Remake Project Altered Beast
Remake Project Altered Beast
The Issue
Altered Beast, or as it is known in Japan, Jūōki: Project Altered Beast, but more commonly referred to as Project Altered Beast, is an action-adventure beat 'em up game and a reimagining of the 1988 SEGA arcade beat 'em up game Altered Beast, which was then ported to the SEGA Genesis.
Like the original game, the gameplay in this version involves the main character transforming into different kinds of beasts. However, this reimagining has more of a gritty sci-fi body horror story, different characters, and a more modern-day setting, and some additional gameplay elements. So, basically, it has nothing to do with the original game, besides the fact that you can transform into various beasts. Plus, this game has some painfully grotesque pre-rendered CGI transformation scenes, which I'm pretty sure SEGA spent most of this game's budget on.
The original game had an Ancient Greek setting, where Zeus summons you, a Centurion, from the dead to rescue his daughter Athena from Neff, the demonic ruler of the underworld. But the arcade ending revealed that it was actually just a film shoot. The characters were actors, and some of them were in costumes. Although, technically, they were ALL in costumes. The Centurion's transformations were also costumes. There was also a Game Boy Advance sequel, Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms, developed by the now defunct 3d6 Games and published by THQ (now THQNordic) in association with SEGA, released in 2002, that was in the style of the original game and had new features, such as power-ups, new beast forms, and destructible environments. Anyway, this entirely different take on Altered Beast was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan and Europe in 2005, but a North American release was cancelled or banned.
Yeah, this game got some pretty low ratings when it first came out. Probably because it was made by a team of developers at WOW Entertainment (SEGA WOW) (formerly Team Shinobi in the late 80s and the early 90s, and Overworks (SEGA AM7), which would later be merged into Sonic Team) (now SEGA AM1) and SEGA Shanghai (currently trading as SEGA of China) that were new (and possibly inexperienced) at the time they started developing it and probably weren’t given enough time or resources to finish the game. That, and the game may have been trying a little too hard to be dark and edgy. (I guess that’s the 2000s for ya.) But I'm sure they went on to create much better games.
Anyway, in this remake, you play as Luke Custer, a kindhearted and honest soldier who is what is called a "Genome-Cyborg", a human whose DNA and other genetics have been artificially altered by micro-chips, which are called "Genome Chips" because they contain the genetics of other creatures that can transform him into different anthropomorphic beasts, and each beast has their own elemental powers. Luke has lost his memory and has to learn the truth about himself and the experiment that was put on him. It's a cliche although half-decent premise, but the story centered around it could have been a little more intricate, coherent and cohesive. There, I said it.
The Genome Chips you acquire for each beast throughout the game's story are Werewolf (Light), Merman (Water), Wendigo (Ice), Garuda (Wind), Minotaur (Fire), and Dragon (Thunder). The ones you get after you beat the game are Grizzly (Earth), U.W.H. (Unidentified Weightless Human) (Gravity), and Weretiger (Darkness). Here are some videos of the game itself:
Here's a few trailers of the game:
And here's one short video that talks about the game:
Oh! And here's the soundtrack:
*https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE38F12DDE5CCA603
And the ending theme:
I'm thinking that we need SEGA to make a remake of this game for current-gen consoles, next-gen consoles, and PC. They should also make a sequel. If we want SEGA to bring back Altered Beast in any way, shape or form, this is probably how they can do it. Here's how both this remake and its sequel could work:
- The announcement/teaser trailer should be a cinematic recreation of this trailer: *https://youtu.be/hf_cTEN93Mo
- Both games should be rated M for Mature.
- Both games should be co-developed by SEGA AM1, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and SEGA of China.
- Both games should add in more survival horror elements.
- Updated story with more fleshed-out characters.
- Remake the music, compose new music, and make new arrangements of music from the original Altered Beast and other SEGA arcade games, like Space Harrier, Hang-On, OutRun, After Burner, Super Hang-On, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Alien Storm, The House of the Dead, and Dynamite Deka.
- Fixed controls, especially camera controls.
- Both games should be open world, where you could roam freely around the city, talk to people, do missions, and play minigames and SEGA arcade games, including the original Altered Beast.
