So I picked up a Sega Genesis from a local thrift store and bought a copy of Altered Beast to get some old-school nostalgia gaming going on.

I hadn't played this game in nearly 20 years. I could only remember the first level, transforming into a wolf, and the second level, transforming into a dragon. There was a reason for this.

I had assumed, that since I was much younger then and did not have a complete understanding of how to play games well, that I would now be able to get further into and eventually beat this game.

Not a chance in hell. I still cannot get past the second level. It turns out it wasn't a matter of skill on my behalf, but of sheer difficulty on its own. Enemy placement is predictable, but they have as much attack range as you do as a human, and there seems to be no way to earn extra lives (is this right?). I feel like if I get hit by a boss (which takes a whole life piece) I might as well start over. It's brutal.

So as it turns out, Demons' and Dark Souls are a walk in the park for me, but this 24 year old game will still whip my ass. Put another point on the board for old-school gamers.

POWUUUUR AWP

For real. You think you'd be a better gamer as an adult but more often than not you were probably better as a kid in certain aspects.

I've played the original, it was tough to beat but fun. I felt like I had beast blood. I always liked the box art of the game.

I wish the reboot was released in America. I probably would have enjoyed it back in the ps2 days. The transformations looked aswome and very painful.

POWUUUUR AWP

@Fallen189: classic

@falserelic said:

I've played the original, it was tough to beat but fun. I felt like I had beast blood. I always liked the box art of the game.

I wish the reboot was released in America. I probably would have enjoyed it back in the ps2 days. The transformations looked aswome and very painful.

Hold on, there was a reboot? Damn, I would have grabbed that game just because.

@Fallen189 said:

@lead_farmer said:

POWUUUUR AWP

R-R-R-R-RISE FROM YOUR GRAAAAAAVE

No thanks, I'll stay dead this time.

Yeah the console version felt like they tweaked it to be harder. I remember the arcade game being more balanced.

@psylah: Did you give yourself more life to start with? I remember having to press all three of the face buttons to open that up. Only way I could complete the game alone. I could be remembering wrong though.

@lead_farmer: Yeah there was a reboot called project altered beast, but it wasn't released in america.

I wish it did I would have loved to play this game...

There are some games I'm better at but ya the more arcadey games (like Altered Beast) are actually made to be that difficult. It's part of that quarter eating mentality of the 90s. 
 
I am still trying to beat Kid Chameleon. That game is a beast but I still think it's the best genesis game ever. I can get farther in it these days but I still cant beat it completely.

Key strategy to winning: Transform-> mash whatever button makes you invincible. C?

It's hard becouse it's shit.

@psylah: Believe it or not, the PSN version is very easy to S-rank.