Altered Beast

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Altered Beast
Altered Beast European boxart
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Rieko Kodama, Makoto Uchida
Platform(s)	Arcade, MS-DOS, Amstrad Amstrad CPC, MSX, Famicom/NES, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, TurboGrafx-CD, Commodore 64, Virtual Console, Xbox 360 (XBLA), iOS, ZX Spectrum, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network
Release date(s)	Arcade - 1988 Mega Drive/Genesis - JP November 27, 1988 NA August 14, 1989 EU November 30, 1990 Sega Master System - NA 1989 EU 1989 PC-CD - JP September 29, 1989 NA 1989 Famicom - JP July 20, 1990 Virtual Console, Mega Drive/Genesis - JP December 2, 2006 NA November 19, 2006 PAL December 8, 2006 Arcade - JP June 2, 2009 NA September 28, 2009[1] PAL June 26, 2009 Xbox Live Arcade - NA June 10, 2009 iOS: - December 16, 2010 PlayStation Network - NA September 6, 2011
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Rating(s)	Apple: 9+ ESRB: E (VC); E10+ (VCA) PEGI: 7+
Cabinet	Standard upright
Arcade system	Sega System 16
Display	Raster resolution 320 x 224 (Horizontal) Palette Colors 6144

Altered Beast (獣王記 Jūōki, literally "Beast King's Chronicle", in Japan) is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade game developed and manufactured by Sega. The game is set in Ancient Greece, and follows a centurion who is resurrected by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena, and to do so becomes able to turn into beasts such as the werewolf with the use of power-ups. After its initial arcade release, it was ported to several home video game consoles and home computers, most notably the Sega Mega Drive for which it was a pack-in game. The primary designer was Makoto Uchida, also responsible for the creation of Golden Axe.

Plot

A Roman centurion who had died in battle is resurrected from the dead by Zeus, who ordered the warrior to save his daughter, Athena, from a Demon God called Neff in the Underworld. To become able to withstand the perils, the warrior gets the ability to absorb spirit balls which transform him into an Altered Beast, a part animal, part human creature of formidable force. Between each level are small animations giving the player glimpses of Athena's peril.

After the centurion arrives in Dis, he faces Neff himself, who becomes a rhinoceros monster. After he is defeated, a blue bird comes out of the ground and transforms back to Athena. Afterwards she is shown holding arms with her lycanthropic hero, thanking him for rescuing her.

In the original arcade, the end credits are interspersed with images of actors in costumes for the different characters and monsters of the game, implying the whole game was a film production.^{[citation needed]}

Gameplay

The protagonist from Altered Beast, fighting against the undead (arcade version screenshot)

Altered Beast is a side scrolling, platform, beat 'em up game. The player controls the centurion, fighting undead creatures and monsters in a setting resembling Ancient Greece, with originally five levels, in a graveyard, the Underworld, a cavern, Neff's palace and base at the city of Dis. One of the enemies, a white two-headed wolf (blue in the Mega Drive version, and a blue ox in the DOS version) upon defeat releases a Spirit Ball, a power-up orb which increase the strength and size of the player character. Three orbs turn the centurion into a beast, which in the original version were a werewolf, a thunder weredragon, a werebear, a weretiger, 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 abilities, such as the dragon's flight and lightning, and the bear's petrification. After becoming the beast, the character can face the end-level boss, which upon defeat causes Neff to appear and remove the transformation orbs.

Versions

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. One of the more well-known features of Altered Beast is the use of voice samples, such as Zeus saying "Rise from your grave" and Neff's "Welcome to your doom!".

Altered Beast's ending, as played on the iPad.

Altered Beast was ported to several platforms after its original release in 1988. It was released for Sega Master System, PC Engine, PC Engine-CD, Famicom, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga and DOS. The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version is noteworthy for being the original pack-in game for that system in North America, Europe, and Brazil, before being replaced by Sonic the Hedgehog. A hand-held version of the game, made by Tiger Electronics was released in 1988.

The Mega Drive version is included in the compilations Sega Smash Pack, Sega Genesis Collection and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, with the latter two also including the arcade version as an unlockable game. The Wii's Virtual Console service offers emulated versions of both the arcade and the Mega Drive port, while the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network have a re-worked arcade version with HD support, online leaderboards and network play.^[2] Sega released an official iOS port of the Mega Drive version in late 2010, played on the iPhone and iPad.

