Altered Beast (獣王記 Jūōki, literally "Beast King's Chronicle", in Japan) is a 1988arcade game developed and manufactured by Sega. After its initial arcade release, it was ported to several home video game consoles and home computers. Makoto Uchida was the primary developer of the game and also was responsible for the creation of Golden Axe.
Game description
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Altered Beast is a platform/fighting game that puts the player in control of a centurion who had died in battle. The centurion has been raised from the dead to rescue Zeus' daughter, Athena. The player battles undead and demonic hordes, controlling the shapeshifting hero. He must defeat several levels in order to save the kidnapped goddess. The game takes place in a setting resembling Ancient Greece, complete with gods, temples and ruined Ionic columns.
The player must battle armies of fictional and undead creatures to his goal of defeating the evil Demon God Neff, who is holding Athena captive. Along the way, the player has to obtain "Spirit Balls" (power-up orbs which increase his strength and size) from defeating white two-headed wolves (Although it is hinted that this wolf might be the cerberus wolf of Greek Mythology). These enable the player to turn into a superhuman. When three are collected, the hero transforms into a beast with exceptional abilities, and the music changes to something far more upbeat and adrenaline-charged.
The game contains several levels which the player must battle through. At the end of each level is a "boss" creature, which is Neff himself in different forms. The enemies the player encounters differ depending on level as does the beast the hero transforms into. These beasts include a werewolf, a thunder dragon, a tiger man, a bear, and the more powerful golden werewolf (other beasts can be seen in the Japanese Famicom version and the Game Boy Advance version). Each beast has its own special abilities, such as the dragon's ability to fly. Between each level are small animations giving the player glimpses of Athena's peril.
The hero from Altered Beast, fighting against the undead (arcade version screenshot)
The game was moderately successful, the player's ability to transform into different creatures being a big draw. The game actually does have an ending where the player rescues Athena. At the completion of the game (upon Neff's defeat in the city of Dis), Zeus thanks the player for his help. The credit sequence is rather long and gives the impression that the entire game was actually a film; interspersed in the credits are images of "actors" in various stages of costume for the different characters or monsters in the game. One of the more memorable features of Altered Beast is the well-known quote, "Rise from your grave!" said by Zeus in a very grating, but haunting digitized voice at the start of the game. However, the quote has often been interpreted as being "Wise fwom your gwave" or similar variants because of inherent distortion/garbling of the digitalized voice stemming from the technical limitations of the arcade software. As a result, Zeus has often been likened to Elmer Fudd in many reviews of the game.
Altered Beast was produced as a standard upright only with custom artwork on the cabinet. In most versions, the game's controls consist of an eight-way directional and three buttons, one each for "punch", "kick" and "jump". The game has single player and cooperative two-player modes.
Levels
Graveyard - The first level. Consists of zombies of the sort. The player turns into a werewolf in this level.
Underworld - The second level. Consists of giant leaches, Chinese Dragon-headed rattlesnakes, and ferocious chicken stingers (resembling the ones from Golden Axe). The player turns into a weredragon in this level.
Cavern of Souls - Consists of giant ants called cave needles, turtles, and zombies known as gravemasters. The player turns into the werebear in this level.
Neff's Palace - Consists of zombies and hammer demons. The player turns into the weretiger in this level.
The City of Dis - Consists of goat men, boar men, saw fishes, and purple unicorn men. The player turns into a golden werewolf in this level.
Bosses
Neff will turn himself into 5 different monsters on each level. Among the 5 monsters are:
Aggar - An ugly monster that can throw limitless faces at you.
Octeyes - A plant monster that can shoot its poisonous eyes at you.
Moldy Snail - Part snail, part salamander.
Crocodile Worm - A crocodile monster with a fire belly that can shoot miniature dragons at you.
Rhino Man - A charging rhinoceros monster.
Forms
These are the animal forms that you become and their abilities:
Werewolf: In this form, you throw fireballs at your enemies and perform a dash attack.
Thunder Dragon: In this form, you can fly, shoot lightning breathe, and emit electricity.
Bear: In this form, you can turn monsters to stone with your breathe and roll into a ball.
Tiger Man: In this form, you throw fireballs at your enemies.
Golden Werewolf: This form is more powerful than the other werewolf form.
Certain differences are seen between the several versions of the game. Some of them, like the Master System one, have only four levels (and suffered from ongoing in-game slowdowns), while others have different beasts to mutate into, such as a humanoid lion form seen in the NES version, or the bear form seen in the Mega Drive/Genesis version. The PC Engine CD version (released only in Japan) incorporated a new CD-quality soundtrack that differentiates it from other versions, however its graphics are virtually the same as the console version for the PC Engine (also only released in Japan).
A PlayStation 2 title was released by SEGA in 2005, known as Jūōki: Project Altered Beast in Japan and simply Project Altered Beast in Europe; the game was not released in North America. In Japan, it was rated 17+ for its intensity.
Rather than serving as a sequel to the original game, the newer title features a more modern setting that is unconnected to the original game. The story follows a man called Luke Custer who is a "Genome-Cyborg", which in the game is a human that has had his DNA and other genetic make-up altered so that he can (after acquiring the chip containing the right genes for each creature) transform into a mythical beast. The main creatures are the Werewolf, Merman, Garuda, Wendigo, Fire Minotaur, and Thunder Dragon. Its storyline differs from the original Altered Beast games. There are a number of difficult boss challenges and puzzles within the game, plus some extra characters (Weretiger, Grizzly, and the alien-cloned U.W.H.) for those who finish the game.
Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms, published by THQ, is a sequel for Game Boy Advance in the style of the original arcade game. It adds new features like power-ups, new beast forms and destructable environments. [1]
This game has been confirmed by Nintendo to be released on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo Wii Console.
November 27, 1988
August 14, 1989