wow, the mega cd version being a new port and not a lazy mega drive conversion with new music was quite a surprise! Now I`ll go watch the fm towns episode again and go take a look at the system, it seems to have many good games
@@RetroCore x68000 feels a bit like the neo geo of computers for the time! I wonder if that is accurate to how people felt about it in japan back in the day. Feels from the outside like a bit of a product of Japan's late 80s abundance (which I'd guess is similar to how the neo geo feels too despite being a little late to the party)
I still remember the first time I died I this game. That stunning image of resurrection with that crazy guitar solo accompanying. I was absolutely gobsmacked. That is the single greatest memory I have about this game.
It's certainly a good thing that the death scene is magnificent 'cause when you play the game you're gonna see it **a lot**. 😂 Sky kitten knows how many times I wished this goddamn scene could be skipped. Reflections clearly never got to play their games in the same conditions as their players, otherwise they'd have made it skippable.
Loved it on the Amiga, I got it as part of the Screen Gems pack for Christmas 1991. It took me ages to complete it after using the "Ten Pints" cheat to learn all the enemy patterns and traps.
Too bad the Mega Drive version of Shadow of the Beast III wasn't released and still hasn't appeared up to this day. Its existence was confirmed by Matt Furniss because he actually did all the soundtrack for it. The only Mega Drive version of the series he actually was involved with (the two previous Mega Drive releases were not bad but could have been better, especially regarding the first game) and it never came out, what a shame.
@Benjamin Jagun At least the music would have fared well because it was being done by Matt Furniss and he actually confirmed he did all the tracks. The first two Shadow of the Beast games on the Mega Drive were handled by Psygnosis through Electronic Arts like they did with their first games for the system, but it didn't seem that was going to be the case with Shadow of the Beast III and that was probably going to be handled completely by Psygnosis like it was the case with the Mega CD version of Shadow of the Beast II. Maybe that would have been a difference.
I enjoyed this on the MD at the time, mainly for the atmosphere and somewhat open-ended structure but the controls and visuals were pretty good as well. Shame about the crazy difficulty, I eventually beat it way later with a lot of save states. That tavern music on MCD is hilarious.
This game was polished with a machete. They really got to make it look playable on the Mega CD and FM-Towns, though. Sometimes it seems like some computer classics are nothing but barely passable games in an ocean of crap
Really interesting about the FM Towns version a system I know next to nothing about but it looks very impressive. I never liked the SOTB series but then I’ve only ever played it on the Amiga with a 1 button joystick. SOTBIII was just about tolerable but I’d much rather play something like Super Castlevania IV if I want something with atmosphere.
The first SOTB was one of those games I dreamed to play just by watching the stills in the magazines, and years later when I finally could play it with an emulator, I had a huge disappointment, it was beautiful to watch but horrible to play
Never knew much about the Mega CD version, rented the MD version a few times and got really annoyed with the cheap gameplay, so will check the Mega CD version out. (FM version looks great, but I don't have the nostalgia for that system). Great vid!
Was another exciting and enjoyable year of seeing you in action Mark. Wishing you and your love ones a Happy New Year my good man. Keep up the excellent work you always provide for the community and never a dull moment from you kind sir. 8^) Anthony..
Great music. I will have to seek that out. The game itself reminds me a lot of Iris Action, except for the obvious differences. Wonder if this game was an influence.
I remember a time when many people ditched the CD-ROM versions (mostly the Mega CD version, as the FM Towns version was still relatively unkown back then) with the typical "The Amiga version is always better" ditty phrase. I'm glad to notice that has mostly changed now. And yes, the Mega Drive version is an odd one by keeping the same aspect ratio of the Amiga version (which looks odd on a Mega Drive) and with those "loading instances" which I believe are still there to delimit area transitions rather than anything else. It's funny they aren't in the Mega CD version considering it's in a CD and actually has to load.
Amiga version is still better on in this case, if you ask me about atmosfere, here Amiga version still wins. The Mega/Towns music is out of place and did not capture the original at all (example the elevator tune is just stupid). Genesis tunes is still behind from the Amiga, but its not bad at all, actuelly its nicely done and well captured. Much better than the first game on that console. But gameplay, Amiga version is not the best, personally did not like it (so here Mark is right),. But its has great atmosfere and great intro and good tunes. Im even did a dual AY version of one of the tunes. hey.
@@spacefractal You may be right on the atmosphere aspect, but overall the CD-ROM versions are better and much nicer, and I don't agree about the music since it still keeps some original themes in remixed form. Another improvement lies on the main sprite redesign. It is ugly and undefined in the Amiga (and Atari ST version), while in the Mega Drive version they standarized his appearance up to the point that not only the CD-ROM versions improved it (it has much more sense that he wears an armor now rather than still being a caveman like he was in the first game when he still was a creature), they even backconnected this appearance to several updated versions of the first game like the new ending of the Japanese Mega Drive version and the new intro that the PC Engine CD version (and I believe also the FM Towns version) had in a very similar style to the intro of Shadow of the Beast II.
Genesis missing the cool intro. Mega CD also just reused it, but its a very cool intro and seen its many times (dispite im newer liked the game its self, lol). The elevator music in one of the area is so stupid and very outplaced. But its all no other than just taste in mind, what you perfer. That it. The cd version of Beast 1 was actuelly all right. Im did not wrote gameplay was best on Amiga. As im wrote, Mark was right :-)
@@spacefractal There's one thing I miss in the CD-ROM version and that's the now legendary death picture, which is only present in the non-CD-ROM versions (Mega Drive version also has it despite not featuring the intro). The Mega CD version, which was done after the FM Towns despite what this Battle of the Ports seem to imply and it's actually derivated from the FM Towns and not otherwise (but keeps the background plane of the other versions, for example), reuses the second intro of the FM Towns version (when you start to play, the one with the Evil One and the child) as the death/game over sequence and while it's not bad, it is inferior to the original one.
Intro was quite big on a floppy disc, and might have filled the a cartridge too much, which would hav been too costly. Its right call throught. Its nice to see it on Mega throught.
One of my favorite game franchises from the late 80's to early 90's. In fact most games I loved were made by Psygnosis back then. Blood Money, Lemmings to name a couple. I still like the Amiga one, but the FMTM one looks freak'n amazing. I would have to agree with the controls, they are horrible. I was never able to beat either SotB 1 or 2 without the trainer on.🤣🤣🤣 Might have to give the Sega CD one a go too, it looked pretty good. The ST version was an abomination, looks like it plays at 10 frames a seconds, like playing Crysis on a P4 PC with a GeForce4. .. 🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for posting this.. Brought back some good memories from my high school years...
Beast 2 is one I passed on because...well I didn't rate the original! (The PS4 remake I did enjoy though) The Mega CD version does look and sounds much better, maybe I should give it a go!
Just like SOTB 1 the music is again God tier. Intro and other graphics are great though the reduced parallax scrolling on the backgrounds and slightly blander look of the game let it down. Least in Beast 1 it just seemed pretty difficult but still some element of being able to master it. Beast II just felt like you can't possibly win without tanking damage. Both games defo style over substance (but dang! What style :D ). Happy New Year
Totally agree with retro core, both games were total drivel. Stunning graphics for both games on almost all systems (atari is beyond abysmal) but the games still blow chunks whatever they were on.
This game is a masterpiece on the Amiga. Tight controls, fantastic music and graphics. Definitely, it's not a console title and you must go slowly to solve the puzzles. Only real men can finish it and I am not one of them. Happy new year Mark. BTW the main sprite on the MD version looks like a hobo.
@@MrNightshade2010 this newer happens, as Beast 3 was a exclusive game for the Amiga. The game was newer ported to other platforms. But its the best game in the series.
That Amiga intro is pretty much embedded in my brain, as well as the awesome game over screen of course. Sure, it may have been lacking in game play (only the third game is any fun really) but for the time it was graphically and sonically outstanding. You just hoped the game play would one day catch up. 16 year old me had never heard of FM Towns. 5 pints is the cheat code, if I remember correctly from memory... it's been a few years (well, decades).