- Rename Foret City to Forest City.
- In both games, when you play as Luke (as Human), you could walk, run, jump, punch and kick, dodge-roll, interact with objects and people, use weapons (guns, close combat weapons, etc.), drive vehicles, and swim. You could enter the transformation menu anytime you want, on the ground, in the air, even within a vehicle (you automatically jump out/the vehicle gets destroyed in the process). Same goes for reverting back to Human (ground, air, etc.).
- Make the cutscenes (and the transformations) JUST as cinematic as the announcement/teaser trailer.
- Keep the gory CGI transformations, but maybe don’t have them play EVERY SINGLE TIME you transform, at least not during heated affairs with enemies and bosses. And make new transformation scenes for Weretiger. Just imagine how awesome it would be to fly a helicopter or a plane, chasing an enemy in the air, then jumping out, choosing a Beast Form in mid-air (time stops or slows down in the transformation menu), and going Garuda, Dragon, or U.W.H. (Unidentified Weightless Human) on the enemies.
- New Beasts (Genome Chips) and new transformations.
- Make Luke's Health, Spirit Energy (Beast Form), attacks, combos, and other Human abilities upgradable, along with each Beast Form.
- The player should be able to lock on to enemies and bosses.
- Garuda, Dragon, and U.W.H. (Unidentified Weightless Human) could actually fly freely in the sky.
- Werewolf, Wendigo, Grizzly, and Weretiger could climb buildings. (Werewolf and Weretiger would be faster, and Wendigo and Grizzly would be slower, but Wendigo and Grizzly would be harder to get knocked/shot off the wall.)
- Werewolf and Weretiger could make huge jumps to get from building to building.
- Wendigo would be much bigger and be able to lift cars, trucks, and other large objects.
- Merman could be used underwater, as well as on land, but his attacks would be more effective in water.
- Spirit Energy, when used for transformations, would slowly decrease when in Beast Form. But it would slowly recharge over time, and you can get it back by getting to a Save Point/checkpoint.
- All Beasts could jump.
- Make attacks and combos quicker and easier to perform. Each attack and combo should be able to register your button mashing.
- Cool locations. (Temples, snowy and rocky mountains, jungles, forests, swamps, cities, towns, villages, ocean, islands, deserts, caves, laboratories, power stations, space, etc.)
- Awesome (but hopefully balanced) enemies and bosses (Evil Genome-Cyborgs, mutants, undead (zombies, skeletons, etc.), demons, mythical creatures, aliens, etc.)
- Co-op multiplayer. (Online and offline)
(Spoiler warning for this next one)
- Have Luke repay Brad for giving him the scar on his chest.
- Make DLC storylines for Luke, Brad, and the Centurion from the original Altered Beast, all as playable characters, with new beasts and new transformations.
- An arcade mode that's similar to the original Altered Beast.
- Both games should also feature a combat mode where you can choose a Beast Form and an arena, and fight like in the Virtua Fighter series.
There's also one thing that I’d like to see in the sequel. The opening sequence. It should go something like this:
Two years after the events of Project Altered Beast:
The middle of a battle field, in a destroyed city. Masked soldiers everywhere. Lots of gunfire. Then, the two armies have a stand-off. Suddenly, one of the soldiers steps out, throws his gun away as if he was suicidal, and starts to charge at the enemies. They fire at him as the soldier rips off his clothing, becoming a werewolf. He slashes right into the hordes of enemies, killing one by one as his comrades follow suit, revealing themselves as Genome-Cyborgs. After a bit of a fight, the first werewolf starts to change back, revealing himself as Luke, while his allies take out the last few standing opponents.
Oh! And I think SEGA should also:
- Remake AND make a sequel to Alien Storm.
Remember, if you'd like to spread the word about this petition, you can share it using the following hashtags:
#RemakeProjectAlteredBeast #RemakeAlteredBeast #BringBackAlteredBeast #SaveAlteredBeast #RiseFromYourGrave #WelcomeToYourDoom #ReleaseTheBeast #UnleashTheBeast #TheBeastWithin
152
The Issue
Altered Beast, or as it is known in Japan, Jūōki: Project Altered Beast, but more commonly referred to as Project Altered Beast, is an action-adventure beat 'em up game and a reimagining of the 1988 SEGA arcade beat 'em up game Altered Beast, which was then ported to the SEGA Genesis.
