MiSTer FPGA - Altered Beast (獣王記) [1cc] / Sega System 16 Arcade
0Altered Beast is one of the most misunderstood arcade classics out there. To understand the game you have to know the spectacle that it represented at the time, and the huge leap in graphics & presentation it represented in comparison to what people had in their homes in 1988.
See: https://bit.ly/3jte3wO
Shinobi released in arcades one year prior, and the fidelity in graphics from even that was a huge leap. This is a game that was meant to draw eyeballs wherever you saw it. The large detailed sprites, character and enemy animations, scaling effects for bosses and enemy limbs flying apart when you defeated them, were something very magical when this first hit arcades. Sega made you dream of what may be possible in the future for arcades and home consoles alike.
The game takes heavy cues from pop culture at the time. This is also key in understanding the high appeal of the game when it released, and many years after. Michael Jackson's Thriller was released 6 years prior, and still a worldwide phenomenon. It's still the best selling album of all time. Movies and television shows veered heavily towards fantasy and horror, with all manner of fantastic beasts filling theater seats worldwide. And when leaving those movies, often times you would see an Altered Beast arcade cabinet sitting in the lobby, waiting for you to take part in a fantasy adventure of your own. These machines were everywhere- corner stores, supermarkets, bars, roller skating rinks.. everyone wanted a piece of the action.
I fully understand why some folks may not like the game. It's punishing, and unfair in ways. This stems from Sega's use of hitboxes on crucial enemies- namely the wolves that you need to kill in order to "POWER UP!", and eventually get to the stage boss. Pretty much all other enemies in the game, including the bosses, are actually relatively simple once you learn their movements and patterns. The white wolves have a gimmick where they will regularly change up this pattern in order to consume your quarters, as they are a necessary part of progression through the levels & do boss damage. The hitboxes are made intentionally wonky, especially during movement. This is made worse by the fact that many of the later encounters with them change so that they move non-stop through the screen without pausing. Learning to deal with this, is the biggest obstacle in Altered Beast. Once you have a strategy in place to handle them, it's not so bad. It requires repetition and memory of where they spawn, to grasp how to handle the different encounters. You can use tricks like bumping into the non-stop ones in order to stop them momentarily and secure the power-up.
Over 30 years since first playing, this video is my first time clearing it in one credit. Feels pretty damn good.
Sega System 16 beta core by Jotego. You can support his efforts to bring arcade classics to MiSTer at his patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/topapate
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Sega System 16 beta core 07-30-2021 build - Altered Beast (獣王記)
Filter: Scanlines(Bright)\110_80_soft // Gamma: Poly 2.4
Played using a Hori Real Arcade Pro VX-SA (with Seimitsu LS-62 lever) arcade stick & 1ms USB polling.
Video: Integer scaled to 1080p // HDMI to Datapath e1s capture card
Volume reduced 63% (Very loud game!)
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|:=-Timestamps-=:|
00:00 - Boot
00:18 - Title / Demo
01:25 - Full Game (1cc)
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Occasional livestreams on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/WalrusFPGA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalrusFPGA
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None of this would be possible without the constant hard work of Sorgelig. It cannot be overstated how much he has done and continues to do for this project, since its beginning. You can support him either at his Patreon in the link below, or on Paypal depending on your preference. MiSTer is a paradigm shift in how we can experience these classic games. This is a long-term preservation project that will continue to grow so that gamers today and in the future can experience these excellent systems as accurately and lag-free as possible. Donating what you can will help keep the updates coming. Thank you.
Patreon: https://patreon.com/FPGAMiSTer
PayPal: https://paypal.me/FPGAMiSTer
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Github link for this core: https://github.com/jotego/jtcps1
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I have personally ordered all my parts from https://www.MiSTerAddons.com and have been 100% satisfied with the quality and service there. (North American seller. Different region? Check list linked above for best local shipping rates.)
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