@@JoystickVersusMachine Lost half my pints there... Yeah, remember that too, about getting stuck! Amazing quality control on the original version (you were meant to never get out of the water alive). 🙄
Really, only the FM Towns and Sega CD versions are even worth talking about. Much like Variable Geo, it seems the game doesn't become something worth a damn until there have been SEVERAL degrees of separation from the original.
The FMT/MegaCD versions look like a proto, very proto Blackthorne. They also remind me of a Genesis cinematic platformer, very similar to Flashback (the main character uses a yellow vest, I think. Can't remember the name of the game, though).
I have the Genesis (Mega Drive) version and i've had my moments and beating it thrice. I cant disagree on the FM Towns version since i havent played it. But soon.
The cheat in that came was go left at the start (I think) and talk to the first guy you come to and type "10 pints" You don't lose any health then but you can still muck up and fail the game. I actually managed to finish the game on the Amiga using that cheat and a game guide. Edit, I should watch the video before commenting as you mentioned you cheated (don't blame you!)
Yeah, after spending God knows how many hours (too many for sure) I resorted to that cheat plus a guide to finish the game. The issue with this "every blocker is a puzzle to solve" mechanism the game uses is that the solutions to each of these puzzles are convoluted and extremely hard to figure out which turns the game into a total search/roam the level fest in order to try every possible combination of ideas, none of which work. If at least the problem solving had been easy at start then progressively harder that would have been better but nope.
What you didn't mention is that even with the Infinite-Energy cheat (press F8 and ask about "Ten Pints" on the first enemy you encounter on the right), this awful mess of a game is *impossible* to finish without a walkthrough. There are so many "puzzles"(read: dead-end points of no-return) that you encounter, it's outright maddening: - Didn't save the man getting abducted by the demon? RESTART! - Accidentally killed the old man? RESTART! - Accidentally pressed the wrong elevator lever? RESTART! - Didn't kill the demon cutting the rope on time? RESTART! - Didn't figure out you're supposed to break the rock on the spike? RESTART! - Lost the remains of said rock before the obtuse lever puzzle it's used on? RESTART! - Used the axe weapon before you were supposed to? RESTART! - Didn't find enough gold coins for the final section? RESTART! ...and so on and so on... Heck, even *with* a walkthrough, there are parts where you are completely stumped on what to do next. For example there is a part where you need to OFFER a drink to the guard in order to gain a key you need. This is the *only* part of the game where you need to use the "offer" command and, if you didn't have the manual, you most likely didn't even know it even existed. NONE of the FAQs I read mentioned how you are supposed to do it. Oh, and you only get a "Winner is You" sort of text message at the end for your troubles. Seriously, f- this game.
Underrated comment for sure bro. This game is pure, euro-computer game, fuckery. I still appreciate this game same as the 1st game with it's mediocre af, game-design. It's all about the visuals, art-design, music, and overall, presentation. Both O.G. SotB games had some basic, shitty gameplay with loads of cheap hits and cryptic puzzles. Even console games that are revered today, like O.G. Legend of Zelda had completely cryptic puzzles like the Lost Woods maze! SotB1 & 2 do have some jankass gameplay tho, for real 👍
@@TexasHollowEarth Yeah, ironically, while the first and second SotB games got ported to hell and back, the third one, the best gameplay-wise, which actually allows you to choose stages and features nearly no dead-end fcukery puzzles didn't get any ports, which means it's never going to be featured here.😥
Yup, you summed up the gameplay perfectly: "dead end fuckery puzzles". The only good thing (aside from graphics and music which are great) I have to say about the game is that it's cost per hour played (yes I bought the damn game back in the day, silly me) was very low because of the insane amount of hours I had to put into it to progress.
Wait, so FM Towns has the ability to make transparency? The dialog box was not opaque or dithered, looks like true transparency there. Is it a hardware feature, guys?
I remember the gaming magazines in Brazil raving about how cool this game was for the Mega Drive. I believed on them and had a wasted Saturday rental with this dud of a game in early 1993. xD Have a good new year, man. God bless you and your family.
I always thought it looked like a nice metroidvania from the picutres but never played it, I like the first game but it only has 4 areas or 1 level really which is pretty short and feels like a shareware game.
This video took me by surprise, for a second i thought it was a repost of SotB , but then i read the 2 and paid attention to the cover unfornately...is a missed oportunity in my opnion. Shadow of the Beast 3 took things on a more fresh apporach but you can see they reaaaally made it far too easy (...for the most part) and way too quick
The only game in the series worth playing is SotB III, which is a genuinely great game. The other two are good-looking games with bad gameplay. Unfortunately, Beast III was never ported to other platforms.
Fm towns version looks great. As u say the amiga version spoilt by cheap deaths and difficulty . With a few tweaks and option to use second fire button to jump would of been alot better Nice to see the mega cd get some effort put into it rather than just Cd music and intro
I absolutely love this game...and I agree it's not very good, to say the least. The only way to play it is with infinite energy, and even then it's still quite hard, as it's possible to get stuck in pits. But the soundtrack, intro and atmosphere of this game is second to none.
Yes, Beast II is an awful game, I had nightmares and insomnia every night after I discovered that game at a swap meet when I saw the game cartridge on a Genesis 3 on sale, then I saw a gameplay and my surprise was shoddy, then I saw it was based on the AMIGA as a long-play, I was 14 years old in 2009... Anyway, I agree with the SEGA CD/FM TOWNS versions, which back in 2017 when I got my SEGA CD with a reseller, I decided to burn a CD-R of the game and play it, enjoyable indeed because there's not much good 2D sides scrollers on the MEGA CD. Thank you for making this addition of Battle of the ports episode, been waiting for it.
I actually discovered Shadow of the Beast 2 on the Amiga when a twitch streamer I watch played through it a couple of years ago. I love the art design and the music of it. The gameplay is meh, but the aesthetics are lovely. I played this on a gamepad on fsuae, and it played just "fine", so I don't know what the Amiga fanboys are talking about.
Never had a problem controlling the Amiga version. Typically used a Master System or Genesis pad. I would definitely not call it a bad game. But you know, subjectivity and all that. Just out of curiosity, what are you using to play it? Some modern methods have more input latency than others, which can really throw you off on some games.
@@RetroCore It does seem like some of the other versions are a bit snappier with their controls. That said, I think most of them lose a bit of the dark atmospheric ambience that the original Amiga version had. Some improve in some ways, but the Amiga had just the right feel to it IMO. On the graphics, I actually prefer Beast II to Beast I. Beast I had more of an impact on me because it was the first Amiga game I ever saw. However, while Beast I has more layers of scrolling, and maybe more color, Beast II scrolls in more directions while still having nice paralax. In motion it's quite beautiful. Also, I cheated a lot on it when I was a kid. That said, I could get about 2/3 through it without cheating consistently. However, the further you get and then get stuck, the worse it feels. :D I still absolutely love this game though flaws and all.
I'm is actually fan of the original and the third game (which im had the original). Newer liked this one really, but music is ace in all games for the Amiga. Im guess the pauses for the Genesis is property due decompression as seen in some games? The rom size is 1mb, so they property could not fit the intro at all. But yes, the intro is cool.
I'm surprised the FMTowns and mega CD versions actually almost looked like good games? I wonder.. were they done by japanese teams I wonder? Maybe that is why!
Right!? Like how the Japanese Mega Drive port of Shadow of the Beast is superior (and completely different) than the prior-released, U.S. Genesis port of the same game! That Japanese version is downright impressive 👍
Tangential, but out of curiosity, do you have any Amiga games you actually would recommend? Not baiting, it’s just that I recently modded my 3DS and installed (among others) an Amiga emulator with the hopes of playing Realms Of Arkania. I figured I’d see if there was anything else worth trying on it, but every best of Amiga list I’ve seen so far seems full of positively mediocre games like Shadow of the Beast, so I was wondering if somebody coming from a more console-positive point of view had any recommendations.
