Hello again, Over the next couple of months I will be writting an A to Z games review of over 250 of the most popular Megadrive titles. I will give a brief description of each game and rate it from 1 to 100%, accordingly games will be judged against other consoles from their era. As a bonus I will say if a game is region protected or not (i.e if a game is region protected, it will only play on a machine from the same country, or will need a converter) I will also say if the game is known by another name, or if it is availible for other consoles. Cheers, Paul. 

                                                                                                  A

                                    ALTERED BEAST A.K.A JUU-OO-KI (2 PLAYERS) 69% (region free)

"Wise Fwom Yow Gwave" the opening line from this arcade perfect conversion of Altered Beast. The game is a side scrolling greek themed beat 'em up, in which you battle hordes of the undead and other various mythological beasts .. with a difference, every so often in a level you will get the chance to "Power Up" your hero, by killing one of the white colored beasts, and collecting blue orbs, the first two orb's you collect will make your hero's muscles expand and burst out of his clothes incredible hulk stylee, increasing your punch and kick range, the third orb (usually found near the end of the level) will transform you into one of four powerful, projectile throwing monsters, before you are allowed to confront the end of level bosses. The monsters are: Werewolf, Dragon, Bear and Tiger. An extremely cool idea I think you'll agree, trouble is .. The game is unbelievably easy. I mean the graphics, sound and gameplay are right up there with the best MD games, but a game with only FIVE levels that can be completed within 20 minutes, in one or two sittings! .. C'MON SEGA! even the two player mode doesn't give it any longevity. I really loved this game as a kid, so I have been generous with the score, however if you are new to Megadrive, deduct 10%. ( also availible on - Master System, PC Engine, Famicom and G.B.A. )

                                        ALIEN STORM (2 PLAYERS) 87% (region free)

Alien Storm is a two player alien invasion themed, side scrolling beat 'em up\shoot 'em up, based on the arcade game. There is a choice of three different characters, each with their own fighting styles and specials, for instance the man and woman characters can call in air strikes and smart bombs (a la streets of rage) whilst the robot character self destructs to clear the screen of baddies. The graphics are very pretty, very close to the arcade, and some of the best you'll see on the Megadrive, the characters are large, colorful and well animated, and the backgrounds, music and sound add to the B movie, alien invasion atmosphere. The gameplay is also very good, a sort of cross between Golden Axe and Streets of Rage, there's also two types of shoot 'em up bonus levels in there too! One is a first person, aim the cross hair type, and the other is a fast side scrolling type. Of course no game of this type would be complete without the obligatory end of level bosses, they are big and ugly, and require you to learn their attack patterns in order to defeat them, and the programmers have got the difficulty level spot on ... with early levels being quite easy, and increasing with difficulty as you progress. Alien Storm has bags of character and style, you can tell straight away that it was made by the same people that brought us Golden Axe and Revenge of Shinobi, it's just a really polished and well made arcade game. (only on Megadrive).

As I mentioned earlier, this is a work in progress so if there is a MD game you would like me to review sooner, please feel free to e-mail me through e-bay ... I will be happy to push a review forward. Kindest regards, Paul.