Altered Beast [Console Heroes/SEGA Genesis]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

This week’s Console Heroes post comes just in time for two different occasions. First off, Setsubun is in a few days, and while Aggar may not technically be an oni… he is a giant red horned ogre. Second, I’ve been wanting to talk about something a little ooky spooky. We’ve got almost a year until the Halloween shenanigans kick off here on the site, but monsters are in the site’s description. It’s always a little spooky when every day is Halloween.

Altered Beast is a classic SEGA game originally released in arcades, and it completely blew my little mind the first time I saw it at the local Circle K. I was a kid who couldn’t get enough of monsters, and the ability to play as a werewolf absolutely floored me. The Ancient Greek setting, packed with other monsters, was just icing on the cake. While multiple home console versions were released, the most popular was the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive version, which also happened to be the system’s original pack-in game.

This Console Heroes Altered Beast diorama, aptly named the Graveyard Diorama, represents the first level of the game — which is what most people immediately think of when they think of Altered Beast. This opening stage is where Zeus resurrects you, the Centurion, and sends you to rescue his daughter from Neff, the demonic ruler of the underworld. Here, you fight zombies and other freaky monsters while defeating giant wolves to POWER UP! Each time, you transform into a stronger version of yourself until finally becoming a werewolf. Shortly after, Neff confronts you and a battle with Aggar ensues. After defeating Aggar, Neff reverts you back to your base form. Each subsequent level introduces a new monster form to POWER UP into, along with even more freaky bosses.

The diorama features the familiar cartridge replica opening up to display the graveyard level as it appeared in the game. Included is a werewolf figure in a fighting pose, a fireball accessory with one of those clear rod doohickeys to make it float dramatically in the air, and a large Aggar figure for the werewolf to hurl that fireball at. There are also life and status bars that clip onto the clamshell, further selling the game recreation.

Overall, this is a really solid set. Aggar doesn’t actually plug into the pegs on the diorama base, but that’s not really necessary. Both the werewolf and Aggar look great, and I really appreciate the dynamic fighting pose… even if it does result in a werewolf showing off his butt in toy form. Seriously, man — put some jorts on or something.

While Altered Beast does get merchandise from time to time, it’s nowhere near as common as other SEGA properties, which makes this set feel like a special treat. There are also a lot of Easter eggs in Altered Beast that reference other SEGA games. In my mind, it exists in the same continuity as Golden Axe and Streets of Rage. Maybe even Shinobi. I like to imagine a shared SEGA universe — which is funny, considering SEGA also gave us the excellent Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker arcade game (and an okay console version). Michael Jackson famously contributed to the Sonic 3 soundtrack (we’ll get to that one soon), and possibly even more SEGA projects, as that bit of history is a little murky. Thriller was also an inspiration for Altered Beast, which is pretty sweet — and fittingly, Thriller is also the name of an album by Matthew Sweet, who later named an album after Altered Beast.

You know… I think it’s time to be welcomed to my doom and go play this game again. It’s been a while.

Dracula Saved Halloween for You and Me

Here we are again. The Halloween season is slowly coming to a close and that means once again I'm talking about The Halloween that Almost Wasn't/The Night Dracula Saved the World. It's my favorite Halloween special... I've said that each time. I said it because I meant it. When I was a kid, Halloween was this weird patchwork holiday. Spooky, creepy, scary... but also ratchet as hell sometimes. The Disney Channel, for example, a big company with lots of money and slick polish would fill October with tons of old specials like this.

It's got the production value of a school play, almost amateurish things happen on screen like when the Wolfman is standing in view before he's supposed to go through a door. The Mummy just falls on his ass a few times. But... it's funny as hell. Like, legitimately funny. There's a fun script and the actors are obviously having a great time. It's a good thing the special is easily watchable, because none would believe that this thing exists. Despite all that, it's so very Halloween at it's core. Pure Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem. Happy Halloween everybody.