Something quite not right about the look of the FM-Towns version. I prefer the look of the Amiga or Mega-CD versions. Also the FM-Towns is overrated. Amiga was 1985 computer and for its time it was awesome whereas FM-Towns IIRC was 1989 and cost a fortune yet it wasn't that good. It also runs most if not all games in some odd square-shaped resolution that makes for cramped screen estate and bad aspect ratio once in 4:3. Overall Amiga has better release date/specs/price ratio and wider library. It's also way more supported by fans, especially the demo scene but also the homebrew scene. By the way most Mega Drive to Mega-CD ports are nicely enhanced. It's yet another misconception to think that most are quick and cheap jobs. Even some of the earliest ports such as Chuck Rock or Wolfchild came with tons of enhancements!
Ok, SOTB2 is completely unplayable. But you know, I already always considered that SOTB was totally unplayable too. These games are just nice demos of Amiga capabilities. But they suffer of the Amiga syndrome : Beautiful but awful to play. There is the main character that I don't like in all console versions, too "human" compared to the original design on Amiga in which we discover Aarbron halfway between the initial monster and the human he will be in the 3rd game. the music of the Amiga version was very nice thanks to the work of Tim Wright. Graphics, if not as impressive than in SOTB, are very well drown and inspired from the 70's fantasy. And this game over sequence that made dream all Amiga players of the time... But appart from that, nothing more to save sadly. I particularly love the FM-Towns version. So beautiful, so smooth and satisfying to play. However, I really love SOTB 3, the only game of the series in which Reflexion finally understood that gameplay and level design were the brand of good games. It's technically nice with parallax scrolling in 50fps, beautiful fantasy graphics melted with more modern mechanical elements. Tim Wrights music is once again fabulous. All move smoothly, with nice puzzles and a good story. That's what I just expected of the first games. Sad that it never has been converted to other systems. Being available only on Amiga, it's a good exclusivity, but it's less known that the other ones while it's the nicest imo. Many thanks for this last BOTP of the year. Happy New Year Mark! 🎉✨
Fantastic comment + info! I am a longtime SotB series fan 👊😎👍. Have you played the PlayStation 4 remake of the original game? I rather like it. I just wished they had continued the series. It really feels like a loveletter to the original game and it's fans.
@@TexasHollowEarth I think SOTB is an interesting attempt to create a developed story in action games using this evolution of Aarbron that first frees himself from his oppressor, must then fight one of his minions who seeks to rob him of what represents his humanity, to finally definitively destroy everything that had made him a monster and establish his regained human condition. Sadly, though unforgettable in Amiga history for many reasons and developed with goodwill, the first two games are truly clunky. As a pure action game, SOTB's gameplay, with its pixel-perfect collision detection, is a real pain and we quickly get lost in maps that aren't so extensive because of a wobbly level design. SOTB 2 plays the metroid-vania card before its time, which is remarkable in itself and I really like this adventure side. Unfortunately, here again the gameplay is too much punitive and obviously, the erratic level design is even more penalizing in a game that highlights research and frequent round trips. At the time, the technical aspect was very important in the personal computer market and I respect that, having grown up with these machines. This is something the console gamer misunderstands. And even if at the time I didn't like the first two games in the series because of these problems, I admit that I came back to them from time to time, just to admire the graphics or listen to the music. But I'm glad the series is ending with a much better game. There is always the flaw of the character losing energy continuously when he is hit, but it is much better integrated into the gameplay, less punitive. And everything else is just perfect. Maybe I'll give a try on the new game on PS4, but I'm not really a fan of these "revivals" which often tend to trample our childhood memories by bringing out games with very primitive gameplay compared to the games we are used to play nowadays 😉
There are definite improvements in the console versions this time, it would have been nice to see the complete overhaul of the player sprite and animations and higher bit-depth graphics and far more interesting cut-scenes of the FM Towns version rolled back into a Amiga 1200/CD32 specific version. You never know, if they'd kept going for another four or five Shadow of the Beast games the gameplay might have finally got near enough to the top of the priority list for them to do something about it. Sometimes walking away is the best option though, fixing the player sprite just further highlights how limited enemy sprite animations are... So you've got to fix them too, and so on until you've wasted years and made your very own Duke Nukem Forever.
Happy new year, Mark! This episode is great. I only ever played the original shadow of the Beast on the PC engine. I only remember three things, the game being rather mediocre, the music being exceptional and the Psygnosis logo. I would later go on to associate most games with that logo with incredible music. Now not to advertise another channel but I was watching some other content about famed UK developer Imagine from back in the early eighties and I was stunned to learn two things from it. First they had Roger Dean, famed music album artist known mostly for his covers for the band Yes doing some of Imagine's artwork and secondly a few of these guys went on to form Psygnosis after Imagine self-destructed. After the Japanese learning about UK game and hardware developers is one of my favorite topics. Great video mark again Happy New Year and take care!
I'm not sure how I feel about seeing these Mega CD and FM Towns versions. Making changes to improve the game goes totally against what Shadow of the Beast is all about - being crap.
A shame the series wouldn't get respectable until the third game...which has the worst graphics, and was completely ignored. Anyone who thinks the good old days valued gameplay over pretty pictures didn't actually live in them.
Too true. And not just on the computers. There are more than a few impressive looking console games that couldn't back it up with gameplay. Best example that comes to mind? China Warrior for the TurboGrafx 16.
@@jesuszamora6949 It's still happening. The Tyris Flare hack for Master System Golden Axe has terrible controller response, which the creator explained was caused by the improved color and tile detail. Apparently, simply merging the characters and the stages takes up a lot of the system resources at any given moment, since they're all made from the same type of background tiles. It's why Space Harrier doesn't even try to hide what the enemies really are. You only learn by doing, so at least all this hard work wasn't a waste. And the experiment really puts some ambitious Master System games into their proper context. The Flare hack looks gorgeous though - the art direction is second to none. In some ways, like the shadows, it's even better looking than the Genesis game. Naturally, it's being praised to the moon and back, by people still under the spell of beautiful 8-bit graphics.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 I have sit down and try the two versions at length, but judging by the YT videos I've seen, the Tyris Flare hack sure is pretty. Not quite Genesis level, but a damn sight nicer than the original. I can see where this would really give the Master System a run for its money, and I can definitely imagine with that much more going on, it would be a bit harder to control, given how that game was made. I can also see how people would be losing their minds over it. We've not really evolved as an audience beyond the pretty box shots luring us in, have we?
@@jesuszamora6949 I'm not sure, honestly. We seem to have divided things up into weird categories... "Here's the unspeakably ugly Pokemon game I love anyways!" "The XBox Series S is ruining this generation!" "Check it out, my new survival horror has PS1 quality texture warping." "Ew. It looks like a PS3 game." "Holy shit, we fit Tomb Raider into a GBA, texture maps and all." "Does anyone else really like the look of flatshaded polygons in high res?" "WRONG ASPECT RATIO! MY EYESS!!!" "The SNES hasn't aged a day..."
@Benjamin Jagun Being fair, it probably had more to do with the talent at the development houses. Even the X68000 had some bad games when the devs weren't up to snuff (Viewpoint). The computers were largely the domain of "developers" like Tiertex, but occasionally you had some real bangers from companies like Sensible Software and the Bitmap Brothers. Even Distinctive Software performed miracles with the DOS and C64 versions of Castlevania and Outrun.
The SotB games are more about atmosphere than gameplay, Mark. You just enjoy the artwork and moody music and try and figure out how to get past the dreadful level design. Reflections didn’t really make a good game till Destruction Derby. They could’ve been as big as R* if Driv3r wasn’t such a disaster. They aimed too high too soon, much like Core with the PS2 Tomb Raider game. But stayed in business thanks to Ubisoft.
Being a graphical and atmospheric experience only works if the game lets you see the graphics and atmosphere without being obliterated at the very beginning because the game design is pants.
@@RetroCore what I mean is, that’s the only possible explanation for why this game is how it is. It’s beyond awful. I’d rather watch paint dry personally.