Like the original game, the gameplay in this version involves the main character transforming into different kinds of beasts. However, this reimagining has more of a gritty sci-fi body horror story, different characters, and a more modern-day setting, and some additional gameplay elements. So, basically, it has nothing to do with the original game, besides the fact that you can transform into various beasts. Plus, this game has some painfully grotesque pre-rendered CGI transformation scenes, which I'm pretty sure SEGA spent most of this game's budget on.
The original game had an Ancient Greek setting, where Zeus summons you, a Centurion, from the dead to rescue his daughter Athena from Neff, the demonic ruler of the underworld. But the arcade ending revealed that it was actually just a film shoot. The characters were actors, and some of them were in costumes. Although, technically, they were ALL in costumes. The Centurion's transformations were also costumes. There was also a Game Boy Advance sequel, Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms, developed by the now defunct 3d6 Games and published by THQ (now THQNordic) in association with SEGA, released in 2002, that was in the style of the original game and had new features, such as power-ups, new beast forms, and destructible environments. Anyway, this entirely different take on Altered Beast was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan and Europe in 2005, but a North American release was cancelled or banned.
Yeah, this game got some pretty low ratings when it first came out. Probably because it was made by a team of developers at WOW Entertainment (SEGA WOW) (formerly Team Shinobi in the late 80s and the early 90s, and Overworks (SEGA AM7), which would later be merged into Sonic Team) (now SEGA AM1) and SEGA Shanghai (currently trading as SEGA of China) that were new (and possibly inexperienced) at the time they started developing it and probably weren’t given enough time or resources to finish the game. That, and the game may have been trying a little too hard to be dark and edgy. (I guess that’s the 2000s for ya.) But I'm sure they went on to create much better games.
Anyway, in this remake, you play as Luke Custer, a kindhearted and honest soldier who is what is called a "Genome-Cyborg", a human whose DNA and other genetics have been artificially altered by micro-chips, which are called "Genome Chips" because they contain the genetics of other creatures that can transform him into different anthropomorphic beasts, and each beast has their own elemental powers. Luke has lost his memory and has to learn the truth about himself and the experiment that was put on him. It's a cliche although half-decent premise, but the story centered around it could have been a little more intricate, coherent and cohesive. There, I said it.
The Genome Chips you acquire for each beast throughout the game's story are Werewolf (Light), Merman (Water), Wendigo (Ice), Garuda (Wind), Minotaur (Fire), and Dragon (Thunder). The ones you get after you beat the game are Grizzly (Earth), U.W.H. (Unidentified Weightless Human) (Gravity), and Weretiger (Darkness). Here are some videos of the game itself:
Here's a few trailers of the game:
And here's one short video that talks about the game:
Oh! And here's the soundtrack:
*https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE38F12DDE5CCA603
And the ending theme:
I'm thinking that we need SEGA to make a remake of this game for current-gen consoles, next-gen consoles, and PC. They should also make a sequel. If we want SEGA to bring back Altered Beast in any way, shape or form, this is probably how they can do it. Here's how both this remake and its sequel could work:
- The announcement/teaser trailer should be a cinematic recreation of this trailer: *https://youtu.be/hf_cTEN93Mo
- Both games should be rated M for Mature.
- Both games should be co-developed by SEGA AM1, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and SEGA of China.
- Both games should add in more survival horror elements.
- Updated story with more fleshed-out characters.
- Remake the music, compose new music, and make new arrangements of music from the original Altered Beast and other SEGA arcade games, like Space Harrier, Hang-On, OutRun, After Burner, Super Hang-On, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Alien Storm, The House of the Dead, and Dynamite Deka.
- Fixed controls, especially camera controls.
- Both games should be open world, where you could roam freely around the city, talk to people, do missions, and play minigames and SEGA arcade games, including the original Altered Beast.
