted my 50p back.

[@autobotstarscream765]

Shouldn't it be "Zeus damn them!"? 😂

[@JohnnyProctor9]

Best part of the MegaDrive version? The code that lets you play as any beast on any level adds variety and replay value! };-)>

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

I know it's been four... and a half years since this video came out, but I just wanna say I love how the GBA Guardians of the Realm looks. There's something about the choppy pre-rendered spritework that makes everything look like Ray Harryhausen claymation monsters and honestly that's an aesthetic that works for Altered Beast. So I just wanted to toss that out there - maybe its just me, or maybe there are others who see the accidental (because I doubt 3D6 was going for that on purpose) "claymation quality" there too.

[@duhmez]

I don't know how you did it, but you did a 30 minute video on ALTERED BEAST and somehow made it interesting and I was riveted the whole video. I was babysitting for my brother back then, and form nowhere he came home from work with a Genesis in hand and altered beast! hat an awesome babysitting time that was, unexpected! I could not wait to hook that shit up! It was awesome for a few hours playing and repaying until I beat it, then it got boring the next time I went over there. Once mastered I could beat it blindfolded.

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

I remember walking into an arcade on holiday and seeing altered beast for the first time. The graphics seemed incredible , especially the transformation scenes

[@BigWillChannel]

Brilliant video!

[@racerxgundam]

awesome job and this is the definitive review of altered beast on youtube!. you nailed it on the head, altered beast is a game that isnt "great" and doesn't have the best mechanics but somehow transcends all that and is a certified classic. As for fighting phallic shaped monsters....i can tell you never played shin megami tensei games. On one of the games for the SFC you LITERALLY fight a penis monster (not phallic-y based, but an actual monster/deity based on the wang) thats riding a chariot. whats sad is that this ISNT the nuttiest thing in that series. In another game, (i dun remember which) You also fight a deity of defecation/toliets too. He is depicted as a brown thing in the shape of a foot. God Bless Japan.

[@mediaglitch]

Why have I never heard of this channel. Awesome

[@Fattydeposit]

Sega often co-developed their arcade and home ports. Fantasy Zone arcade and Master System were literally made concurrently.

[@Rickles]

"This makes me glad series like Streets of Rage stayed dead" Sega: "Hold my beer"

[@marmilaied5218]

@Rick: SoR 4 is good, though....

[@Skelta75]

Great review though it's a little disappointing that you barely mentioned the superb 3DS port by M2! It's based on the MD version but has the option for random transformations and the sterescopic effect is easy on the eyes. Pretty much my favourite version!

[@01retardo]

superb as always, so well produced and detailed.

[@darientellez3884]

Project altered beast is good. Why is everyone complaining!!!?

[@ArabKatib]

Kim Justice.. you did Altered Beast justice! :^) Thank you. :-)

[@jeroenverplancke1661]

I think that "deformed penis" is supposed to be a sandworm from Arrakis!

[@_Tzer]

finnally a youtuber that does all the altered beast games also i figured out something project altered beast has the strengths and weakness's thing and i kinda like project altered beast hmm well the idea of flying around and the bear is funny

[@_Tzer]

i mean on the project altered the bear can paralyze you with farts and breathe you to stone and go on a kung fu rolling ranpage and the bosses are great ideas the game is hard sonic 06 is more to me so bad its ridiculously funny example u can skip the game and beat it quickly or go crazy or have eggman look funny

[@_Tzer]

also i mean originally if ur going by game theory sonic was crazy killing animals life support running past the speed barrier attack a fat man so were the crazy ones not the characters in fact sonic unleashed says not to give into the darkness guess what we do kill everything and glitch so sonic does give into the darkness

[@theconsolekiller7113]

Great videos. Altered Beast is a fuckin classic for me, but not solely based on gameplay alone. The gameplay is not that strong when you break it down. This was the pack in game with my sega genesis. I had seen the game in arcades and was coming off the NES. I was blown away seeing an arcade game like that at home, and looking near identical to me (I didnt have side by side comparisons available). What really sealed it for me was the music and atmosphere of the game. The bosses had a sinister design and the whole vibe was dark and mysterious. The first boss especially had an impact on me. The level of detail, size and sinister look of the enemy. Coming off of NES games this was mind blowing. Other than that its a short game with not much to the gameplay. I had a fuckin blast with it as it was my only game for a while on the system and I was really immersed in its world and atmosphere, music.

[@AT-gk1tw]

TheConsole Killer i agree 👍

[@SuperHns]

Saw a typo in the end, says team SINOBI, when its cleary SHINOBI

[@Guernicaman]

It's a true travesty how games like Project Altered Beast & Golden Axe Beast Rider turned out. At the time devs had games like Devil May Cry & God of War which could've served as an inspiration when it comes to gameplay & mechanics. They may have not been anything ground-breaking, but then again, neither was the original arcade game (not exactly) & they at least would've certainly been at least playable!

[@KageMaxwell]

My cousins, brother and I called the Chicken Legs monsters 'Chicken Stingers'. We just thought the name fit them better.