I cannot talk for him, but I also not a fan of the Amiga. Since I didn't grew up with it, I can only look at it objectively. Amiga and Atari always got the worse ports of all 16bit platforms, that is a fact. And the original games it have, IMHO, didn't measure up against what was coming out of Japan at the time.
Dude, if you analyse the Amiga games without the hearty eyes/fanboy eyes of the past, you'll see that we had no choice back then. It was almost all crap. Shoddy programming, quickly coded and released games, with barely no care. And Amiga games existing on consoles are almost ALWAYS better on the consoles.
The Amiga was home to so many classics. Bullfrog, Bitmap Bros, Sensible Software. There are hundreds of amazing games if you know where to look. But they tend to be more in depth RPG and strategy games. Flight sims were numerous. It’s a very Euro-centric computer so you won’t find a great deal of good arcade convertions or shooting games. But Soccer Kid is brills no matter what people say. The Lotus trilogy... It was better than DOS up until about 1993.
The Amiga graphics are way more beautiful (higher resolution and more colours) than the MD & Mega CD versions. And since this game is all about the graphics, Amiga for the win!
ah, the typical amiga fanboy salty about sega's consoles. it's either that, or salty about the SNES. but it's understandable because those consoles caused much troubles to commodore's excellent computer but eh ;( anyway amiga graphics are not "way more beautiful". the game on amiga runs in a small window whereas on mega-CD it displays way more screen estate which already makes for a superior presentation. you can compare that @11:45. then, the mega-CD version's main character and HUD are more colorful while the background seems comparable, if not more colorful on mega-CD too. so objectively, the mega-CD version has better graphics but subjectively I'd say that the amiga version with its washed out palettes has a more genuine "shadow of the beast look" by the way there are tons of other multiplats with better graphics on mega drive and/or mega-CD compared to the amiga. a few notable examples are space harrier 2, atomic robo-kid, galahad, gods, chuck rock, aladdin, cool spot, zool or super hang-on
@@ryzmaker11 huh? I had a super famicom which i loved. And fyi, Amiga came out in 1985 while the Super Famicom came out in…. 1990. Compare the Amiga with a NES. Anyway, im stating facts: the MD had a lower resolution and much less colors. These are facts Are u saltly about facts? PS: get a life. Kiss kiddo.
@@Horos_de_Vega those are fallacies not facts and amiga was designed as the first 16-bit console but ended as a console/computer hybrid. it cost WAY more than a NES so the comparison is pointless
@@Horos_de_Vega also NES was released in 1983. it was low priced and belongs to the 3rd gen of video games alongside the C64 anyway if you want to compare amiga with NES then that's just an insult to the amiga and its designers
Shadow of the Beast was such a high water mark for graphics when I saw it first as a kid. I played very little of it, but knew it was so hard... looking back, I can see why it held such regard in my mind, but man, these games didn't age well
The game looks and sounds so beautiful. It's sad that all this beauty was wasted with the horrid gameplay. Ironically you could say the same for the first game, too. It would need generous invulnerability time, plenty of lives and powerups to be playable.
Even as an Amiga fanboy I totally agree with you on this one. I was also pleasantly surprised by the PCECD version. And yes, this game is much overrated in general.
El mejor es el 3,supera a los 3 ampliamente ,este la presentación es memorable, y su soundtrack también, el juego es de calidad baja, pero uno le tiene cariño,la versión atari st, sin palabras 😡.
Oh god, this game is terrible. I forgot about it's poor quality and what the game was until watching it. The intro got me hyped, and had me thinking this would be a huge improvement over the original game, but then it boots up and it's somehow worse. The graphics were so good, in the first game now they suck. The intro's cool, as is the music but the gameplay is damn near identical, and now the levels are so much more elaborate that they're even worse to play on! Truly a garbage game, a contender for the worst covered on the channel. It's not like offensively bad, but the gameplay and graphics are unreasonably shoddy. I knew the ST port suck. it seemed all ports to that system after 1990 did. Slow, choppy and ugly. The Mega Drive version looks the best so far, but is still a very faithful port of the Amiga original meaning it sucks and it has loadings and way too small a playing field, for some reason. The Mega CD and FM Towns improve the game so much, and aren't even close to being bad games! They're average at worst. Nice to see something of quality finally come out of such a hyped up, but ultimately disappointing franchise. Still not something I'd go out of my way to play mind you, but would enjoy it reasonably if I had to.
I only played the Mega CD version and thought that was a major downgrade from the original Shadow of the Beast, so I'm shocked that it's actually so much better than the other versions, save for the FM Towns release. I mean, the original game at least had amazing graphics for an Amiga game (thought the Japanese Mega Drive version is my preferred game), but this sequel is just too bland for me to care about, and some well-animated cutscenes don't make up for that.
wow, the mega cd version being a new port and not a lazy mega drive conversion with new music was quite a surprise! Now I`ll go watch the fm towns episode again and go take a look at the system, it seems to have many good games
The FM Towns is very nice but it isn't as good as the Sharp X68000 despite the high price tag.
@@RetroCore x68000 feels a bit like the neo geo of computers for the time! I wonder if that is accurate to how people felt about it in japan back in the day. Feels from the outside like a bit of a product of Japan's late 80s abundance (which I'd guess is similar to how the neo geo feels too despite being a little late to the party)
I still remember the first time I died I this game. That stunning image of resurrection with that crazy guitar solo accompanying. I was absolutely gobsmacked. That is the single greatest memory I have about this game.
That and the intro are the best parts of this game.
It's certainly a good thing that the death scene is magnificent 'cause when you play the game you're gonna see it **a lot**. 😂
Sky kitten knows how many times I wished this goddamn scene could be skipped.
Reflections clearly never got to play their games in the same conditions as their players, otherwise they'd have made it skippable.
@@RetroCore fun fact, did you know that guitar music is sampled straight from miami vice? look up the youtube video with id I-qaW2mLEsA
Is pretty cool to see the MCD are FMT versions being way more competently done. And the Japanese voice acting on FMT version is impressive as well.
The Fm towns version is definitely the flagship, a luxury
Loved it on the Amiga, I got it as part of the Screen Gems pack for Christmas 1991. It took me ages to complete it after using the "Ten Pints" cheat to learn all the enemy patterns and traps.
Too bad the Mega Drive version of Shadow of the Beast III wasn't released and still hasn't appeared up to this day. Its existence was confirmed by Matt Furniss because he actually did all the soundtrack for it. The only Mega Drive version of the series he actually was involved with (the two previous Mega Drive releases were not bad but could have been better, especially regarding the first game) and it never came out, what a shame.
SotB3 got shafted all the way around. Disappointing for a then-SotB fan 😥
@Benjamin Jagun At least the music would have fared well because it was being done by Matt Furniss and he actually confirmed he did all the tracks. The first two Shadow of the Beast games on the Mega Drive were handled by Psygnosis through Electronic Arts like they did with their first games for the system, but it didn't seem that was going to be the case with Shadow of the Beast III and that was probably going to be handled completely by Psygnosis like it was the case with the Mega CD version of Shadow of the Beast II. Maybe that would have been a difference.
Ahh awesome, be good to see one of the original Shadow of the Beast which was a Mega Drive game I have actually beaten. (Yes I am proud of myself).
Amazing!
7:39 gotta say that arranged soundtrack is really giving me home shopping network vibes😂
I suspect the game's makers might been having a little laugh there.
I didnt even know this had a sequel thanks!
Intro and music were incredible. I used to get to the start screen then reboot. Waste of 2 floppies.
I'm sure most people only remember the intro fondly.
I enjoyed this on the MD at the time, mainly for the atmosphere and somewhat open-ended structure but the controls and visuals were pretty good as well. Shame about the crazy difficulty, I eventually beat it way later with a lot of save states. That tavern music on MCD is hilarious.
I'm sure that tavern music on the Mega CD was put in there as a joke 😅
This game was polished with a machete. They really got to make it look playable on the Mega CD and FM-Towns, though. Sometimes it seems like some computer classics are nothing but barely passable games in an ocean of crap
Happy new year to you and your loved ones! ^__^
I never got too far through this, and always assumed the giant robot frogs from the cover art show up later.
