Altered Beast, Ghouls n' Ghosts+ Assault

Assault (1988)

Assault was a multi-directional shooter which is thought to have been the first game to use the hardware rotation of sprites with the background in game play.

Interestingly, the player’s tank was the focus of the game play, with it always facing upright and it seeming as the screen was moving around it. This could also have been seen when the player entered the game and proceeded to later levels, as the tank was air dropped in and then would travel down a hatch towards the next stage. When the tank used the ‘Power Platforms’ (ramps), the player would have seen more of the map. As the tank was controlled via two joysticks, through a variation of moves the player would release a devastating nuclear blast, as well as a standard shot.

Altered Beast (1988)

Set in Ancient Greece, Altered Beast followed a fallen Greek warrior who was resurrected by Zeus to save his daughter (Athena) from the demon god, Neff. Through various power-ups the player could transform the character into fantastic beasts such as werewolves, weredragons, werebears and weretigers! The aim of the game was to defeat enemies through either punching or kicking them. Two players could also work together to save the Greek Goddess.

There were five levels in the game, these being: Graveyard, Underworld, Cavern, Neff’s Palace and the Base at the City of Diss. If the player defeated the white, two-headed wolf they would achieve the Spirit Ball power-up so that they would change into their were-creature. After the player has transformed into the beast they would then face Diss, the end level boss.

Ghouls n’ Ghosts (1988)

Standing as one of the most influential and recognisable series of games, Ghouls n’ Ghosts was the sequel to the previous arcade hit Ghosts n’ Goblins. With overall similar game play, the player controlled Knight Arthur who had set out again to save those who were killed by Lucifer, including his beloved Princess Prin Prin. On the quest, Arthur had to defeat hordes of the un-dead and demonic creatures to fight his way to the antagonist.

There were five main levels in the game as well as the boss level at the end of the game. To defeat the game the player would have had to go through these levels twice, with the second time at a harder level of difficultly, to retrieve the golden armour which would have revealed a special weapon to defeat Lucifer.