Originally released as an arcade game in August 1988, 30 years ago, Altered Beast quickly made its way to a variety of home consoles and PCs. It’s not the easiest to get your hands on nowadays, but it was great when it first released. It is a side scrolling beat ’em up that with added platforming elements.
Playing as a centurion who is resurrected by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena, you punch, kick, and jump as you take out beasts with the help of power-ups. It’s a fun game on your own, but you can also play with a partner, each of you taking control of a centurion. Another game with the same name was released in Japan and Europe in 2005, but it was more of a modern take on the original than a sequel of any kind.
Secret of Mana – 25th Anniversary
Major Game Anniversaries in August 2018
A full 3D remake of Secret of Mana released at the beginning of 2018, possibly to celebrate the original game’s 25th anniversary, but the anniversary actually falls on Aug. 6, having released on that day in 1993. If you haven’t played the original or the remake, it is an RPG with real-time combat that is set in a beautiful fantasy world.
It follows three characters as they “attempt to prevent an empire from conquering the world with the power of an ancient flying fortress.” The original version came to the Virtual Console on Wii and Wii U in 2008 but, if you’re planning on playing the game now, the smart choice would probably be to pick up the remake on your modern platform of choice.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six – 20th Anniversary
Major Game Anniversaries in August 2018
More than 30 video games have been released under Tom Clancy’s name, including the Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, and Division series, but Rainbow Six is arguably the most famous. The series is made up of nine games, the most recent being the even growing Siege, and it began in 1998 with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six.
Releasing on Aug. 21 that year, Rainbow Six was the first game to have Clancy’s name attached. Much like the other games in the sub-series, it is a tactical first-person shooter, and it follows a counter-terrorism unit called Rainbow. As you’d expect, it’s more linear than the recent entries, with Siege being an online focused title, but the original can be held at least partly accountable for the power of Tom Clancy’s name in the gaming world.
Braid – 10th Anniversary
Major Game Anniversaries in August 2018
Jonathan Blow’s recent games, Braid and The Witness, are no stranger to complicated developments and multiple delays, but there is no denying their quality. Braid finally released on Aug. 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360 as part of their Live Arcade program and settled at 93 on Metacritic.
Looking like a straightforward yet beautiful platformer at first glance, the way Braid unconventionally tells its story, and how the time manipulation mechanics affect the gameplay, make it stand out. It’s not long, but it’s a unique experience that has influenced many games in the genre over the last 10 years. It’s yet to make its way over to current generation consoles, but it is easy to find on PC and last-gen systems if you’re looking to revisit it.
Gone Home – 5th Anniversary
Major Game Anniversaries in August 2018
Gone Home was a surprise both in terms of its popularity and how it played out. It released quite quietly on PC on Aug. 5, 2013, meaning it turns five this month, and it’s much more than the creepy walking sim it first seems. The dark corridors of the Greenbriar house and the storm rumbling in the background make it seem like a horror game at first.
It’s only a couple of hours long, if you play through without any shortcuts, but it’s difficult to say anything about its story without ruining the impact. The setting is fascinating and it features some of the best voice acting of the last five years. The console version only released in January 2016, but if you played Gone Home on PC when it first released, it’s been a whole five years since then.
