Altered Beast PCE vs Megadrive/Genesis

[Spector]

I've been playing Altered Beast on the PC Engine, and it's pretty awful. I played the Megadrive version, ohh, many many years ago (1991), and I can't remember whether it was as "good" as the PC Engine one. I'm sure others here will be more familiar with it and can tell me now it compares. So which was the better conversion, PC Engine or Megadrive?

[nat]

I still don't understand why PCE Altered Beast gets such a bad rap. I wouldn't classify it anywhere near "awful". Graphically it's probably closer to the arcade than any of the other ports. The music is pretty good, too. Yeah, the game is tough and can be frustrating, but that's why we like video games, right?

[Turbo D]

I'd say the pc engine version is better. It is closer to the arcade as nat said. I even prefer the animations on it over genesis. The pc engine was just superior 

[Necromancer]

Déjà vu all over again!  If you haven't already, go read the Graphics: Turbo vs. Genesis - ye old debate thread for some interesting commentary on the differences between the HuCard, CD, and Genny versions.  Not a damn one of them is all that and a bag of chips in my book.

[Michael Helgeson]

Yea,was that the thread I tossed up pics on comparing the 2 ports of this game?

[WoodyXP]

Check out this part of the thread... it's got the pics from the Arcade, MD & PCE.

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=3663.255

[Michael Helgeson]

We did one long ago before that,and I posted alot of pics too,and pointed out some things. We also talked about other ports too,and the differences between them. Here are the old pics I put up.

[Black Tiger]

I haven't compared the PCE versions to the Genesis version in years, I think they're all kinda alright, but nothing special.

It is cool that the HuCard and CD games have different graphics.

[ParanoiaDragon]

They do?  Did I miss something?  Does anybody have comparison pics between the hucard & cd versions?

[nat]

They do?  Did I miss something?  Does anybody have comparison pics between the hucard & cd versions?

Some of the backgrounds were subtly changed. I don't know how much you'd actually notice this while playing. I only have the cart and it seems fine and dandy enough for me.

Someone posted comparison shots of the CD vs. the cart here recently. The differences are minor IIRC, like the trees in the background in stage 1 are a slightly different shade or something.

The thought of pausing your play to load MID-LEVEL is enough to turn me off of the CD version, considering it's only perks are different colored trees and a visual "prologue" before you play. Oh, and I guess you can turn down the difficulty. But the cart isn't that hard once you get the hang of the controls.

[sunteam_paul]

They do?  Did I miss something?  Does anybody have comparison pics between the hucard & cd versions?

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=3663.270

[Turbo D]

Let me save you dudes some time and just tell you now that the pc engine versions pwn the genny 

[Tatsujin]

Let me save you dudes some time and just tell you now that the pc engine forum is quite reapeating itself recently.

[Spector]

What about the actual gameplay though? Does the PC Engine version control as well, or is it sluggish. Also, is the Genesis version easier?

[Joe Redifer]

The Genesis version totally PWNZ teh PC Engine version because the PC Engine is only 8-bit.  Duh.  Both versions control poorly, but the Genesis actually has a jump button since it was a far more advanced console than the PC Engine and could actually accommodate more than two buttons using space-age technology from the future.  The Genesis version is indeed easier.