Revisiting Video Game Classics - Altered Beast (Sega Genesis) As Seen Through Fan Art

I recently picked up a multi-game disc for my Xbox 360 that features 40 classic Sega Genesis games, and I have been in nostalgic heaven! There are so many classics on here, so I decided to take some time out over the next few weeks to take a look back at some of the great games that laid the groundwork for the fantastic video games we have today. To do so, I will use fan art courtesy of Deviant Art to show how people with artistic talent remember the gems of the past. The first game I will look at comes from Sega, and has its origins in the arcades of old. Originally a coin op game, it was ported to a bunch of international systems but most famously here in the US to Sega Genesis. It was a pack in game, meaning you got it with the system... which means that it was one of the games that almost everyone who had a Genesis owned. The game followed the adventures of a resurrected Roman Centurion that is tasked by Zeus to rescue Athena from the evil demon Neff. While questing after Athena, the centurion can absorb spirit balls that allow him to transform into different monsters, a la Altered Beasts. Each board has a corresponding beast, with five in total (werewolf, dragon, bear, tiger and golden werewolf). Each monster had multiple special attacks, some much better than others. I spent many hours trying to master the five levels (only five levels.... wtf!) and capturing enough spirit balls to transform into all the different creatures. The bear was by far my favorite, but the dragon (that flew for Christs Sake) was definitely the most equip for battle. The game was short, sure, but it was always a fun time. When I popped the game into my Xbox 360, this was one of the titles that I immediately cued up. So in honor of this Genesis 16 bit classic, here are a few artist renderings of the characters from the game to pay homage to the greatness that it possessed. Enjoy the art after the jump, and always remember where you came from when it comes to video game culture....

Drive For Sega Genesis... Wait, What?

I love when modern TV shows and films are given the 8 bit Nintendo/ 16 bit Sega/Super Nintendo treatment. It is old hat now, but still pretty cool. Youtuber Gunderson Munderson seems to have nailed it with his rendition of one of my more recent favorite films, Drive. He gets the vibe of the movie down with his buildings, and with his music choice (which, according to his notes on the Youtube vid was created with the same Yamaha music emulator that was used for all Genesis games). Very cool indeed... I would play the shit out of this game. Check out the video after the jump...

Palette Swap: Artists Recreating Iconic Video Game Box Art In Their Own Unique Styles

I am a true 80's baby, and this makes me a person who experienced the true first era of home video games Now I know their were home video game systems before the 80s (Atari, Intelivision, Collico Vison, etc), but in reality these systems were clearly overshadowed by their coin operated arcade counterparts... that was up until Nintendo changed the game forever with the release of Robbie the Robot, Gyromite & Duck Hunt back in 1984/5. Then came Genesis, Neo Geo, Turbo Grafix 16, and many more systems who gave us the unique opportunity to play fine crafted video games at home. These games had to come in packaging, and that packaging became a part of our lives as gamers... plus the images on the cover helped sell the games in the years before Internet preview & game play videos. I totally remember buying games that were total shit just because they had some cool ass cover art. So when I stumbled upon a cool new website called Palette Swap, I was completely enthralled. Here current artists take on some of the iconic images from video game boxes of the past and make it their own, adding unique little twists to make them amazing. I also like that the blog includes the original art as well for a comparison... very cool idea. Check out all the good work that site creator Rusty Shackles & the rest of the artists are doing by clicking here, and click after the jump to see the ones I liked best...

This Is The Lakers vs. Celtics That I Remember

Now that the Lakers have won the NBA title for a second straight year, I thought it was more appropriate to look at some pics from the Lakers vs. Celtics that I know and love... Lakers vs. Celtics and The NBA Playoffs for Sega Genesis. This is the first basketball game I remember that was realistic... it made Double Dribble look wild homo. The 16 bit graphics of the Genesis blew doors off the 8 bit Nintendo games, and this featured 8 playoff teams with the actual stars... Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem, Larry Legend, David "The Admiral" Robinson, Charles Barkley, and Tom " I Can Dunk The Ball From The 3 Point Line With No Problem" Chambers... if you ever played with Chambers and The Suns and performed this unstoppable dunk, you know what I mean!!!

Not only did you have the stars, but they had signature moves: MJ skywalked, Magic did the 'No Look Fake Pass', Larry Legend had the turn around J, and Chambers could fly from the 3pt line with his triple pump dunk. This is one of the few games that actually had Jordan in it, as he took himself out of the video game world for a long time (That's about to come to an end with a playable MJ character in the upcoming NBA 2k11 Basketball... wow!)

It also launched the company EA sports through the roof as the go-to company for sports games... these guys would go on to bring us The Bill Walsh College Football series, and the legendary John Madden NFL games... these three games kept me entertained for hours and exposed me to tons of players in the NFL and NBA that I would have never got to see due to fact that cable and ESPN were not so popular yet. Congrats to L.A. on winning another title, and thanks to the Lakers and The Celtics for all the memories.