Halloweek: The Curse of Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem

Good morning Zone Base readers, welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! It's that sacred time of year, Halloweek! This year's Halloweek is particularly special as Halloween is on a Friday! That means extra fun without worrying about getting up the next day! One of my favorite Halloweens was on a Friday. It was 1986 and I was in the 3rd grade. That year was a special one. Transformers the movie had came out just as school was starting and it was the Halloween that I was the Wolfman! Yes, that freaking Paas make up kit werewolf costume I've talked about a million times happened that fateful Halloween on a Friday night!

I'll never forget coming home that evening with my cousin, washing off the make up with a McDonald's sponge and watching Teen Wolf! The following day I picked up Masters of the Universe Rio Blast! I don't know what toy luck I'll be having this weekend, but whatever it is will be the last toys I buy for myself untill after Christmas. I've got plenty of stuff to talk about here on the site, but hey... how was your weekend?

Mine was great. The Mrs and I went to Five Below and Target Saturday morning. While there we got the last of our Trick or Treat goodies for the kids Friday night. The Mrs happily spent the weekend making treat bags for handing out to our lucky door knocking ghouls. At around 15lbs, we've got a lot to hand out! Candy, little toys, and lots of fun. Speaking of lots of fun, as tradition, the Mrs and I exchanged our annual Halloween gifts to each other. We like to do it before the actual day to enjoy the spooky season a little more.

The Mrs gave me mine in awesome Lego monster buckets! There was candy, Mad Balls, cool toys, a DVD of Witches Night Out, a new yokai book, and tons of love! As usual she included this years Halloween Star Wars Droid Factory droid. It's a fun little tradition of hers that I always look forward to. There were also some great skeleton figures in the bucket. They're in various colors and really neat with tons of articulation and fantasy weapons. I'll definitely be posting about them in the weeks to come. Afterwards we ordered Taco Bell for dinner and I carved the pumpkin!

Sunday morning meant another annual Halloween tradition of mine. I took a small roadtrip to the nearest Krispy Kreme for this years Halloween donuts! It's about an hour away and was a great time to enjoy the fall weather while listening to the radio. One station that usual has a b-side show on Sunday morning played spooky hits for the holiday. It's been a while since I've heard Echo and the Bunnymens version of People are Strange and a pretty good occasion to play it. The Mrs had breakfast (and she made one amazing dinner later) ready Sunday and I spent the day finishing that Flame Toys Furai Model Rodimus kit I've been working on the past few weekends. Please look forward to an upcoming post on it soon.

I also started a new game of Cave Story as I forgot where my last save left off. I didn't delete the old save though, just incase my memory returns. Yesterday was the start of the Halloween version of the game. Halloween and Christmas are observed in game and it's fun to see the familiar characters get a new seasonal look. Cave Story is a game I really do enjoy, I'm glad I've got it on my Switch. I've had it on multiple consoles, but damn I love the Switch!

Well, aside from the Halloween gifts from the Mrs, I also got some great toys. Target had the Godzilla Monster Series 5" Flaming Godzilla and Destoroyah! As for Transformers, they had Age of the Primes Minimus Prime, Venin/Venom, and Skydive! Target also had a great Circle deal on toys, so I save a little money thankfully. Well, as usual, I've got to do some household chores and take toy pictures for upcoming posts. It's also a nice rainy fall day, so I think one of those donuts with some coffee while enjoying the sounds outside and watching Gobots is in order. Have a great Halloweek Zone Base readers. Just a heads up, next Monday I'll be a little busy, so there won't be one of these Weekly Update posts. But don't worry, normally scheduled content is on the way! I hope everyone has a fun Halloween. Please feel free to check out my Instagram for updates from me. If you like what you see, give me a follow! Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Please remember to share with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!

The Wolfman [ReAction/Monsters of the Silver Screen]

I've heard folks say that The Wolfman is the Boba Fett of the Universal Monsters/Dark Universe crew. I'm inclined to agree, though I'd argue it's more like Din Djarin. He's introduced as more of a tragic character. Gets bitten by a werewolf who's attacking his date's friend. Turns into a monster at night and murders innocent people against his will and much to his horror. Tries to tell people, but everyone, including his father, thinks he's crazy. Later is killed by his own father, who now see's his son was telling the truth.

