Question about the Genesis Launch

[Gunstar Zero]

As I'm playing here I realize I actually like Altered Beast quite a bit, but I like it for three reasons. One, I've become a points whore. Its where all the replay value for over half the sega library is for me. Two, its akward and quirky, its like a baby thats so ugly its cute. And three, its importance to sega history.

But I still don't totally understand Sega's thinking. Why was Altered Beast chossen as the pack in title for the first line of Sega Genesis consoles? I can not wrap my head around the decision, and I got my very first Genesis late in its life, I was barely playing NES when the Genesis launched, being maybe 3 or 4 years old. But you can't tell me they looked at Altered Beast and looked at Super Mario and said these two are of the same gameplay quality.

OK. I get that effectively, Sega needed a Sega title as its pack in. I get that they were already trying to move away from Alex Kidd. He was never all that popular, they were trying to recreate themselves with the Genesis, and were trying to sport their arcade ports. (Speaking of which as a side question, how is the arcade version of Altered Beast in comparison? Any differences?) So even though it was a launch title, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was out as a pack in, based on this mentality...... But Golden Axe and Space Harrier II were ALSO both produced by Sega were they not?

Don't you think eithier one of these would have been a better showcase of Genesis superiority over NES and sega arcade gameplay quality than Altered Beast? I'm just wondering if anyone knows some market department reasoning behind this decision I am unaware of.

Also, those of you who did buy a Genesis at launch and got Altered Beast as your pack in, what did you think of it back then? And did you buy any other launch titles with it? Which ones?

[Iron Lizard]

I think its mediocrity was its strong point. A game like Altered Beast was like an appetizer for a longer game. Perhaps Sega was also trying to aim to an older audience, though Golden Axe would have worked well for that.

[Gunstar Zero]

I meant to mention that, I know they wanted an older audience, which is also why they started really going after celebrity endorsements...Which is how we got Moonwalker! =D But yes Goldenaxe would have filled all of those holes: Sega produced, arcade port, older target audience. Maybe they WERE trying to whet our appetites. And they did well so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about....But were I sega I'd have said screw wheting appetites, we need a pack in that blows everything away. I'd have gone with Golden Axe or Space Harrier II. In fact I think I'd have gone with Space Harrier II simply because there is no way NES had anything like it.

[Black_Tiger]

Sega didn't have anything like Super Mario Bros gameplay-wise for the Mega Drive at the time. I don't believe that Ghouls 'n Ghosts or Golden Axe were available quite at launch. It might've been only a difference of a handful of days or weeks, but that would still limit them being as pack-ins. Maybe they had a pile of unsold Altered Beast pcbs from Japan? Maybe they wanted to save the other arcade games to drive cart sales. Maybe the screen shot from Altered Beast worked best at communicating the difference of 16-bit graphics on the Genesis' box? Altered Beast is a smaller (4 meg?) sized game.

Since nothing for Mega Drive at the time had gameplay that no one had seen before, it made sense to have a game that did things with graphics and sound that you'd never experience on NES.


I got tired of Altered Beast pretty quick and soon used it more for the sound test than actually playing. I didn't like the two-toned looking graphics and it felt more like a simple tech demo than a fully realized game. I'd played it in the arcade, but the home port seemed kinda hollow. Golden Axe was so much more impressive as a port and game in general.

[sheath]

All I can give is my personal anecdote. Arcades were supreme, they were better than the rich kid's Alien Ware gaming PC, more important than almost anything entertainment wise. When I saw the early shots of Altered Beast in summer 1989 issues of Gamepro I already owned it for my Master System. I was dead set on finding out more even though I had just bought an NES to accompany my Master System.

I hadn't seen Altered Beast in an Arcade except for a few times, but when I saw it on the Genesis kiosk at Toys R Us it looked like I was watching high definition for the first time. One of my friends recalls a similar view. Altered Beast broke the barrier set by previous consoles, Arcade games could be played at home with only minor differences.

I had already beaten Altered Beast on Master System repeatedly when I got my Genesis. The only thing that made me put the Genesis version down was Golden Axe and Revenge of Shinobi.

[Gunstar Zero]

This is obviously not all that reliable I suppose but Wikipedia list both Golden Axe and Space Harrier II as being launch titles. Along with Alex Kidd, and of course, Altered Beast. These and a few others (off the top of my head Last Battle, Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Thunder Force II, Ghouls N' Ghosts) are listed as being released on the North American launch date of August 14th, 1989. Is this information not correct?

[sheath]

From what I can tell absolutely solid information from 1989 does not exist. It is unlikely that the Genesis was in all stores, much less all cities, by the end of the year. By combining sources I have been able to compile a list of games that were available for the Genesis by the end of 1989.

Most of them have months included if you click on them, but I suspect all of the months in release dates are anecdotal for the 90s. Off hand all of those games should be launch games (wherever the launch was in the US).

[Christuserloeser]

We discussed this topic AT LENGTH a few years ago but sadly I can't find the thread anymore...

Altered Beast had quite a few things going:

1. HUGE sprites
2. Lots of speech
3. Full screen anime cut scenes
4. Two player mode
5. Almost arcade perfect port


Pre-1992 Sega of America did a decent job, but I always wondered why they went with Altered Beast as a pack in. Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, or Alex Kidd in Miracle World would have been my picks but considering how AB combines all these features listed above it doesn't seem like such a bad choice after all.

[kool kitty89]

I already started an in-depth thread on this a year ago or so . . . I think pretty much everything was covered (all the initial pack-in options as well as other options prior to the switch to Sonic in Fall 1991). I'll try to dig that up.

Edit:
here is is
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthr...enesis-Pack-In

I think we decided that Ghouls n' Ghosts would have been the most sensible/universal pack-in option at launch.

[Smii]

Altered Beast had to be the launch title. How else would Sega have welcomed everyone to their doom?

[chessage]

From what I can tell absolutely solid information from 1989 does not exist. It is unlikely that the Genesis was in all stores, much less all cities, by the end of the year. By combining sources I have been able to compile a list of games that were available for the Genesis by the end of 1989.

False. SOA put out newspaper ads at the very least. There are eight titles featured in this early-October, 1989 ad. Additionally, see this.

[sheath]

False. SOA put out newspaper ads at the very least. There are eight titles featured in this early-October, 1989 ad. Additionally, see this.

Good deal! Great work on checking the manufacture dates too. I just opened my Revenge of Shinobi and it is unmarked as far as date.

[Thenewguy]

BTW did you guys in the US ever get a Castle of Illusion pack-in later on? we got a Castle of Illusion pack in Britain in 1991 just before they started packing in Sonic, this was the pack my family actually bought.

[Iron Lizard]

BTW did you guys in the US ever get a Castle of Illusion pack-in later on? we got a Castle of Illusion pack in Britain in 1991 just before they started packing in Sonic, this was the pack my family actually bought.

Not that I ever heard of but I would love to see some pics of one.

[Aarzak]

I don't think that AB would've done as well being sold stand-alone. Aside from "Golden Axe", it's the only launch-era game that can be breezed through in a half-hour tops (correct me if I'm wrong). It's short retplay value and then-impressive graphics and sound made it a good game to pack-in with the console. Note how they never reprinted it after it ceased being a pack-in, they probably did wanna get rid of those excess PCB's from Japan as an above user said!