In this coin-op conversion, you are a hero raised from the dead by the god Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena. With a scenery inspired by Ancient Greece, you have to fight hordes of undead and demons, with a boss at the end of each level until you meet the god Neff, who holds the girl captive.

The title refers to your shapeshifting abilities. In this platformer, you can collect spirit balls by defeating two-headed wolves, allowing you to mutate into different beasts such as a werewolf, a dragon, a tiger, a bear and others depending on the version. Each form, tied to a level, comes with special abilities such as flight and powerful attacks, easily superseding the basic set of punches and kicks in your human form.

The game can be played in singleplayer mode, or in same-screen multiplayer co-op mode.

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Alternate Titles

"獣王記" -- Japanese spelling
"兽王记" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
"Jūōki" -- Japanese title

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Part of the Following Groups

Merchant	Title	Platform	Price
	Altered Beast	Genesis
	Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms	Commodore 64	$1.50
	After Burner	Commodore 64
	Altered Beast	SEGA Master System	$4.98
	Altered Beast
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User Reviews

Great conversion of the arcade hit, underestimated due to overexposure.	Genesis	Majestic Lizard (658)
Welcome to your doom	Genesis	B14ck W01f (37398)
An original story comes to life in this coin-op conversion.	Genesis	aaron pridemore (11)
A cult classic	Genesis	ARProductions (42)
Unlovable.	Genesis	The Imperial Darkhorse (128)
Slightly better than average arcade conversion.	DOS	gametrader (229)
A particularly good conversion of a particularly bad arcade game.	DOS	Tomer Gabel (4429)
Nice!!!	Genesis	Thiago Loureiro (3)

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The Press Says

Jeuxvideo.com	Xbox 360	Aug 17, 2009	16 out of 20	80
Jeuxvideo.com	Genesis	Aug 17, 2009	16 out of 20	80
VideoGame	Genesis	Mar, 1991		80
Zzap!	Commodore 64	Dec, 1989	73 out of 100	73
VicioJuegos.com	Wii	Feb 19, 2007	69 out of 100	69
Defunct Games	SEGA Master System	Aug 28, 2005	55 out of 100	55
IGN	Wii	Jan 16, 2007	5 out of 10	50
Lens of Truth	Genesis	Apr 04, 2009	4.5 out of 10	45
Retro Gamer	Xbox 360	Aug, 2009	44 out of 100	44
Power Play	SEGA Master System	Jun, 1989	17 out of 100	17

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Trivia

Compilation

A version of Altered Beast is included in Sega's Smash Pack compilation CD.

Genesis pack-in game

This game was the first pack-in game to come with the Genesis when it first came out in 1989.

Megadriver

The Brazilian Heavy metal band Megadriver, specialized in SEGA MegaDrive music, did a cover of the first level theme, complete with one of the band members saying "Rise from your grave".

References

The ride-able lizard-birds from Golden Axe make a cameo appearance in the second stage. Bizarrian, a hybrid between an amphibious and a parrot, is also present in Golden Axe.

Version differences

The NES version adds 3 new stages and 2 unique transformations: a shark, an a bird. On the other hand, the SMS version removes the tiger level. The Zodiac release is an emulation of the Genesis version, but for one player only.