Returns from the grave multiple times. Unable to die thanks to the werewolf curse and in his further adventures with the other monsters is more of an anti-hero role. Ultimately the Wolfman tries to thwart their misdeeds, even though he can't control his own actions. Often old monster movies can be cheesy, but The Wolfman's emotional punch is still there after 84 years. I've probably mentioned the time I was The Wolfman way too many times than anyone cares. So it's probably obvious why I waited until Halloween to talk about this toy.

As a standard Reaction toy, The Wolfman is a 3 3/4" action figure in the style of older toys. Mostly inspired by the Kenner Star Wars series from the 70's -80's, but also like others of the time. The Remco Mini Monsters for example. Those would be the most obvious comparison point here. The Monsters of the Silver Screen blind box series features the toys in black and white colors to match their appearances in those movies. Larry looks really good. His sculpt is out of an old Kenner or Remco design book spiritually.

He features 5 points of articulation in the obvious spots and some fun sculpting. Hands are open to have claws ready to strike and his legs are slightly bent in conjunction with his wolf feet. Mirroring the wolf that he has become. Even with his limited articulation, he's pretty expressive. He can creep up on a victim, howl at the moon, or just stand on your desk next to that little cup where you keep your pens. Super7 has released a bunch of different variations of this figure, but there's a charm to this black and white version.

Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.

Werewolf [Altered Beast]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

POWER UP!

WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM!

It's impossible to think about Altered Beast without the soundbites and music playing in my head. Just like Matthew Sweet, I love the game. Memories of the millions of quarters sunk into the arcade machine at Circle K and elation of discovering the continue code when playing it at home. Of course I was excited to see the Werewolf represented in Jakks Pacific video game figures. Jakks has been pumping out a pretty solid line of toys inspired by several all time favorites and frankly... Altered Beast was one I never thought would ever get toys. There's a Weredragon figure as well that I hope to eventually get.

I had actually intended to talk about this figure last Halloween season but... completely misplaced it. It wasn't until recent organizing efforts that it was found and put aside once again to look at during Halloween on the site. Fortunately, I remembered where it was this time. As I said above, Jakks has a great video game figure line and Werewolf is another solid effort. He's pleasantly solid feeling, like a much more premium figure... but only cost $9.99. That's awesome. There's 22 points of articulation on his 4" body resulting in one super pose-able monster. Though I did have trouble getting the arms to close close to his body. Initially I wrote that off as a articulation limitation, until I saw others not having this problem online. Then I saw others having the same problem. Clearly it's a molding or QC issue as you can see where the joint is for that amount of movement. I chose not to force the joints on mine, maybe there's a fix out there for this?

Also, the head and crotch are a darker brown than the rest of the body. That's not a big deal, but you can't unsee it. As for accessories, he comes with a Spirit Ball, like the ones from the game that allow for your undead warrior to POWER UP! That's a nice little extra. There's a hole in the bottom of the ball for where a stand would have plugged into. Guessing it was omitted at some point. Clearly the figure isn't perfect, but I'm happy to actually have something from the game in toy form and honestly not bothered enough by the problems for them to overshadow that happiness. However, I'm an honest person and it wouldn't be honest to ignore those issues here. Regardless, it's still a pretty good figure. It's well sculpted and looks great. Hopefully I eventually get that Weredragon and more of the SEGA characters Jakks Pacific has been putting into their video game line. In my mind Altered Beast, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage all take place within the same continuity. With these figures, they can take place on the same bookshelf.

Happy Gorzack Fall Y'all

Despite being super into toys... I admittedly have tunnel vision sometimes and something can completely pass me by. Gorzack came out in 1994 and I never learned of him until adulthood. It's hard not to see how cool this guy is, a giant fantasy warrior werewolf? While not specifically Halloween in nature... he's totally seasonally appropriate. Like Masters of the Universe, Gorzack is basically a Halloween decoration made into a toy. I think I've seen similar looking monsters in At Home.

