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Altered Beast (1988)

Team Shinobi

Amiga · Amstrad CPC · Android · Arcade · Atari ST/STE · Commodore C64/128/MAX · DOS · MSX · ZX Spectrum · iOS

2.83 from 695 ratings

1363 members have it in their collection · 19 playing now · 160 backlogged · 64 wish listed

How long? Main story 1h · with extras 1h · 100% 1h (from 6 logged playthroughs)

Altered Beast is a 1988 beat 'em up video game developed by Team Shinobi and published by Sega for arcades. Set in Ancient Greece, the game follows a Roman centurion who is resurrected by the Olympian god Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from Neff, the demonic ruler of the underworld. By collecting three power-ups in a level, the player … Read more
Altered Beast is a 1988 beat 'em up video game developed by Team Shinobi and published by Sega for arcades. Set in Ancient Greece, the game follows a Roman centurion who is resurrected by the Olympian god Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from Neff, the demonic ruler of the underworld. By collecting three power-ups in a level, the player character can transform into one of five mythical beasts. 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. Read less
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Details

Developers
Team Shinobi
Publishers
Activision, Mediagenic, Ocean Software, Sega Corporation, Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Genres
Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Platform
Themes
Action, Fantasy, Historical, Survival
Franchises
Altered Beast
Series
Altered Beast
Steam
View on Steam

Release dates

  • Jun 14, 1988 (Full Release) (Europe) Arcade
  • Jun 14, 1988 (Full Release) (Japan) Arcade
  • Jun 14, 1988 (Full Release) (North_America) Arcade
  • 1989 (Full Release) (Europe) Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/STE, Commodore C64/128/MAX, MSX, ZX Spectrum
  • 1989 (Full Release) (North_America) Atari ST/STE
  • Feb 1990 (Full Release) (North_America) Commodore C64/128/MAX
  • Mar 1990 (Full Release) (North_America) Amiga
  • Jun 1990 (Full Release) (North_America) DOS
  • Dec 15, 2010 (Full Release) (Worldwide) iOS
  • Jun 22, 2017 (Full Release) (Worldwide) Android
  • Jun 22, 2017 (Next-Gen Optimization Patch Release) (Worldwide) iOS

Also available on

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Remakes

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Featured in lists

BMO's memorable games: childhood by BMO · 43 games · 1

Rating distribution

5 stars
38
4 stars
102
3 stars
313
2 stars
185
1 star
56
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Community All Reviews Statuses

EjKejEj

Status EjKejEj Sep 12, 2024

A Classic side-scrolling beat'em up. You start as a weak human, but as you defeat more enemies you POWER UP and evolve into various beasts and finally, you defeat Neff and rescue Zeus's daughter Athena. Very simple and easy to pick up, and also very short (you can beat it in about 20 minutes). Definitely recommend it (especially the 3D …

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A Classic side-scrolling beat'em up. You start as a weak human, but as you defeat more enemies you POWER UP and evolve into various beasts and finally, you defeat Neff and rescue Zeus's daughter Athena. Very simple and easy to pick up, and also very short (you can beat it in about 20 minutes). Definitely recommend it (especially the 3D port for the 3DS).

Read less
1 Comment Permalink
kupomog337

Review kupomog337 3/5 · Jun 9, 2023

WISE FRAHM YUH GWAIVE (or, a furry's wet dream)

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Like a lot of very old mega drive games, this hasn't aged the best, but it's a diamond in the rough. The gameplay is quite repetitive, but it's not that bad. The difficulty is a little mixed, but it's a short game so it's not that bad because it doesn't last for very long. I just said that it's a …

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Like a lot of very old mega drive games, this hasn't aged the best, but it's a diamond in the rough. The gameplay is quite repetitive, but it's not that bad. The difficulty is a little mixed, but it's a short game so it's not that bad because it doesn't last for very long. I just said that it's a quick game, and it really is. You can beat it in around 20 minutes, which makes for easy backlog fuel. I don't really have a lot to say about this game, the transformations are cool and the forms have variety to them. I kind of wish you could switch between forms but that's a lot to expect from a glorified Tech Demo. I wouldn't really recommend this, but it's not bad. I'm giving it a 6/10 'good' rating. It's like shadow dancer, it's not bad but not very good either, except this isn't forgettable.

