Alpha is better than Beta

I genuinely prefer Alpha over Beta.

And by Alpha I mean the versions up to and including a1.1.2_01, as the halloween update is really the beginning of the Beta period.

The neon-green grass is one of the most important factors. It simply looks gorgeous and by comparison the 1.2.0+ dark green grass looks rather sad. It lacks the energy, the resolve that the old grass had.

Alpha is also much more balanced. In Beta hostile mobs spawn much more frequently.

One day I converted my old Alpha world to Beta (1.5_01 iirc) and that one unlit cave that hadn't been a problem before was now swarming with all sorts of eldritch horrors.

This is amplified even further by the fact that in Beta roughly 70% of all landmasses are covered in thick forests which often allow hostile mobs to spawn in broad daylight. Once I was almost shot by a skeleton before I even had a chance to gather wood right on day one.

This doesn't mean Alpha is too easy. If you go out at night you'll still fall prey to the dark, but you're at least safe during the day.

Alpha also doesn't have beds which is a good thing.

Beds are seemingly meant to compensate for the fact that night-spawned monsters no longer despawn when the sun rises.

But having to go to sleep every single night is so annoying. And if you don't go to sleep then every single tree and lake in your vicinity will host a platoon full of monsters.

I also find the lack of coordinate view nice. In later versions when you want to find diamonds you mine down to Y12. But in Alpha you have to first hit bedrock (which is Y5) and calculate the distance upwards like a mediæval scholar. Or you can pretend like there is no bedrock and mine wherever you want.

Winter worlds are also such a nice feature. And I say it not only because I yearn for winter, and they barely exist where I live. Winter worlds are so cool, much better than the 1.2.0+ Taiga biome. The 1.0.15 world I've been playing on a lot lately is a winter world.

Being able to use crafting grid slots as normal inventory slots can also save you a walk up the shaft.

People say it's bad that Alpha only allows you to have 5 worlds. But is it? Nah. I spend 90% of my Minecraft time in two worlds. The 1.0.15 world I have already mentioned, and a TU31 world on the 360 edition. But maybe it's just me.

That's been some yapping.