[@Cuzjudd]

I loved the Amiga version, definitely one of my favourite games on that platform

[@toofine9]

Altered Beast was the very 1st genesis game i play and i remember being blown away from the sound at the beginning of this video..coming from the nes..that sound was very powerful and made me wanna flex my muscles in the mirror

[@nicodemusedwards6931]

I played PS2 Altered Beast... and once I got Dragon it was all worth it.

[@Timii240830]

Another awesome video mate! Love the arcade and megadrive altered beast nostalgia overload!!!

[@derekwilson8898]

I think the ports for those at the time ancient computers like Spectrum and C64 look amazing all things considered as they were decrepit by then, I also think they both look so much better than the Nintendo version

[@dennett316]

Huh...just realised something. The howl of the wolf transformation sounds just like the howl of the wolf from An American Werewolf in London.

[@secondghost]

"Power up!"

[@mv0gel]

Welcome To your doom . Brazil is here

[@AugustAPC]

Those PS2 transformations scenes look awesome. Fuckin' gory and twisted. Honestly I'd like to own the game just for those.

[@boke75]

The Amiga port of Altered Beast was the absolute pits of the world ! Abysmal ! The arcade (original) version was so awesome, though !

[@Anu_Sol]

Wise fwom your gwave!

[@CanadianPenny]

What do you think of the colour swaps and voice swaps some people are doing to the MD version? They seem to make the good point that the MD port could have been more faithful to the arcade version, even when rushed in 1988.

[@scottchampyan9349]

Your comment about beast mode. The cherry on top of the sundae.

[@DJTwenty2020]

Brilliant... As Always! Keep up the great work! Altered Beast had sentimental value to me being the tie in title I had with my Sega Megadrive!

[@iwanttocomplain]

What was the clear liquid on that kids face when he woke up? Did I see the door close hurriedly in the background?

[@djaevlenselv]

You mentioned that the Amiga version was a port of the Atari ST version. How come you didn't show that one? It seemed a bit conspicuous by its absence. Also, I wasn't aware that there was a rivalry between Amiga people and Atari people. Is that something you go into in another video, or was the mention just a case of "you should already know this"?

[@michaeljarcher]

The C64 version was unable to run the music and handle the scrolling, due to the 25%+ CPU needed to run the music. It was a shame.

[@Diablokiller999]

Give Altered Beast to Platinum Games -> Instant Hit! :)

[@donboy65]

This game was a case in which I prefer the Arcade version over the Genesis/Mega Drive version (I've actually played both, the former through the game Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, from which I also played the latter, which I played through a Sega collection game for the computer). The reason I prefer the Arcade version is very simple: my problem with the Mega Drive version was that it lacked continues (being able to continue after running out of lives). The Mega Drive version does have awesome music though. I personally think that Sega did have a bad habit of having some games not have continues (such as Super Thunder Blade and Comix Zone, and even arcade games like Alien Syndrome and Fantasy Zone especially, at least when you play them through Ultimate Genesis Collection). There were Mega Drive games that did have continues (albeit only a set number, unless it can be adjusted in the Options menu), such as the Mega Drive port of Golden Axe 1. Also, your videos are pretty informative. As a gamer, I am certainly impressed.

[@vgbouncehouse]

Since you've mentioned it a few times you may need to do a video on why Amiga fans were disappointed by Atari ST ports. Back then we'd say a game suffered from "ST-portitis" infected by 16 colors, CPU-only graphic effects. We were hard on Amiga exclusives too, I constantly whined about lack of halfbrite & overscan usage. 😃

[@Henrik_Holst]

Agreed. Looking at the video when the Amiga version was displayed I was like "looks like a ST port", and lo and behold :). That we Amiga users complained about the ST ports where not without good reasons.

[@cakestalker]

Yeah, ST ports were annoying to get on Amiga.. 16 color graphics and if you were lucky they included hardware-scrolling, larger screen area and resolution and better sound.. and in some rare instances they actually optimized the Amiga version with more colors in the background tiles and\or sprites.

[@PenguinDT]

I wouldn't mind a proper re-imagining of this one. Seriously Sega, hire Platinum Games to have at it.

[@Ninjistic]

the shinobi reboot on the ps2 was actually an excellent game.

[@Edgereader]

First game i played on the Mega Drive, still like it.

[@DhiscoStu]

Fantastic vid as always. I love that you make the effort :)

[@PlaynationGames]

Kim you are the best but how do you fill 30 minutes about altered beast. Ok I will watch

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Project: Altered Beast at least had some great transformation cutscenes. Unfortunately, they are also unskippable, so their greatness becomes grating.

[@penyuwan]

I still have Sega Master System version, it has 4 level excluding the were-bear level.

[@penyuwan]

ben owen because it was a birthday present I receive in 1988 and it still works and still enjoys playing it.

[@inputfunny]

+ben owen Did you ever think the game means something to +penyuwan since it was a present? The Genesis/Mega Drive version is trash too. Lol.

[@andy6576]

Great vid as always, Kim. I subbed last week and have been playing catch-up. The detail and facts in your content is amazing and your channel is frankly AWESOME. Unlike "Altered Beast", I _never_ saw its appeal, I find it sluggish and tedious.