Halfway 2 Halloween~ Michael Landon Kills

Last Halloween, Johnathan fought the devil to save the soul of his friend Mark.

one year later...

It's Halloween night, and Mark finds it the perfect time to get a submarine sandwich and watch spooky movies. Unfortunately, the sandwich shop is ran by the devil. Needless to say, Mark falls asleep in front of the TV haunted by indigestion filled nightmares. Meanwhile, Johnathan decides to go out for a walk and befriends a lonely kid. This leads to a trick or treat adventure full of mischief and the most bat shit insane Halloween special ever made.

 originally posted 10/15/2021

Pretty Mayhem

 

People tend to shoot a lot of fireworks in the summer. They do here anyway. Between Memorial Day and Independence Day, there's a good chunk of the planet getting blown up in some festive displays. I'm not complaining, it's fun to shoot them off and they're pretty to look at. But summer is a spooky season. Remember Silver Bullet?

It's pretty common on Cybertron as well. The Sparkabots, whom shoot festive sparks are often at odds with the Firecons. Decepticon monsters who breathe sparking fire. It's a true yin and yang on the battlefield.  The heroic Autobots vs the evil Decepticons. Valor versus venom... and the prettiest fireworks display.

Michael Landon Kills

Last Halloween, Johnathan fought the devil to save the soul of his friend Mark.

one year later...

It's Halloween night, and Mark finds it the perfect time to get a submarine sandwich and watch spooky movies. Unfortunately, the sandwich shop is ran by the devil. Needless to say, Mark falls asleep in front of the TV haunted by indigestion filled nightmares. Meanwhile, Johnathan decides to go out for a walk and befriends a lonely kid. This leads to a trick or treat adventure full of mischief and the most bat shit insane Halloween special ever made.

Happy 4th Of Summerween

It's the beginning of July and now that we're fully into summer, it's only natural to talk about a holiday four months away. But hey, what's logic got to do with Summerween? It's a holiday weekend. July 4th is celebrated here in the states usually with fireworks, pool parties, and grilling. It's a good time. 

Ever see Silver Bullet? Marty fends off the werewolf with a bottle rocket on 4th of July and later the final battle is on Halloween night.

Something about these extra few nights off makes for great horror watching. A plate of leftovers from the cook out and kick back with something spooky. It's not just my nonsense, the Halloween spirit is in the air now. More and more pumpkin spice mayhem will soon appear. It's a good time.  

Fearsome Flush Ain't Taking Crap

When The Real Ghostbusters get scared, they flip the crap out. That's fair enough. Think about it, if you or I saw a ghost, we'd probably run away screaming. These dudes, they literally deal with ghosts all the time. So when they get scared, it's pretty serious business. That leads us to this commercial.

Happening upon a werewolf in a junkyard scares Ray so much that he has to take a shit then and there. Right in front of Winston. Fortunately there's a random toilet just laying there. It's probably not connected, but at least it's better than making a Fright Feature in his pants. Unfortunately, the toilet is FEARSOME FLUSH! The demonically possessed toilet!

I'm not sure if a sudden mouthful of poop is what pisses him off so much or that he's just being a scary ghost. Who's a toilet. Either way it sends Winston and Ray packing as other ghosts kiss their back causing them to display new Fright Features gimmicks. I'll be honest, this is a pretty weird commercial. Also, what happened to the Werewolf Monster? Was the plan all along to send them to Fearsome Flush? Or did he just leave?

Fearsome Flush will be re-released at Walmart this summer. I'm pretty happy more Real Ghostbusters toys are on the way. It's a nice way to lead into the all new Fright Features figures coming soon. Not to mention, who wouldn't want a ghost toilet? Just think if it was a Conjuring movie. Ed and Lorraine Warren have this old toilet in their basement museum... it's evil is truly unknown until Judy make a terrible mistake on Taco Tuesday...

Malicious And Rotten's Excellent Adventure

It's been a weird night year huh? Good thing it's the spooky season and we can find fun and laughter in cheap plastic fangs and pumpkin flavored everything. I've mentioned at the beginning of this years shindig that I was going to double dip and I meant it. But how can I not double dip when the pumpkin spice mayhem is so wonderful? 