Nice to see games that take advantage of the mega cd's piwer so you can compare it to it's weaker cartirage equivilant
Seems like the MegaCD version is the way to go
I agree. The FM Towns version might have more colors but they’re not as nicely implemented as the Mega CD version that’s closer to the Amiga original.
Really interesting about the FM Towns version a system I know next to nothing about but it looks very impressive. I never liked the SOTB series but then I’ve only ever played it on the Amiga with a 1 button joystick. SOTBIII was just about tolerable but I’d much rather play something like Super Castlevania IV if I want something with atmosphere.
Yeah but SotB has all that presentation, color, and music! It still impresses me even today 🎶😎👍
The first SOTB was one of those games I dreamed to play just by watching the stills in the magazines, and years later when I finally could play it with an emulator, I had a huge disappointment, it was beautiful to watch but horrible to play
I like how you started the fm towns version with the game over cutscene
Funnily, the FM Towns version actually starts the game with that scene.
I'm sure I've said this before, but I'd love an FM Towns machine :)
Seems like The Mega CD and FM Towns do it the best.
Never knew much about the Mega CD version, rented the MD version a few times and got really annoyed with the cheap gameplay, so will check the Mega CD version out. (FM version looks great, but I don't have the nostalgia for that system). Great vid!
Was another exciting and enjoyable year of seeing you in action Mark. Wishing you and your love ones a Happy New Year my good man. Keep up the excellent work you always provide for the community and never a dull moment from you kind sir. 8^)
Anthony..
Happy New year, 🎉🎊
Great music. I will have to seek that out. The game itself reminds me a lot of Iris Action, except for the obvious differences. Wonder if this game was an influence.
I remember a time when many people ditched the CD-ROM versions (mostly the Mega CD version, as the FM Towns version was still relatively unkown back then) with the typical "The Amiga version is always better" ditty phrase. I'm glad to notice that has mostly changed now. And yes, the Mega Drive version is an odd one by keeping the same aspect ratio of the Amiga version (which looks odd on a Mega Drive) and with those "loading instances" which I believe are still there to delimit area transitions rather than anything else. It's funny they aren't in the Mega CD version considering it's in a CD and actually has to load.
Amiga version is still better on in this case, if you ask me about atmosfere, here Amiga version still wins.
The Mega/Towns music is out of place and did not capture the original at all (example the elevator tune is just stupid). Genesis tunes is still behind from the Amiga, but its not bad at all, actuelly its nicely done and well captured. Much better than the first game on that console.
But gameplay, Amiga version is not the best, personally did not like it (so here Mark is right),. But its has great atmosfere and great intro and good tunes. Im even did a dual AY version of one of the tunes. hey.
@@spacefractal You may be right on the atmosphere aspect, but overall the CD-ROM versions are better and much nicer, and I don't agree about the music since it still keeps some original themes in remixed form.
Another improvement lies on the main sprite redesign. It is ugly and undefined in the Amiga (and Atari ST version), while in the Mega Drive version they standarized his appearance up to the point that not only the CD-ROM versions improved it (it has much more sense that he wears an armor now rather than still being a caveman like he was in the first game when he still was a creature), they even backconnected this appearance to several updated versions of the first game like the new ending of the Japanese Mega Drive version and the new intro that the PC Engine CD version (and I believe also the FM Towns version) had in a very similar style to the intro of Shadow of the Beast II.
Genesis missing the cool intro. Mega CD also just reused it, but its a very cool intro and seen its many times (dispite im newer liked the game its self, lol).
The elevator music in one of the area is so stupid and very outplaced. But its all no other than just taste in mind, what you perfer. That it. The cd version of Beast 1 was actuelly all right.
Im did not wrote gameplay was best on Amiga. As im wrote, Mark was right :-)
@@spacefractal There's one thing I miss in the CD-ROM version and that's the now legendary death picture, which is only present in the non-CD-ROM versions (Mega Drive version also has it despite not featuring the intro). The Mega CD version, which was done after the FM Towns despite what this Battle of the Ports seem to imply and it's actually derivated from the FM Towns and not otherwise (but keeps the background plane of the other versions, for example), reuses the second intro of the FM Towns version (when you start to play, the one with the Evil One and the child) as the death/game over sequence and while it's not bad, it is inferior to the original one.
Intro was quite big on a floppy disc, and might have filled the a cartridge too much, which would hav been too costly. Its right call throught. Its nice to see it on Mega throught.
I wanted to like this game so bad when it came out on the Genesis but it was too damn hard!
One of my favorite game franchises from the late 80's to early 90's. In fact most games I loved were made by Psygnosis back then. Blood Money, Lemmings to name a couple. I still like the Amiga one, but the FMTM one looks freak'n amazing. I would have to agree with the controls, they are horrible. I was never able to beat either SotB 1 or 2 without the trainer on.🤣🤣🤣 Might have to give the Sega CD one a go too, it looked pretty good. The ST version was an abomination, looks like it plays at 10 frames a seconds, like playing Crysis on a P4 PC with a GeForce4. .. 🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for posting this.. Brought back some good memories from my high school years...
Beast 2 is one I passed on because...well I didn't rate the original! (The PS4 remake I did enjoy though) The Mega CD version does look and sounds much better, maybe I should give it a go!
Just like SOTB 1 the music is again God tier. Intro and other graphics are great though the reduced parallax scrolling on the backgrounds and slightly blander look of the game let it down.
Least in Beast 1 it just seemed pretty difficult but still some element of being able to master it. Beast II just felt like you can't possibly win without tanking damage.
Both games defo style over substance (but dang! What style :D ).
Happy New Year
This game was life changing back in the day... one of the two or tree most important games of all time. AMAZING!
Stellar Game 😉
Happy New Years! 🎉🎉✌️
Happy New Year 🎊
I'm waiting for a battle of the ports of Ancient Ys Vanished Omens. Happy 2023 and may you be well
Some day.
Happy New Year to you, too.
Totally agree with retro core, both games were total drivel. Stunning graphics for both games on almost all systems (atari is beyond abysmal) but the games still blow chunks whatever they were on.
i remember a joke that this game even cheat codes is hard as hell
It is because if you fall in certain water traps your stuck and can't get out.
This game is a masterpiece on the Amiga.
Tight controls, fantastic music and graphics.
Definitely, it's not a console title and you must go slowly to solve the puzzles.
Only real men can finish it and I am not one of them.
Happy new year Mark.
BTW the main sprite on the MD version looks like a hobo.
Happy New year, Vincent GR.
Oh, you're right. He does look like a hobo 😂
@@RetroCore nice battle are you going to do number 3? also you need to do the wing commander games ......
@@MrNightshade2010 this newer happens, as Beast 3 was a exclusive game for the Amiga. The game was newer ported to other platforms. But its the best game in the series.
That Amiga intro is pretty much embedded in my brain, as well as the awesome game over screen of course. Sure, it may have been lacking in game play (only the third game is any fun really) but for the time it was graphically and sonically outstanding. You just hoped the game play would one day catch up. 16 year old me had never heard of FM Towns.
5 pints is the cheat code, if I remember correctly from memory... it's been a few years (well, decades).
10 pints, I believe. I lived about 5 seconds without it. Sadly, it also caused you to soft lock if you fell in the water.
@@JoystickVersusMachine Lost half my pints there... Yeah, remember that too, about getting stuck! Amazing quality control on the original version (you were meant to never get out of the water alive). 🙄
Really, only the FM Towns and Sega CD versions are even worth talking about. Much like Variable Geo, it seems the game doesn't become something worth a damn until there have been SEVERAL degrees of separation from the original.
The FMT/MegaCD versions look like a proto, very proto Blackthorne. They also remind me of a Genesis cinematic platformer, very similar to Flashback (the main character uses a yellow vest, I think. Can't remember the name of the game, though).
Ex Mutants, maybe?