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4 Comment
FiretheFlameLord

Status FiretheFlameLord Oct 8, 2022

ALTERED BEAST REVIEW: (GENESIS) Altered Beast is a 1988 progressive fighting game.Team Shinobi, the game's producer, and Sega, who have taken over the distribution of the game, have done a great job.The story of the game is the same as the previous review.The gameplay is the same.The music of the game is beautiful.If you are not too obsessed with graphics …

Read more

ALTERED BEAST REVIEW: (GENESIS) Altered Beast is a 1988 progressive fighting game.Team Shinobi, the game's producer, and Sega, who have taken over the distribution of the game, have done a great job.The story of the game is the same as the previous review.The gameplay is the same.The music of the game is beautiful.If you are not too obsessed with graphics and you like retro games like me, this game is for you.My rating for the game: 10/10 (y) Good games to everyone 🙂

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0 Comment Permalink
FiretheFlameLord

Review FiretheFlameLord 5/5 · Oct 8, 2022

ALTERED BEAST REVIEW: (MASTER SYSTEM)

Altered Beast is a 1988 progressive fighting game.Team Shinobi, the game's producer, and Sega, who have taken over the distribution of the game, have done a great job.The story of the game is as follows.In ancient Greece, Hades, the god of the underworld,kidnaps Athena and turns her into a bird.Zeus finds out about this and sends someone to save Athena.The …

Read more

Altered Beast is a 1988 progressive fighting game.Team Shinobi, the game's producer, and Sega, who have taken over the distribution of the game, have done a great job.The story of the game is as follows.In ancient Greece, Hades, the god of the underworld,kidnaps Athena and turns her into a bird.Zeus finds out about this and sends someone to save Athena.The gameplay is as follows.in this game consisting of 5 parts, you are trying to kill the creatures and defeat the boss.The music of the game is beautiful.If you are not too obsessed with graphics and you like retro games like me, this game is for you.My rating for the game: 10/10 (y) Good games to everyone 🙂

Read less
1 Comment
ApramPepo

Review ApramPepo 3/5 · Sep 2, 2021

A graphical showcase with a short and Predictable game.

I've beaten this game in about 15 minutes. (that's all you need to read)

Haven't played this game before, was almost gonna die near the end and yet finished the game on my first playthrough. What the freak was that?

There wasn't much to do, the enemies had predictable moves and even the Bosses which the followed one pattern but …

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I've beaten this game in about 15 minutes. (that's all you need to read)

Haven't played this game before, was almost gonna die near the end and yet finished the game on my first playthrough. What the freak was that?

There wasn't much to do, the enemies had predictable moves and even the Bosses which the followed one pattern but keep changing the target.

Aside from the music and Graphics, this game could've easily made it to the NES.

to be fair though, I enjoyed playing this game so much.

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5 Comment
ApramPepo

Status ApramPepo Sep 1, 2021

I used to play on a "non-official" Genesis hardware back in the early 2000s. I had SNES and loved playing games on it but I had troubles playing the Genesis games, maybe because it was an Unofficial Sega product, I couldn't finish or even beat Genesis games back then, and even now I still have problems.

I'm going back to …

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I used to play on a "non-official" Genesis hardware back in the early 2000s. I had SNES and loved playing games on it but I had troubles playing the Genesis games, maybe because it was an Unofficial Sega product, I couldn't finish or even beat Genesis games back then, and even now I still have problems.

I'm going back to try from the beginning, Starting with the Launch title and see if I was that bad at Genesis games.

