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
	Altered Beast	Genesis
	Altered Beast
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User Reviews

Great conversion of the arcade hit, underestimated due to overexposure.	Majestic Lizard (658)
Welcome to your doom	B14ck W01f (37398)
An original story comes to life in this coin-op conversion.	aaron pridemore (11)
A cult classic	ARProductions (42)
Unlovable.	The Imperial Darkhorse (128)
Nice!!!	Thiago Loureiro (3)	unrated

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The Press Says

VideoGame	Mar, 1991		80
Jeuxvideo.com	Aug 17, 2009	16 out of 20	80
All Game Guide	1999		80
Sega-16.com	Oct 05, 2004	7 out of 10	70
Pixel-Heroes.de	May, 2004	6 out of 10	60
The Video Game Critic	May 01, 2001	C+	58
Power Play	Jun, 1989	53 out of 100	53
Lens of Truth	Apr 04, 2009	4.5 out of 10	45

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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.