Recent Posts

Genesis Reviews

Altered Beast

It’s been fifteen years since Altered Beast was originally released, and it has aged poorly. Its very simple gameplay consists of a screen scrolling from left to right (forcibly) and punching and kicking a small selection of monsters. Two players can fight simultaneously but the large sprites make it uncomfortable at times.

Genesis Reviews

Taz-Mania

Back when I had just received a Sega Genesis for Christmas and still didn’t have any games other than the great Sonic The Hedgehog, I remember seeing a certain commercial of Taz-Mania countless times on TV. Its graphics were unbelievable, it looked a lot like a real cartoon, and I absolutely had to have it! I bought it the first chance I got with my own money.

Genesis Reviews

Curse

Curse was released in Japan for the Mega Drive. However, the U.S. release obviously fell through… and I never did find out what happened to the INTV Corporation, the company that was supposed to release it here. Nothing was ever released by them, it seems. Curse was supposed to be their first game, but when they vanished, so did the game.

Genesis Reviews

Ghouls ‘N Ghosts

Released in 1989, the word was that Ghouls ‘N Ghosts was an almost perfect arcade conversion of the original Capcom Arcade, although I hear some of the backgrounds were changed in one of the later areas. Regardless, this is one of the finest platformers on the Genesis, even 15 years after its release.

Features, Forgotten Franchises

Forgotten Franchises: VectorMan

I was very excited when I heard that Sega was bringing back a few of its Genesis franchises for PS2. Along with a new incarnation of Altered Beast, they also decided to give Vectorman a new lease on life. Unfortunately, our hero forgot to read the “Proprietor has the right to cancel at any time” clause in said lease. The game was canned early in development and Vectorman was sent back to the end of the huge line of Sega properties awaiting another chance to shine.