Certain differences are seen between the several versions of the game. Some of them, like the Master System one, were only single player and had only four levels. Others provided different beasts to mutate into, such as a humanoid lion or a shark form seen in the NES version.

Reception

In its initial arcade release, Altered Beast was a well-received game. Its conversion to the Sega Mega Drive was considered inferior to the arcade in terms of sprite quality. However, the Sega Mega Drive version was actually more advanced than the arcade version in one regard - its utilization of parallax scrolling. Its re-release for the Wii's Virtual Console was given a lukewarm reception by GameSpot and IGN, describing the game as merely decent with some nostalgic value.^[3][4] The Xbox Live Arcade rerelease was even described by IGN as "relic of the arcade heyday that just doesn't hold up today".^[5]

Legacy

Project Altered Beast

A PlayStation 2 title was released by Sega in 2005, known as Jūōki: Project Altered Beast in Japan and simply Altered Beast in Europe; the game was not released in North America. In Japan, it was rated 18+ for its intensity; however, the PEGI system rated it 12+, while none of the extreme gore animations were censored.

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 he transforms into are a Werewolf, a Merman, a Garuda, a Wendigo, a Minotaur, and a Dragon. Its storyline differs from the original Altered Beast games where during the game, you gain a serum that allows you to change at will. There are a number of difficult boss challenges and puzzles within the game, plus some extra characters to transform into including a Weretiger, a Grizzly Bear, and the alien-cloned U.W.H. (Unidentified Weightless Human) for those who finish the game.

Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms

Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms, developed by the now defunct 3d6 Games and 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 destructible environments.^[6]

In this game, you turn into a Werewolf (called Canis), a Snake Man/Nagi (or Naga), a Dragon (or Draco), a Tiger Man (or Smilodon), a Spiked Turtle (or Terapis/Terrapin), a Shark Man (or Carcharodon), a Rhinoceros Man (or Cerathos), an Eagle (or Avion), a Scorpion (or Scorpios), and a Chimera.

Tribute

A pink enemy creature, known as a cockatrice, was later depicted as a mountable character in the game Golden Axe.

Altered Beast was also the subject of a skit in the second season of Mega64.^[7]

On Friday Night SmackDown, Matt Striker often called Batista "The Altered Beast" in addition to calling him "The Animal", in reference to Batista turning heel and showing a drastic change in his character compared to his face character.

Several musical groups have paid tribute to Altered Beast in some form. MegaDriver released an album based on the game's music, Metal Beast, in 2004, with also a patch to include said soundtrack to the arcade version on MAME. Matthew Sweet named an album of his Altered Beast after the game in 1993.^[8]

Robby Roadsteamer's 2008 album "LRP" features a song named "Altered Beast", as does We Are Scientists' second album, Brain Thrust Mastery, as does the White Fields & Open Devices album by Vessels; the game's name also serves as the name of an LP released by Additionally, Hello, Sailor released a song titled "Hand Vs. Battle Axe" that includes the "POWER UP!" sample. The Mr. Bungle song "Egg" samples the "Rise from your grave" line from the beginning of the first level. Alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin created a flash game entitled "Altered Benjamin" in which you play as vocalist Benjamin Burnley and is an obvious parody of Altered Beast. It is currently available for play on the band's website. Sydney based instrumental prog trio Altered Beast are named after the game and also reference various bits of in game music in the song "Super 7 Medley". The phrase "Welcome to your doom" is sampled by dubstep artist Reso (artist) in his track "Beasts in the Basement". On rapper Ludacris' 2nd studio Album "Word of Mouf", the titular track has rapper 4-ize make an homage to the classic game during his freestyle verse when he says "I rock Shaq's clothes when I Alter Beast, Power up, get big it's disturbin the peace". The song Genesis 16:12 by The Left Rights references Altered Beast, specifically "Rise from your grave."

See also

• List of beat 'em ups

References

External links

• Altered Beast series games and statistics
• Xbox Page
• Contemporary reviews at Solvalou.com
• Altered Beast at Arcade-History
• Altered Beast at the Killer List of Videogames
• Altered Beast at MobyGames
• Altered Beast at GameFAQs
• Altered Beast at I-Mockery
• Altered Beast at the Open Directory Project
• Altered Beast at World of Spectrum
• Altered Beast at allgame