Altered Beast

"OOF! OOF! AUUUGHHHHHHHAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Ah yes, Altered Beast, the Genesis' first game in North America, and the second game I have ever played. Yes it is infamous for its, "Rise from your Grave!" intro, and for its mediocrity... but its so damn fun! Game play will give us a bit of insight.

Game play: 8/10

Fairly easy to pick up and play. Your goal is to acquire spirit balls from certain wolves (blue ones to be exact), which then allow you to transform into the, "beast," of the level. All in all, there are 5 beasts; a Werewolf, a Dragon (yes, you can fly!), a Bear, a Tiger, and a Golden Werewolf (no different than the first Werewolf, aside from colour change). You also have two attacks, a punch attack, and a kick attack (which change to a projectile attack, and a full body attack, respectively, once you transform). Before you transform though, your character, "powers up," when picking up spirit balls. When this occurs, your character gains a little bit more range, speed, and also a blue, "thing," appears at the end of the limb that you are attacking with, which destroys enemies in one blow. This is a significant advantage to when your character is not powered up, and as a result, this can make the game a lot more difficult than it really should be. At the end of each level is a boss character. Each is distinct, and requires a certain strategy to defeat it. The story is not distinct though, and is a bit strange.

Story: 6/10

While it is another save the princess story, this time it is starring a resurrected Greek man (yourself), and you do not save a princess, you save Athena, Zeus' daughter. Athena is kidnapped by Neff, the demon god, a minor leader in Hades, and you must rescue her from his clutches, though he shows up every time you have to defeat a boss. In between levels, a little picture appears depicting the next stage of the story. Graphics will be next.

Graphics: 6/10

Well, they are not too bad, but the graphics in Altered beast really are not that spectacular, especially considering Alex Kidd is worlds (no pun intended) better, and was released around the same time. The enemies all look somewhat decent, though your character could have been a bit more detailed, as could the beasts that you transform into. The bosses look great; highly detailed and colorful. Sounds will be covered next.

Sounds: 5/10

While the music is quite good, especially the second level and on, the sounds are really poor. The dying sound is particularly annoying (and humorous), as well is the constant sound you will hear when you character is knocked down (see my tag line if you're unsure). I have read that this is due to poor hardware and/or digital recording. Like the sounds, this game is not too replay-able.

Replay ability: 4/10

This is a game that once beaten, you will probably not want to play it again unless it is for nostalgic purposes. It does not really have too much in the way of replay, but it has some redeeming quality...

Buy or rent?

This game may be able to be rented on Wii whatever that crap is or whatever, but its best if you buy this game, mainly because it is a bit of Sega history.

As mediocre as this game is, it is a great part of (again) Sega History, and it is a lot of fun to play. Being the second game I have ever played, I have many fond memories of this game, even if I do not play it much anymore, but one thing is for sure, that I will never stop playing it. "Rise from your grave!!!"

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/26/09, Updated 09/11/09

Game Release: Altered Beast (US, 08/14/89)