Altered Beast
- Altered Beast (1989 on Dedicated handheld)
- Altered Beast (1990 on Dedicated handheld)
- Altered Beast (2005 on PlayStation 2)
Description official descriptions
You are a hero raised from the dead by the god Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena. With 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 Altered Beast 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 single player mode, or in same-screen multiplayer co-op mode.
Spellings
- 兽王记 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
- 獣王記 - Japanese spelling
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Credits (Arcade version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 60% (based on 58 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.1 out of 5 (based on 221 ratings with 10 reviews)
Great conversion of the arcade hit, underestimated due to overexposure.
The Good
Altered Beast was one of the first couple of games for the Mega Drive / Genesis. Its a side scrolling platformer and its quite original and fun. The graphics were very detailed and captivating with a mythology theme and a variety of large and detailed sprites. The game features paralax scrolling in several levels which was very new in console games at the time.
The game is overlooked due to its overexposure as the original Sega pack-in game of 1989. Makoto Uchida's masterpiece was done justice with this cartridge.
The Bad
Altered Beast was one of the first Genesis titles and as such it was only a few megabits. This put constraints on the number of frames of animation.
As the original pack-in title there was also a need by Sega to eliminate the gore of the arcade game which is present on the Master System and PC Engine version (released five years later). In the original arcade game when you struck the zombies in the first level they exploded into internal organs and limbs. This gore is featured in both the Master System and PC Engine version.
Naturally, Sega could not include explicit gore in a game that would have the exposure of a pack-in title and instead of exploding into guts and limbs the Zombies simply break apart into flames.
Another graphical feature that was changed from the arcade was the sprites for the two-headed wolves. In the arcade they were brown and the special white ones were the ones you had to kill to get power ups. In the Genesis version the two headed wolves are pink and the power-up wolves are blue. They have also inexplicably shrunk. This causes the two-headed wolves, who are ubiquitious throughout the game, to be confused with pigs by most players.
Many of the colors of the sprites were inexplicably altered but usually this did not detract from the game.
As an arcade game it was long enough, but as a home console translation it was far too short. It needed to be at least twice as long and a little more development of the story would have been good also.
The Bottom Line
Altered Beast is a fun game that is an excellent translation of the Arcade version. Its still superior the PC Engine version graphically and in terms of control, though the PC Engine version retains some of the sprites and animations of the Arcade version that the Genesis lacks.
Genesis · by Majestic Lizard (670) · 2006
The Good
In Altered Beast, you play a human, who is resurrected by Zeus to rescue his kidnapped daughter Athena. To do this, you need to go through five stages, defeating zombies, both air- and ground-based, with your punches and kicks. On your travels, you can obtain power-ups that are left behind by pumas. Get three of these power-ups, and you transform into a wild beast that has strength needed to defeat the boss at the end of each stage.
The beast that you turn to depends on what stage you're on. For instance, the first stage has you turning into a werewolf. Subsequent stages include a were-dragon, were-bear, and were-tiger. Out of all these, I enjoy playing as were-dragon, since you are not confined to the ground the way the other beasts are. But although most of the beasts can jump high in the air, this isn't the same.
Out of all the versions of Altered Beast that I have played so far, the Genesis version of the game looks and feels like the coin-op version. Similar sounds are played between the two. My favorite sound would be when your character says “Power Up”. It makes him sound like Thor. The graphics come just as close. The environments that are portrayed in the last three levels are well done. The controls act like they should.
The Bad
Unfortunately, the music doesn't even come as close to that of the coin-op version. The music in the Genesis version sounds as if the person who composed it only used one finger. The coin-op version has much better music, which blends in with the next piece very well. A thing missing is the Continue option, which lets you continue the game after you lose all your lives.
The Bottom Line
The Genesis version of Altered Beast has graphics that come close to the coin-op version as possible. The Genesis version is the best of the other versions that I have played so far. The only complaint about the game is the music, which sounds crap when it is compared to the coin-op version. If you have a Genesis, or a Genesis emulator, then Altered Beast is worth a look.
Genesis · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2005
The Good
Some of the boss designs. Transformations are cool.
The Bad
General gameplay. Getting animation stunned by enemy attacks.
The Bottom Line
A slog to play. It has not aged well for me.
Arcade · by Sagebirt · 2024
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Steam release (2010) is Mega Drive/Genesis version | Andrew Fisher (697) | Nov 28, 2022 |
Back story, Japanese vs. rest of world | Andrew Fisher (697) | Nov 16, 2022 |
Short review(arcade, MD/Gen, SMS) | Andrew Fisher (697) | Oct 6, 2022 |
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 amphibian and a parrot, is also present in Golden Axe.
Version differences
The NES version adds 3 new stages and 2 unique transformations: a shark, and 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.
Awards
- Power Play
- Issue 01/1990 - Biggest Failure of 1989
Information also contributed by Mad_Griffith, Matthew Melbourne, Robbb and Zovni
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Related Sites +
-
Altered Beast coin-op game entry on KLOV
The Altered Beast coin-op game entry on the Killer List of Videogames. -
Hardcore Gaming 101
In depth look at the Altered Beast series of games -
Wikipedia: Altered Beast
article in the open encyclopedia about the game -
X360A Achievement Guide
X360A's achievement guide for Altered Beast.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Luiz Pacheco.
Android added by mars_rulez. Nintendo 3DS added by GTramp. NES, Genesis, SEGA Master System, Commodore 64 added by PCGamer77. PlayStation 3 added by Lain Crowley. Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. Wii added by Guy Chapman. iPad, Zodiac added by Sciere. TurboGrafx CD added by Zovni. Windows, Linux, Macintosh added by Foxhack. ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Atari ST added by ZZip. TurboGrafx-16 added by Terok Nor. Arcade added by The cranky hermit. iPhone added by Scaryfun. Xbox 360 added by Ben K. MSX added by koffiepad. Amstrad CPC added by Katakis | カタキス. Amiga added by Syed GJ.
Additional contributors: Rogee, Unicorn Lynx, Sciere, lugnut, Игги Друге, LepricahnsGold, MegamanX64, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, GTramp, Kennyannydenny, Harmony♡, heather sturmer.
Game added July 21, 2000. Last modified March 4, 2024.