Altered Beast
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.
64Wit Score
Details
DeveloperTeam Shinobi
PublisherActivision, Ocean Software, Sega Enterprises, Ltd., Sega Corporation, Mediagenic
ReleasedJune 14, 1988
StatusReleased
Genres
Themes
Platforms
Modes
SeriesAltered Beast
Wit-Index Intelligence
Community Score
Mixed Reception64/100
About This Game
A fallen Roman warrior is granted a second chance at life when Zeus resurrects him from the grave with a singular mission: venture into the Underworld and rescue the god's daughter Athena from the clutches of the demon lord Neff. To survive the horrors that await him, the centurion discovers he can absorb mystical spirit orbs that fundamentally transform him into hybrid beast-human forms—each granting him the strength and abilities needed to face escalating threats. Across graveyards teeming with undead, treacherous caverns filled with monstrous creatures, and finally Neff's own dark palace, the warrior must battle through waves of increasingly formidable foes while pursuing the demon who repeatedly escapes each confrontation. With each transformation—from werewolf to thunder dragon to bear to tiger and beyond—the centurion draws closer to a final reckoning in the deepest pit of the Underworld, where Neff awaits in his true form and Athena's fate hangs in balance.