"Witch's Night Out" is a semi obscure Halloween cartoon from 1978. I say semi as every year it seems more people discover it's weird ass. A sequel to a Christmas cartoon called "The Gift Of Winter" (which was even weirder assed) about a Witch who shows some kids a good time on Halloween before her wand gets lost. Two local townies named Malicious and Rotten discover the wand and all hell breaks loose. 

This was on my regular viewing list as a kid... and as an adult. After it's initial run on TV, Disney Channel would regularly show it during October (man, Disney is so good at Halloween). It's on one of those VHS Halloween mix tapes I've talked about here before, but thankfully it's widely available to view online. There's some top level talent here. Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, and Catherine O'Hara to name a few. It's kinda amazing.

Unfortunately Peter Cullen Was A Werewolf

There's probably more forgotten Halloween specials than fondly remembered ones. While that's mostly a tragedy, in the Case of 'Boo!', it's for the best. It's not a bad idea. Take the classic monsters and put them in a silly variety show together during the formats heyday. Couple of musical numbers, a bunch of silly skits. Sure fire idea right? Unfortunately it's probably the worst thing ever made. I would say it's arguably worse than the Star Wars Holiday Special... but I've been able to watch that in it's entirety. I can't get through the first 15 minutes of this. Sure I've skipped around and watched a bit here and there. But straight forward? No way. It's fucking horrible.

If you can make it to minute marker 9:16... or just skip forward... you'll notice who gets top billing. Peter Cullen as the werewolf. The Peter Cullen? Maybe there is another? Possibly. But I can't find any other with a Google search. I also can't find this credit on any of his profiles either. Would you put this on your resume? It's fucking horrible.

The special is only an hour long, which you probably won't watch the entirety of. If I haven't been clear enough, it's fucking horrible. I first ran across it last summer while digging for material for the site. You guys think old Pop Secret commercials just fall out of the sky? I sat through 10 minutes before passing out thanks to that way Dracula kept singing 'do' rendering my brain incapable of thought for a full 10 minutes. Know what can happen in 10 minutes? You can hit the back button on your Roku remote, that's what.

It's fucking horrible.

I Was A Third Grade Werewolf

I have an admission of guilt. Even though I am pure in heart and say my prayers by night, I became a wolf when the wolfbane bloomed and the autumn moon was bright. Yes, I was once a werewolf. When the moon was full I changed into a monster and prowled the neighborhood for a victim. My blood lust could not be stopped, I'd kill and kill and kill. Nobody was safe, for you see I was a werewolf.

For exactly one night.

In the third grade.

I've mentioned Crestwood House Monsters here before, so what if I told you the stars aligned just right and I got the Wolfman book from the library the same day I first saw Teenwolf? Because that's exactly what happened. 

I was prepared to read my book that Friday night when a new movie came on HBO. A cinematic masterpiece, Teen Wolf.

It was then that I was bitten, by the idea to be a werewolf for Halloween. I'll wait for you to catch your breath. So there I had the perfect costume in mind but now with a conundrum. How was I going to pull that off? The simple answer would be with a mask and some of those hairy gloves.

The complicated part would be I was in the third grade and what you might call a child.

What I'm saying is, I was still a little scared of rubber masks. I was petrified of them prior, despite loving all sorts of monster toys and movies, having a real one in your face is a different story.

Though after years of my brother reusing his Gamorrean Guard mask, I had matured from pissing myself in abject terror to slight discomfort. However, I still didn't want to wear one. 

Ben Cooper mask, sure. Rubber mask, nope. So how do I become a werewolf? All of my costumes up to this point were smock and mask or make up kit based.

I've mentioned how much I love make up kits before, but I don't think you quite understand. I freaking adore them. 

I love looking at the packaging and at the examples. The variety of kits from cheap to expensive, I just can't get enough of them on the aisle. 

I mentioned it was the weekend right? So of course a trip to the store was in order and wouldn't you know it, the old faithful PAAS make up kit display was standing proudly. 

