Sega Altered Beast (Amiga)

Altered Beast is a 2d-scolling fantasy-themed beat-em-up platformer that was originally released as an arcade machine in 1988 and ported to a wide range of platforms including the Amiga and Sega Megadrive soon after. The game opens with some rather ropey digitised speech that says "Rise from your graves!" as your character bursts from a tomb in a cemetery and sets about punching and kicking his way through the levels range of shambling zombies. The graphics are quite basic but not without a certain cartoonish charm, and the Greek mythological setting is an interesting one, whilst the levels and enemies are varied and colourful. The gameplay is very ...  Read the complete review

Having just recently got the Mega Drive Ultimate Collection on the Xbox 360 I though I'd play some games I never got the chance to, as well as those with fond memories. For every Columns there is a Streets of Rage, for every Alien storm there is a Sonic the Hedgehog, for every Gain Ground there is a Golden axe and one of the best collections of games I've seen in a long time. Though whilst playing Streets Of Rage and the Golden Axe series I read on line that Altered Beast was the one that set up Golden Axe, almost a prequel by the same people. As a huge fan of the side scrolling beat 'em up, I'd some how missed out on this one as a small child, but now I had the chance ...  Read the complete review

Altered Beast was Sega's conversion of their own arcade game. It was initially bundled with the Megadrive as a freebie, until Sonic became the bundled game of choice. Despite what the PR hype said, it was far from arcade perfect and received pretty poor reviews. You have been murdered by Neff, had your girlfriend stolen and must get her back. You are told to 'Wise fwom your gwave!' and battle your way through legions of monsters, collecting power ups which tranform you into a Were-monster. You need to collect three power ups to transform, but each one makes you a little stronger. The Were-monsters range from the rather excellent Dragon and Golden ...  Read the complete review

Back in the day of the sega megadrive, you used to get this as the free game that came with the console, talk about being forced on you! In all fairness it wasnt that bad. The game itself is a side scrolling beat em up. You play a deceased soilder who has been raised from the dead to rescue Zeus' daughter from the clutches of the evil Demon but instead of fighting as a normal human you have the ability to turn into various beasts to help you fight the zombie like baddies. You gain the ability to transform or alter by obtaining 3 planet like orbs which revolve around the screen at different times, each one makes you stronger until you get the 3rd and change. ...  Read the complete review

This game originally came out for the Sega Master System. The Megadrive has basically copied the exact game and improved the graphics. The game was already a joy to play and the fact that it has been kept the same with improved graphics makes it even more fun. You start the game as a normal man. A man who can become stronger by picking up power ups. If you pick up one special powerup you grow in size and strength and if you get two you change into a beast. The beast you transform into depends on the level you are currently on. The different beasts include a wolfman, tigerman and others. Each beast has its own special moves and powers. The game is a ...  Read the complete review