NEC AVENUE/SEGA

29 SEPT 1989 (HuCARD) - UNKNOWN (CD)

Converted from Sega's arcade original, Altered Beast is a side-scrolling beat 'em up where you take the role of a warrior who has been resurrected to fight an evil sorcerer. With a setting that mixes fantasy with Greek myth, you can easily see the influence of Ray Harryhausen movies like Jason and the Argonaughts and Clash of the Titans. Your quest takes you over many areas from swamps to caves, and each is populated with the denizens of evil who are all out to get you. To aid you in your fight, there are white two-headed wolves. If you destroy one of these, it releases a power orb which, when collected, boosts you muscle power. These power-ups have two initial stages, with your sprite getting beefier with each one, but once three are collected, you transform into a wild and powerful beast. These beasts vary from level to level, but range from a fireball-hurling wolf to a dragon with a powerful electric shock attack.

At certain stages in each level, the evil sorcerer appears (no doubt looking smug about the fair maiden of yours he has captured), and if you have reached the beast-stage of power, he grows huge and transforms himself into some monstrously frightening boss creature. After you've made short work of the boss, the sorcerer's spirit strips you of your power and vanishes, leaving you to face him again in the next level.

As conversions go, this is better than I would have expected. The graphics are faithfully reproduced, with no reduction in sprite size or sprite clash/flicker. Although there is no sampled speech (aside from transformation howls) the music is great, with nice renditions of the arcade originals. In many ways, this can stand side by side with the Megadrive conversion with many details of the arcade version that the MD version lacked, although graphically it is less accurate. The only fault is it's difficulty - it's very hard unless you put in a lot of practice. Some of the frustration of the original can be found here - it's maddening when you are getting knocked about by an enemy on top of you with no opportunity to escape - but if you take time to learn the enemy attack patterns, then you should be able to make it through with minimum shouting at the TV. Altered Beast has always been a game that some people like and some don't. If you do, then this conversion won't disappoint.

This review applies to the HuCARD version.