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2 Comment Permalink
BadBoyBule

Review BadBoyBule 2/5 · Jul 27, 2021

Hormonihuuruinen muinaisjäänne

Altered Beast on pitkälti huono ja tökerö peli. Kontrollit eivät ole kovinkaan napakat, musiikit ei oikein jää mieleen ja vaikeusastekaan ei tunnu kovin palkitsevalta. Historiallista arvoa pelillä kyllä on, ja se on varmasti aikanaan jauhoittanut NES-omistajien suut grafiikoillaan. Ja huumoriarvoa pelillä on edelleen. Harva peli on yhtä outo ja typerä kuin Altered Beast. Jos haluat peleissäsi lyödä susia naamaan saadaksesi …

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Altered Beast on pitkälti huono ja tökerö peli. Kontrollit eivät ole kovinkaan napakat, musiikit ei oikein jää mieleen ja vaikeusastekaan ei tunnu kovin palkitsevalta. Historiallista arvoa pelillä kyllä on, ja se on varmasti aikanaan jauhoittanut NES-omistajien suut grafiikoillaan. Ja huumoriarvoa pelillä on edelleen. Harva peli on yhtä outo ja typerä kuin Altered Beast. Jos haluat peleissäsi lyödä susia naamaan saadaksesi haudasta nousseelle trikoomiehellesi leijuvan pallon muodossa olevia steroideja, jotka muuttavat sinut lopulta eläin-ihmis-hybridiksi, tämä peli on sinulle.

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2 Comment
AlucardEmblem

Status AlucardEmblem Apr 13, 2021

While dated and frustrating since it has no continues and the attacks are incredibly puny until you're in beast mode, this is actually kinda cool? I love the creature designs (even if the main character looks goofy) and when you do land hits it's very satisfying and feels oddly enough like boxing.

1 Comment Permalink
Deviant_1

Review Deviant_1 4/5 · Jan 17, 2021

A clunky nostalgic classic

"Rise from your grave" - Zeus

I just finished Altered Beast on the Mega Drive Mini! After nearly 30 years, since I first saw that magnificent cover, wondering what kind of game it was, I finally played and finished it. I have to tell, what a... meh. Slow, clunky, and somewhat dated, this beast (pun intended) is a nostalgic pearl. …

Read more

"Rise from your grave" - Zeus

I just finished Altered Beast on the Mega Drive Mini! After nearly 30 years, since I first saw that magnificent cover, wondering what kind of game it was, I finally played and finished it. I have to tell, what a... meh. Slow, clunky, and somewhat dated, this beast (pun intended) is a nostalgic pearl. I bet that back in 1989/90 when it came out for the Mega Drive, everyone was drooling about those graphics and that soundtrack and all the technology advancements. It has its merits, indeed. But since I played as an adult, after playing so many other action side scrolling games, this one was a bit too short from my childhood expectations. There's not much to do in the game. You kill some zombies and other critters, then jump a little and then you kill the boss that screams at you "Welcome to your doom". Bet for a 8 year old, that would be pretty scary to hear. Yes, I used cheat codes, for I didn't want to invest a lot of time in the game. It didn't captivate me that much, but I surely recognise its historical context and appeal!

"Welcome to your doom!" - Neff

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2 Comment
Retrobert

Review Retrobert 3/5 · Jul 29, 2019

Rise from your grave

An average side scrolling beat em up that is considered by many to be an essential game for any Genesis collection. . The game is short and as straightforward as it gets. You punch, kick, and jump killing zombies, demon dogs, and I don't know what else. While there is way better beat em ups on the Sega Genesis, this …

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An average side scrolling beat em up that is considered by many to be an essential game for any Genesis collection. . The game is short and as straightforward as it gets. You punch, kick, and jump killing zombies, demon dogs, and I don't know what else. While there is way better beat em ups on the Sega Genesis, this one is memorable for its simplistic arcade style approach. By no means is this game a masterpiece, but it does have its place in video game history respectfully.

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5 Comment