All the kits were there. Dracula, ghost, camouflage... stupid ass clown... glam rock... left over Easter Egg kit... wait...

wait...

A WEREWOLF!

Needless to say, I had my costume in check. Come Halloween night I was dressed as a werewolf should. Blue jeans, black fruit of the loom sweat shirt, and the mind blowing transformation that only a PAAS make up kit could produce! The kit came with several tubes of make up and instructions on how to properly apply. Also included were plastic fangs and on the back of the box were cut out ears and moon medallion (yarn not included).

I don't mean to brag, but I looked badass. My cousin arrived in yet another bullshit bed sheet ghost costume with some of his moms cold cream on his face to make it white. At least he smelt nice. I got so much freaking candy and even scared a few old ladies. Except the ones who never know what you're supposed to be. EVERYBODY ISN'T DRACULA MRS. EDNA. Same assholes that gives out those stale peanut butter chews. Same ones. Same bag from last year.

That Halloween rocked, maybe even more when my cousin threw one of his trademark tantrums and yard spiked his MCBoo Pail into the ground after tripping on his sheet for the millionth time. We got back to my place for pizza and a viewing of Teen Wolf. The perfect bookend to my werewolf saga.

McBoo To You

In the glory days of McDonald's, Ronald rung in the holidays usually with some sort of great Happy Meal promotion. The most famous McD's Halloween promotion would the the various trick or treat pails that were practically an annual tradition. For a few years tacking their commercials onto the 'Scared Silly' spot was another tradition as you'll find various editions paired with that classic bit. 
 
While the obvious intention was to use these trick or treating, they usually became various storage containers. Crayons and other school supplies were a popular use. McGoblin was home to many a Battle Beast in his day in my bedroom. They had a lot of uses, except for actual trick or treating as they were pretty small. 

My cousin generally used them along with his sisters. I'll never forget the Halloween where he was VERY jealous of my Paas make up kit werewolf costume. Dude was a bed sheet ghost with some cold cream on his face. Not even Kooky Spooks and a robe as the official Halloween costume. His McBoo pail got hard spiked into somebodies yard during a temper tantrum after the third time tripping over that sheet.

Crestwood House Monsters- The Wolfman

Things are getting hairy around the base, and that's because it's Friday Night Frights time! We're coming around the corner of the end of Spooky Summer and into the Halloween season. Mid August is when the pumpkin spiced mayhem goes into effect and with it, Friday Night Frights will go into hiatus until November. So I figured a good wrap up of the Crestwood House Monsters exploration we've been doing would be with the heavy hitters! Not that I'm out of these classic books, just it's time to spice things up a bit, and given that spice will be of the pumpkin variety... I think you get my point. Spooky shit.

The Wolfman is one the more layered stories from the Universal Monsters gang. Larry is convinced he has become a werewolf and is the one responsible for the recent murders in town. Everyone thinks he's loosing his mind while looking for the source of the killings while the guilt is tearing Larry apart. I'd like to point out the cover of the book though, that's not The Wolfman. That's the Werewolf of London which Universal released six years prior to The Wolfman. Frankly, I've always found it's story to be better than Larry's adventure.

Wilfred is a scientist who travels to Tibet in search of a rare plant. While there, he's attacked by a werewolf. Back in London we see that Wilfred's wife is bored of him being locked away in his lab and not paying attention to her. Wilfred is now a werewolf and is murdering locals at night. Afraid of what he might do, he locks himself away in hopes of keeping his wife safe. His wife, all the while getting increasingly more and more fed up with him ignoring her and locked away in the lab. In case the situation wasn't complex enough, an old flame comes calling.

Several of the Universal Monsters tend to make the viewer feel sympathy for them. In the werewolf movies that theme is really driven home. They're sad movies under all that fur and fangs. The book is in it's entirety in the above preview or available to download for free from the link underneath it.

Friday Night Frights- The Most Dangerous Game Master

Friday Night means Frights and who's more frightening than Dracula? Don't answer that. Everyone in video land knows Castlevania is a scary place to be. So what better a location for Captain N to have a showdown with an evil clone of his real world bully? Well I guess anywhere, but dang son, monsters!