@@zenitpro Generations Lost! I finally remembered :D
@@stonerdemon oh yeah! I remember this one too.
I have the Genesis (Mega Drive) version and i've had my moments and beating it thrice. I cant disagree on the FM Towns version since i havent played it. But soon.
The cheat in that came was go left at the start (I think) and talk to the first guy you come to and type "10 pints"
You don't lose any health then but you can still muck up and fail the game.
I actually managed to finish the game on the Amiga using that cheat and a game guide.
Edit, I should watch the video before commenting as you mentioned you cheated (don't blame you!)
Yeah, after spending God knows how many hours (too many for sure) I resorted to that cheat plus a guide to finish the game.
The issue with this "every blocker is a puzzle to solve" mechanism the game uses is that the solutions to each of these puzzles are convoluted and extremely hard to figure out which turns the game into a total search/roam the level fest in order to try every possible combination of ideas, none of which work.
If at least the problem solving had been easy at start then progressively harder that would have been better but nope.
7:46 is that a sound effect from AoE2?
What you didn't mention is that even with the Infinite-Energy cheat (press F8 and ask about "Ten Pints" on the first enemy you encounter on the right), this awful mess of a game is *impossible* to finish without a walkthrough. There are so many "puzzles"(read: dead-end points of no-return) that you encounter, it's outright maddening:
- Didn't save the man getting abducted by the demon? RESTART!
- Accidentally killed the old man? RESTART!
- Accidentally pressed the wrong elevator lever? RESTART!
- Didn't kill the demon cutting the rope on time? RESTART!
- Didn't figure out you're supposed to break the rock on the spike? RESTART!
- Lost the remains of said rock before the obtuse lever puzzle it's used on? RESTART!
- Used the axe weapon before you were supposed to? RESTART!
- Didn't find enough gold coins for the final section? RESTART!
...and so on and so on...
Heck, even *with* a walkthrough, there are parts where you are completely stumped on what to do next. For example there is a part where you need to OFFER a drink to the guard in order to gain a key you need. This is the *only* part of the game where you need to use the "offer" command and, if you didn't have the manual, you most likely didn't even know it even existed. NONE of the FAQs I read mentioned how you are supposed to do it.
Oh, and you only get a "Winner is You" sort of text message at the end for your troubles.
Seriously, f- this game.
Underrated comment for sure bro. This game is pure, euro-computer game, fuckery. I still appreciate this game same as the 1st game with it's mediocre af, game-design. It's all about the visuals, art-design, music, and overall, presentation. Both O.G. SotB games had some basic, shitty gameplay with loads of cheap hits and cryptic puzzles. Even console games that are revered today, like O.G. Legend of Zelda had completely cryptic puzzles like the Lost Woods maze! SotB1 & 2 do have some jankass gameplay tho, for real 👍
@@TexasHollowEarth Yeah, ironically, while the first and second SotB games got ported to hell and back, the third one, the best gameplay-wise, which actually allows you to choose stages and features nearly no dead-end fcukery puzzles didn't get any ports, which means it's never going to be featured here.😥
@Petros Laoudikos - Yeah, but at least we can enjoy the only version of SotB3 on the excellent and relatively powerful, A500 Mini 👍
Yup, you summed up the gameplay perfectly: "dead end fuckery puzzles".
The only good thing (aside from graphics and music which are great) I have to say about the game is that it's cost per hour played (yes I bought the damn game back in the day, silly me) was very low because of the insane amount of hours I had to put into it to progress.
Wait, so FM Towns has the ability to make transparency? The dialog box was not opaque or dithered, looks like true transparency there. Is it a hardware feature, guys?
Maybe done in software?
I'd imagine it would be too costly, but maybe it is. Either way, very nice.
I think is very good. Not so terrible like you said. But, is very hard to play
FM Towns for the win! Happy New Year Mark.
I remember the gaming magazines in Brazil raving about how cool this game was for the Mega Drive. I believed on them and had a wasted Saturday rental with this dud of a game in early 1993. xD
Have a good new year, man. God bless you and your family.
Good thing you rented it and never bought it.
Hope you had a good new year, too.
The original and best❤
Battle of the ports👍👍👍
me parece raro que se hayan limitado a no sacar un port para super nintendo y pc engine cd
I always thought it looked like a nice metroidvania from the picutres but never played it, I like the first game but it only has 4 areas or 1 level really which is pretty short and feels like a shareware game.
You may actually like this one too if the first game was entertaining for you. This one plays a little better but not by much.
This video took me by surprise, for a second i thought it was a repost of SotB , but then i read the 2 and paid attention to the cover
unfornately...is a missed oportunity in my opnion. Shadow of the Beast 3 took things on a more fresh apporach but you can see they reaaaally made it far too easy (...for the most part) and way too quick
The only game in the series worth playing is SotB III, which is a genuinely great game. The other two are good-looking games with bad gameplay. Unfortunately, Beast III was never ported to other platforms.
Despites the excelent port of Mega CD and FMTowns, Beast II have another good thing... There isn't a Master System crappy port.
👍🏼
To quote MST3K's Joel "It stinks!"
Fm towns version looks great. As u say the amiga version spoilt by cheap deaths and difficulty . With a few tweaks and option to use second fire button to jump would of been alot better
Nice to see the mega cd get some effort put into it rather than just Cd music and intro
I absolutely love this game...and I agree it's not very good, to say the least. The only way to play it is with infinite energy, and even then it's still quite hard, as it's possible to get stuck in pits. But the soundtrack, intro and atmosphere of this game is second to none.
Yes, Beast II is an awful game, I had nightmares and insomnia every night after I discovered that game at a swap meet when I saw the game cartridge on a Genesis 3 on sale, then I saw a gameplay and my surprise was shoddy, then I saw it was based on the AMIGA as a long-play, I was 14 years old in 2009...
Anyway, I agree with the SEGA CD/FM TOWNS versions, which back in 2017 when I got my SEGA CD with a reseller, I decided to burn a CD-R of the game and play it, enjoyable indeed because there's not much good 2D sides scrollers on the MEGA CD.
Thank you for making this addition of Battle of the ports episode, been waiting for it.
Also the game graphics and the illustrations by Roger Dean reminds me a lot of those old creepy Christian paintings that has Jesus Christ in it
You're welcome.
I actually discovered Shadow of the Beast 2 on the Amiga when a twitch streamer I watch played through it a couple of years ago. I love the art design and the music of it. The gameplay is meh, but the aesthetics are lovely. I played this on a gamepad on fsuae, and it played just "fine", so I don't know what the Amiga fanboys are talking about.
Never had a problem controlling the Amiga version. Typically used a Master System or Genesis pad. I would definitely not call it a bad game. But you know, subjectivity and all that. Just out of curiosity, what are you using to play it? Some modern methods have more input latency than others, which can really throw you off on some games.
I'm using emulation but that wasn't the issue as many other Amiga games feel just fine. In this game the lag is more due to the animation.
@@RetroCore It does seem like some of the other versions are a bit snappier with their controls. That said, I think most of them lose a bit of the dark atmospheric ambience that the original Amiga version had. Some improve in some ways, but the Amiga had just the right feel to it IMO. On the graphics, I actually prefer Beast II to Beast I. Beast I had more of an impact on me because it was the first Amiga game I ever saw. However, while Beast I has more layers of scrolling, and maybe more color, Beast II scrolls in more directions while still having nice paralax. In motion it's quite beautiful.
Also, I cheated a lot on it when I was a kid. That said, I could get about 2/3 through it without cheating consistently. However, the further you get and then get stuck, the worse it feels. :D I still absolutely love this game though flaws and all.
AVGN must make an episode on this, too bad he's with screenwave media which It's less probable to ask a review (at least the GENESIS port)
Holy crap I think you're the only one who i've seen state shadow of the beast isn't that good, I never understood the appeal myself.
It's total crap. 😂
I'm is actually fan of the original and the third game (which im had the original). Newer liked this one really, but music is ace in all games for the Amiga. Im guess the pauses for the Genesis is property due decompression as seen in some games? The rom size is 1mb, so they property could not fit the intro at all. But yes, the intro is cool.