- Rename Foret City to Forest City.
- In both games, when you play as Luke (as Human), you could walk, run, jump, punch and kick, dodge-roll, interact with objects and people, use weapons (guns, close combat weapons, etc.), drive vehicles, and swim. You could enter the transformation menu anytime you want, on the ground, in the air, even within a vehicle (you automatically jump out/the vehicle gets destroyed in the process). Same goes for reverting back to Human (ground, air, etc.).
- Make the cutscenes (and the transformations) JUST as cinematic as the announcement/teaser trailer.
- Keep the gory CGI transformations, but maybe don’t have them play EVERY SINGLE TIME you transform, at least not during heated affairs with enemies and bosses. And make new transformation scenes for Weretiger. Just imagine how awesome it would be to fly a helicopter or a plane, chasing an enemy in the air, then jumping out, choosing a Beast Form in mid-air (time stops or slows down in the transformation menu), and going Garuda, Dragon, or U.W.H. (Unidentified Weightless Human) on the enemies.
- New Beasts (Genome Chips) and new transformations.
- Make Luke's Health, Spirit Energy (Beast Form), attacks, combos, and other Human abilities upgradable, along with each Beast Form.
- The player should be able to lock on to enemies and bosses.
- Garuda, Dragon, and U.W.H. (Unidentified Weightless Human) could actually fly freely in the sky.
- Werewolf, Wendigo, Grizzly, and Weretiger could climb buildings. (Werewolf and Weretiger would be faster, and Wendigo and Grizzly would be slower, but Wendigo and Grizzly would be harder to get knocked/shot off the wall.)
- Werewolf and Weretiger could make huge jumps to get from building to building.
- Wendigo would be much bigger and be able to lift cars, trucks, and other large objects.
- Merman could be used underwater, as well as on land, but his attacks would be more effective in water.
- Spirit Energy, when used for transformations, would slowly decrease when in Beast Form. But it would slowly recharge over time, and you can get it back by getting to a Save Point/checkpoint.
- All Beasts could jump.
- Make attacks and combos quicker and easier to perform. Each attack and combo should be able to register your button mashing.
- Cool locations. (Temples, snowy and rocky mountains, jungles, forests, swamps, cities, towns, villages, ocean, islands, deserts, caves, laboratories, power stations, space, etc.)
- Awesome (but hopefully balanced) enemies and bosses (Evil Genome-Cyborgs, mutants, undead (zombies, skeletons, etc.), demons, mythical creatures, aliens, etc.)
- Co-op multiplayer. (Online and offline)
(Spoiler warning for this next one)
- Have Luke repay Brad for giving him the scar on his chest.
- Make DLC storylines for Luke, Brad, and the Centurion from the original Altered Beast, all as playable characters, with new beasts and new transformations.
- An arcade mode that's similar to the original Altered Beast.
- Both games should also feature a combat mode where you can choose a Beast Form and an arena, and fight like in the Virtua Fighter series.
There's also one thing that I’d like to see in the sequel. The opening sequence. It should go something like this:
Two years after the events of Project Altered Beast:
The middle of a battle field, in a destroyed city. Masked soldiers everywhere. Lots of gunfire. Then, the two armies have a stand-off. Suddenly, one of the soldiers steps out, throws his gun away as if he was suicidal, and starts to charge at the enemies. They fire at him as the soldier rips off his clothing, becoming a werewolf. He slashes right into the hordes of enemies, killing one by one as his comrades follow suit, revealing themselves as Genome-Cyborgs. After a bit of a fight, the first werewolf starts to change back, revealing himself as Luke, while his allies take out the last few standing opponents.
Oh! And I think SEGA should also:
- Remake AND make a sequel to Alien Storm.
Remember, if you'd like to spread the word about this petition, you can share it using the following hashtags:
#RemakeProjectAlteredBeast #RemakeAlteredBeast #BringBackAlteredBeast #SaveAlteredBeast #RiseFromYourGrave #WelcomeToYourDoom #ReleaseTheBeast #UnleashTheBeast #TheBeastWithin
152
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Petition created on April 24, 2021