The two duke it out while traversing the evil castle in a spooky montage set to Michael Jackson's Thriller! Ok, not actually sung by Michael Jackson, but the off-brand singers usually found on party soundtracks! The kind you get at the party store for your Halloween party! Only this is summer and just Friday night... ah fuck it.

Friday Night Frights- Doggone Werewolf

It's Friday night, and you know what that means! Another edition of Friday Night Frights here on the Base. As a kid, I was a huge fan of werewolves. Especially in the third grade which is when this episode would have aired. I particularly thought Fangster was pretty awesome. He seemed like one of the more badass villains the Ghost Busters had to deal with. Even in his little green shortie shorts.

Friday Frights- Face Of The Screaming Werewolf

Lon Chaney Jr. was best known as The Wolfman in The Universal Monsters movies. If you swing by the Mego section of your local Target, you'll see an action figure of him as a werewolf alright... but not the Wolfman. It's a figure of of his werewolf character from "Face of the Screaming Werewolf". I'm guessing the rights were dirt cheap or free for Mego here. I'm not sure if the movie is even public domain, just nobody cares. Which is unfortunate as it's one of Lon Chaney Jr's final performances.

If you don't watch the entire movie above (it's only an hour), let me explain the "plot". Two mummies are found in a pyramid. One just happens to be a werewolf.

The Last Warwolf

When I was in middle school, the most amazing game came out. Werewolf: The Last Warrior. You can guess I was sold instantly. Play as a werewolf, post apocalyptic setting, evil mutants... how could I resist? Fortunately the game hit the discount bins pretty fast and I got a copy (if it wasn't a birthday or Christmas...). The game was pretty good I thought and I spent many nights with it.

As you can see from the play through video, it's a pretty standard fare NES action platform game similar to Castlevania. Great music, pretty decent graphics, all around not bad. Thing is, like most games from it's era, the Japanese version was pretty unique.

Distributed by Takara in Japan instead of Data East. At 13 I knew nothing about the various companies. There was no internet for me to learn such things and really, I was a kid. I didn't care. I took note of companies, sure, but it don't go much further than that. I did notice that the logo from some of my Transformers was on some of my games. Kinda like LJN, but Takara games were better. 

I'm not going to make it out like the two different versions are completely different games. But there is neat differences to take note of. In Japan, the game is named Super Werewolf Chronicle - Warwolf. I'm honestly not sure if I think that's a better name than Werewolf: The Last Warrior, but sounds like a series more than a stand alone game. I wonder if a series was planned? Being that the game wasn't that much of a hit (not really one at all), there wasn't any sequels. I don't think the Warwolf makes any other appearances in other Data East games either. With a name like that and a look at his design, it's not hard to fathom that somebody thought the character could star in multiple adventures. 

If you compare this play through with the above one, you can see the various differences. Mostly sprites here and there and story line adjustments. Going back to my theory of the game being a planned series, check out the 'The End' screen.

That's from the Japanese version. Sure looks like the Warwolf is ready for more adventures huh? Howling at the full moon, sword hand things posed for fighting. Yeah, we've got a new hero right? But check out how the American version cranks that up a Monster Jam notch. 

  
I want a t-shirt of that. Nothing says establishing a new hero more than that straight out of WWF glory in 1990. Weirdly enough, the game came out first in America by almost 7 months. You'd figure the timing wouldn't have been the best to launch a new series of games as the Super Nintendo was gearing up for release in America and already well underway in Japan. Perhaps it was planned for an earlier release and things happened. There's not really much information about the game out there aside from 'hilarious' articles about how bad the game is. It could be bad I suppose, just because I loved it in middle school doesn't mean it's a good game. 

I've seen random fan art of the game, the occasional perler bead creation or two, but that's it. I'd love to see some indie toys of the Warwolf. I guess any werewolf figure could stand in, but those sword arms man. He's make for a great keshi or sofubi. I could see Battle Tribes make something special from him. It just needs to happen, you know?