I'm surprised the FMTowns and mega CD versions actually almost looked like good games? I wonder.. were they done by japanese teams I wonder? Maybe that is why!
Right!? Like how the Japanese Mega Drive port of Shadow of the Beast is superior (and completely different) than the prior-released, U.S. Genesis port of the same game! That Japanese version is downright impressive 👍
Nope, both western made.
@@RetroCore That is actually crazier lol
Can you do Namco's Galaxian on Battle of the Ports, followed by the sequel, Galaga?
I'm not really in the mood to do that one. I already did Galaga though.
@@RetroCore No, I meant the original Galaga of '81, you know a sequel to the '79 arcade game, Galaxian and the second installment in the franchise.
Tangential, but out of curiosity, do you have any Amiga games you actually would recommend? Not baiting, it’s just that I recently modded my 3DS and installed (among others) an Amiga emulator with the hopes of playing Realms Of Arkania. I figured I’d see if there was anything else worth trying on it, but every best of Amiga list I’ve seen so far seems full of positively mediocre games like Shadow of the Beast, so I was wondering if somebody coming from a more console-positive point of view had any recommendations.
Sure, snow brothers, stunt car Racer are two I really like on the Amiga.
@@RetroCore Don't forget BC Kid and R-Type. Those are top-notch examples of what the system could produce when in the hands of devs who gave a fuck.
This wasn’t released on Marty right?
The Marty plays the standard FM Towns release.
Man, you really hate Shadow of the Beast. How was USJ? Are you going to do a video on it?
USJ was great. I'm currently editing the video now.
Something quite not right about the look of the FM-Towns version. I prefer the look of the Amiga or Mega-CD versions. Also the FM-Towns is overrated. Amiga was 1985 computer and for its time it was awesome whereas FM-Towns IIRC was 1989 and cost a fortune yet it wasn't that good. It also runs most if not all games in some odd square-shaped resolution that makes for cramped screen estate and bad aspect ratio once in 4:3. Overall Amiga has better release date/specs/price ratio and wider library. It's also way more supported by fans, especially the demo scene but also the homebrew scene.
By the way most Mega Drive to Mega-CD ports are nicely enhanced. It's yet another misconception to think that most are quick and cheap jobs. Even some of the earliest ports such as Chuck Rock or Wolfchild came with tons of enhancements!
Ok, SOTB2 is completely unplayable. But you know, I already always considered that SOTB was totally unplayable too. These games are just nice demos of Amiga capabilities. But they suffer of the Amiga syndrome : Beautiful but awful to play.
There is the main character that I don't like in all console versions, too "human" compared to the original design on Amiga in which we discover Aarbron halfway between the initial monster and the human he will be in the 3rd game. the music of the Amiga version was very nice thanks to the work of Tim Wright. Graphics, if not as impressive than in SOTB, are very well drown and inspired from the 70's fantasy. And this game over sequence that made dream all Amiga players of the time... But appart from that, nothing more to save sadly.
I particularly love the FM-Towns version. So beautiful, so smooth and satisfying to play.
However, I really love SOTB 3, the only game of the series in which Reflexion finally understood that gameplay and level design were the brand of good games. It's technically nice with parallax scrolling in 50fps, beautiful fantasy graphics melted with more modern mechanical elements. Tim Wrights music is once again fabulous. All move smoothly, with nice puzzles and a good story. That's what I just expected of the first games. Sad that it never has been converted to other systems. Being available only on Amiga, it's a good exclusivity, but it's less known that the other ones while it's the nicest imo.
Many thanks for this last BOTP of the year. Happy New Year Mark! 🎉✨
Fantastic comment + info! I am a longtime SotB series fan 👊😎👍. Have you played the PlayStation 4 remake of the original game? I rather like it. I just wished they had continued the series. It really feels like a loveletter to the original game and it's fans.
@@TexasHollowEarth I think SOTB is an interesting attempt to create a developed story in action games using this evolution of Aarbron that first frees himself from his oppressor, must then fight one of his minions who seeks to rob him of what represents his humanity, to finally definitively destroy everything that had made him a monster and establish his regained human condition. Sadly, though unforgettable in Amiga history for many reasons and developed with goodwill, the first two games are truly clunky. As a pure action game, SOTB's gameplay, with its pixel-perfect collision detection, is a real pain and we quickly get lost in maps that aren't so extensive because of a wobbly level design. SOTB 2 plays the metroid-vania card before its time, which is remarkable in itself and I really like this adventure side. Unfortunately, here again the gameplay is too much punitive and obviously, the erratic level design is even more penalizing in a game that highlights research and frequent round trips.
At the time, the technical aspect was very important in the personal computer market and I respect that, having grown up with these machines. This is something the console gamer misunderstands. And even if at the time I didn't like the first two games in the series because of these problems, I admit that I came back to them from time to time, just to admire the graphics or listen to the music. But I'm glad the series is ending with a much better game. There is always the flaw of the character losing energy continuously when he is hit, but it is much better integrated into the gameplay, less punitive. And everything else is just perfect.
Maybe I'll give a try on the new game on PS4, but I'm not really a fan of these "revivals" which often tend to trample our childhood memories by bringing out games with very primitive gameplay compared to the games we are used to play nowadays 😉
There are definite improvements in the console versions this time, it would have been nice to see the complete overhaul of the player sprite and animations and higher bit-depth graphics and far more interesting cut-scenes of the FM Towns version rolled back into a Amiga 1200/CD32 specific version. You never know, if they'd kept going for another four or five Shadow of the Beast games the gameplay might have finally got near enough to the top of the priority list for them to do something about it.
Sometimes walking away is the best option though, fixing the player sprite just further highlights how limited enemy sprite animations are... So you've got to fix them too, and so on until you've wasted years and made your very own Duke Nukem Forever.
Well, they attempted to expand the original titles ropey gameplay, by adding more puzzle elements, but a downgrade in graphics, hmmn.
AVGN: "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?"
Ah yes, the ultimate in style over substance returns, well at least the third game was a (marginal) improvement
Happy new year, Mark! This episode is great. I only ever played the original shadow of the Beast on the PC engine. I only remember three things, the game being rather mediocre, the music being exceptional and the Psygnosis logo. I would later go on to associate most games with that logo with incredible music. Now not to advertise another channel but I was watching some other content about famed UK developer Imagine from back in the early eighties and I was stunned to learn two things from it. First they had Roger Dean, famed music album artist known mostly for his covers for the band Yes doing some of Imagine's artwork and secondly a few of these guys went on to form Psygnosis after Imagine self-destructed. After the Japanese learning about UK game and hardware developers is one of my favorite topics. Great video mark again Happy New Year and take care!
Happy New Year 🎉
I'm not sure how I feel about seeing these Mega CD and FM Towns versions. Making changes to improve the game goes totally against what Shadow of the Beast is all about - being crap.
Would you ever consider doing doom? Would probably take forever.
Many have asked. One day I may.
A shame the series wouldn't get respectable until the third game...which has the worst graphics, and was completely ignored.
Anyone who thinks the good old days valued gameplay over pretty pictures didn't actually live in them.
Absolutely. It was all about how good your game looked in the magazines. Sod the gameplay.
Too true. And not just on the computers. There are more than a few impressive looking console games that couldn't back it up with gameplay. Best example that comes to mind? China Warrior for the TurboGrafx 16.
@@jesuszamora6949
It's still happening.
The Tyris Flare hack for Master System Golden Axe has terrible controller response, which the creator explained was caused by the improved color and tile detail. Apparently, simply merging the characters and the stages takes up a lot of the system resources at any given moment, since they're all made from the same type of background tiles.
It's why Space Harrier doesn't even try to hide what the enemies really are.
You only learn by doing, so at least all this hard work wasn't a waste. And the experiment really puts some ambitious Master System games into their proper context.
The Flare hack looks gorgeous though - the art direction is second to none. In some ways, like the shadows, it's even better looking than the Genesis game.
