Beat Head Game Sample - Arcade (Prototype)
0Beat Head (also known as BeatHead) is a limited prototype that was made by Atari in 1993. According to...
http://mamereviews.hubmed.org/game/beathead
^ This game was never intended to be as limited as it was and was only meant to be out for a few days (after a test run, which was short and did not yield great success). As you might see from this video, this was during a time when Atari was still very "out there" in terms of ideas and concepts. You play with two guys who get disfigured by some freak when they are watching the television one day. Player one (the black guy) gets his head switched with that of a bird (because the bird is next to him). Player two (the white guy) gets his head switched with that of a dog for the same reason as the other guy (except with a dog obviously). The music is okay, but I personally didn't hear anything that would truly sell the "music and action" idea (combining rhythm and music with some sort of game interface).
The dudes are then tossed into a psychedelic dimension where you must hop to the beat and reach "13" points (you step on things to get your score, but it isn't clear why you need them). There are stage hazards like jump springs and teleporters that can aid or hurt you or help you. You can also bump your opponent and make them lose points. This proto seemed to get a relatively decent score by anonymous ratings. What do I personally think? As is, it is fairly repetitive, but it was said that the game wanted to be more than what it was. The concept is okay and the hazards help, so the game is playable. I'd say it is average.