[@toastedzombie9802]

I really dig your videos!! I am a HUGE sega fan and appreciate the videos that you feature based around the systems! Keep up the awesome work! I really wish Altered Beast was available on NTSC systems (for PS2) I know it's a piece of shit, but I wish I could own it--just because! Also may I ask...not for the sake of being rude but I am genuinely curios because I noticed it in a lot of your videos...Do you have Rhotacism? which is the ability to pronounce the letter "R"

[@retroarchives8379]

Looks like you forgot the PC version of the game.Only 16 colors, but with Adlib sound, and it is actually more faithfull than the other computer ports (where you only had two steps of transformation).

[@RE_314]

Great video, quite complete on the subject, thanks Kim!

[@GreatLakesVista]

Nice altered beast coverage other than all Rs spoken with a W sound.

[@afc-razor-8489]

I never liked this game on the mega drive it just seemed like a master system background with a mega drive charcter, but the energy you put into your videos gives me more enjoyment watching this then playing it for real.

[@krissymarklewis1793]

oh yeah....great spectrum conversion too.

[@5ynthesizerpatel]

Altered Beast Walkthrough: Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick Walk right, Kick

[@mulderscully3707]

This game seems very interesting and cool. I'm gonna play it very soon! Great video man.👍👍👍🎮

[@autobotstarscream765]

Kung-fu bears are actually a semi-common thing in Japanese pop culture, such as Kuma from Tekken, even Pokémon has them. 🐻

[@AndreEichstedt]

Hi Kim, In my opinion it is one of the best Games for Sega. ;-)

[@justagundam]

I think a modern Altered Beast can work. It just needs to be...not what the PS2 version was.

[@akumagouki8668]

the ending reminds me of castlevania lol

[@glennjosechristman4612]

I can say that the first "Altered Beast" game is the virgin version, like the "Altered Beast: Guardians of The Realms" game is the chad version.

[@crazyninjaturtle3]

Amazing video. Shinobi series next (mega drive, game gear, saturn, ps2 and game boy advance)?! hehehehehe

[@Anonyhouse]

Altered Beast, Shadow of the Beast, Devil Crash.... Megadrive had some hellish games straight out of a horrific cannabis-induced bad trip.

[@pjomayo]

I always hated Altered Beast;but after seeing you video regarding the GBA version ;i want to check it out.AM1 excelled with Golden Axe ,though.Even Alien Storm was decent,in small doses.

[@luispollitolopez2284]

+kim justice this is one of my favorite games

[@fightercal2736]

Altered beast ps2 was my favourite altered beast game

[@Razamaniac]

21:37 this is actually the wurm from dune .... dude ... and project altered beast is the only game you can actually play a real werewolf, yeah its an old game with many flaws but one that really should be revived by a way more sophisticated version

[@daddysaso]

I don't get why people really hate the PS2 Altered Beast, at least appreciate the soundtrack God damn it.

[@manuelkanakaris64]

me neither its really nostalgic to me i could not finish the game though i was really young

[@daddysaso]

The gameplay and controllers can indeed be bullshit at times, but it was still a really enjoyable game (that's my personal view, at least). The soundtrack is awesome too, it really gives the game a beautiful atmosphere.

[@manuelkanakaris64]

+Tommy yeah very dark and mysterious as a kid back then i freaked out and intrsrested at the same time btw do you like dragon ball?

[@daddysaso]

captain heebie Yeah lol. I think I became addicted to Dragon Ball too much recently to the point that people ask me if I'm a Dragon Ball fan out of nowhere haha.

[@creationzikaz4836]

Your content is very good quality. Thank you!

[@MrBoBoTom]

Very informative video, thank you.

[@ralfvanbogaert3451]

Another great vid Kim.

[@Novabug]

Glad you didn't focus on the cpc version. It's scrolling is terrible. Looks good, but painful to play.

[@Toasty667]

Scrolling was an issue with that machine on other games too. Try playing Turrican on the CPC, then switching to the c64 version. You can feel the relief.

[@Novabug]

Programmed right, it could do it well. The R-Type remake is a prime example. The C64 had hardware scrolling so it always had that one. however, the colours were far superior.

[@kutulukutu]

Great vid, thanks for this😀

[@fredm2144]

Great stuff as usual... Thanks!

[@MoteofLobross]

Hah! Forgot about that one episode of Parker Lewis.

[@scottchampyan9349]

I enjoyed this video of Altered Beast.

[@alexstokoe2542]

Altered Beast always reminds me of Sick Boy - 'No, it's not bad, but it's not great either. And in your heart you kind of know that although it sounds all right, it's actually just shite.' I still forget that, and play it through once every few months, though. Alex 0 Altered Beast 1.

[@Fellipe2k5]

Yes!!!! Thanks for the video!!!! Made my day!!!!

[@autobotstarscream765]

What were they thinking changing Altered Beast from a parody of those cheesy B-movies loosely based on Greek mythology to ripping off Resident Evil!?