Naturally, it's being praised to the moon and back, by people still under the spell of beautiful 8-bit graphics.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 I have sit down and try the two versions at length, but judging by the YT videos I've seen, the Tyris Flare hack sure is pretty. Not quite Genesis level, but a damn sight nicer than the original. I can see where this would really give the Master System a run for its money, and I can definitely imagine with that much more going on, it would be a bit harder to control, given how that game was made.
I can also see how people would be losing their minds over it. We've not really evolved as an audience beyond the pretty box shots luring us in, have we?
@@jesuszamora6949
I'm not sure, honestly. We seem to have divided things up into weird categories...
"Here's the unspeakably ugly Pokemon game I love anyways!"
"The XBox Series S is ruining this generation!"
"Check it out, my new survival horror has PS1 quality texture warping."
"Ew. It looks like a PS3 game."
"Holy shit, we fit Tomb Raider into a GBA, texture maps and all."
"Does anyone else really like the look of flatshaded polygons in high res?"
"WRONG ASPECT RATIO! MY EYESS!!!"
"The SNES hasn't aged a day..."
The FMTowns was really a wonderful machine, the Japanese guys were really lucky compared to the Western guys.
Speak for yourself.
@Benjamin Jagun Being fair, it probably had more to do with the talent at the development houses. Even the X68000 had some bad games when the devs weren't up to snuff (Viewpoint). The computers were largely the domain of "developers" like Tiertex, but occasionally you had some real bangers from companies like Sensible Software and the Bitmap Brothers. Even Distinctive Software performed miracles with the DOS and C64 versions of Castlevania and Outrun.
Style over substance, coupled with classy euro design
Amiga is one of the laziest sequels .ST is broken. Genesis is just there. Sega CD fixes so many issues thankfully. FM Towns is several steps up.
The SotB games are more about atmosphere than gameplay, Mark. You just enjoy the artwork and moody music and try and figure out how to get past the dreadful level design.
Reflections didn’t really make a good game till Destruction Derby. They could’ve been as big as R* if Driv3r wasn’t such a disaster. They aimed too high too soon, much like Core with the PS2 Tomb Raider game. But stayed in business thanks to Ubisoft.
Being a graphical and atmospheric experience only works if the game lets you see the graphics and atmosphere without being obliterated at the very beginning because the game design is pants.
@Jesus Zamora well I think back then you just admired it and with perseverance, eventually you would make progress.
Very good point.
@@RetroCore what I mean is, that’s the only possible explanation for why this game is how it is.
It’s beyond awful. I’d rather watch paint dry personally.
I don't understand why you are always so harsh with Amiga games. This was one hell of a computer back in the days.
You have to admit, though, that most of the arcade conversions are pants, and there are more than a few shitty originals as well
I cannot talk for him, but I also not a fan of the Amiga. Since I didn't grew up with it, I can only look at it objectively. Amiga and Atari always got the worse ports of all 16bit platforms, that is a fact. And the original games it have, IMHO, didn't measure up against what was coming out of Japan at the time.
Dude, if you analyse the Amiga games without the hearty eyes/fanboy eyes of the past, you'll see that we had no choice back then. It was almost all crap. Shoddy programming, quickly coded and released games, with barely no care. And Amiga games existing on consoles are almost ALWAYS better on the consoles.
Good computer doesn't automatically mean good games, it all depends on the devs talent and how much care they put in their games.
The Amiga was home to so many classics. Bullfrog, Bitmap Bros, Sensible Software. There are hundreds of amazing games if you know where to look. But they tend to be more in depth RPG and strategy games. Flight sims were numerous.
It’s a very Euro-centric computer so you won’t find a great deal of good arcade convertions or shooting games. But Soccer Kid is brills no matter what people say. The Lotus trilogy...
It was better than DOS up until about 1993.
The Amiga graphics are way more beautiful (higher resolution and more colours) than the MD & Mega CD versions. And since this game is all about the graphics, Amiga for the win!
ah, the typical amiga fanboy salty about sega's consoles. it's either that, or salty about the SNES. but it's understandable because those consoles caused much troubles to commodore's excellent computer but eh ;(
anyway amiga graphics are not "way more beautiful". the game on amiga runs in a small window whereas on mega-CD it displays way more screen estate which already makes for a superior presentation. you can compare that @11:45. then, the mega-CD version's main character and HUD are more colorful while the background seems comparable, if not more colorful on mega-CD too. so objectively, the mega-CD version has better graphics but subjectively I'd say that the amiga version with its washed out palettes has a more genuine "shadow of the beast look"
by the way there are tons of other multiplats with better graphics on mega drive and/or mega-CD compared to the amiga. a few notable examples are space harrier 2, atomic robo-kid, galahad, gods, chuck rock, aladdin, cool spot, zool or super hang-on
@@ryzmaker11 huh? I had a super famicom which i loved. And fyi, Amiga came out in 1985 while the Super Famicom came out in…. 1990. Compare the Amiga with a NES.
Anyway, im stating facts: the MD had a lower resolution and much less colors. These are facts
Are u saltly about facts?
PS: get a life. Kiss kiddo.
@@Horos_de_Vega those are fallacies not facts
and amiga was designed as the first 16-bit console but ended as a console/computer hybrid. it cost WAY more than a NES so the comparison is pointless
@@Horos_de_Vega also NES was released in 1983. it was low priced and belongs to the 3rd gen of video games alongside the C64
anyway if you want to compare amiga with NES then that's just an insult to the amiga and its designers
ten pints
Shadow of the Beast was such a high water mark for graphics when I saw it first as a kid. I played very little of it, but knew it was so hard... looking back, I can see why it held such regard in my mind, but man, these games didn't age well
The game looks and sounds so beautiful. It's sad that all this beauty was wasted with the horrid gameplay. Ironically you could say the same for the first game, too. It would need generous invulnerability time, plenty of lives and powerups to be playable.
Man that ST scrolling is awful
Isn't it. So choppy.
Even as an Amiga fanboy I totally agree with you on this one. I was also pleasantly surprised by the PCECD version. And yes, this game is much overrated in general.
More a tech demo than a game. Never liked SOTB2 gameplay
El mejor es el 3,supera a los 3 ampliamente ,este la presentación es memorable, y su soundtrack también, el juego es de calidad baja, pero uno le tiene cariño,la versión atari st, sin palabras 😡.
so annoying how the sprite is always centered, unwatchable, giving me headache, ahhaha
Graphics look worse than the original to me.
I thought that too.
Oh god, this game is terrible. I forgot about it's poor quality and what the game was until watching it. The intro got me hyped, and had me thinking this would be a huge improvement over the original game, but then it boots up and it's somehow worse. The graphics were so good, in the first game now they suck. The intro's cool, as is the music but the gameplay is damn near identical, and now the levels are so much more elaborate that they're even worse to play on! Truly a garbage game, a contender for the worst covered on the channel. It's not like offensively bad, but the gameplay and graphics are unreasonably shoddy. I knew the ST port suck. it seemed all ports to that system after 1990 did. Slow, choppy and ugly. The Mega Drive version looks the best so far, but is still a very faithful port of the Amiga original meaning it sucks and it has loadings and way too small a playing field, for some reason. The Mega CD and FM Towns improve the game so much, and aren't even close to being bad games! They're average at worst. Nice to see something of quality finally come out of such a hyped up, but ultimately disappointing franchise. Still not something I'd go out of my way to play mind you, but would enjoy it reasonably if I had to.
Unplayable.
Of all the things that old man said (FM TOWNS), I only understood the word "Goburin"😄
Very mediocre game, but the Atari ST port is atrocious 🤢
I only played the Mega CD version and thought that was a major downgrade from the original Shadow of the Beast, so I'm shocked that it's actually so much better than the other versions, save for the FM Towns release. I mean, the original game at least had amazing graphics for an Amiga game (thought the Japanese Mega Drive version is my preferred game), but this sequel is just too bland for me to care about, and some well-animated cutscenes don't make up for that.