By C.A.T.
You were once a Roman Centurion, strong and brave. But you died long ago on the battlefield. The mighty Zeus, God of Thunder, has brought you back from the dead to save his daughter Athena from Neff, Lord of the Underworld. Collect two spirit balls by defeating the whitethree-headed wolves, and transform yourself into the different powerful forms of the Altered Beast. In human form you'll have the ability to punch and kick you enemies on the ground, or in the air by leaping at them. Fearful of your superhuman powers Neff has sent a siniester horde of his own demons, monsters and other assorted creatures of the underworld to stop you.
If you succeed in surviving a round with these nasty brutes and change into one of the altered beasts, you'll grow too powerful for ordinary demons to defeat. Neff himself appears and sends on of his most fearful monstrosities to attack you. Defeating Neff and his different evil sidekicks uses all your energy and you alter back to human form, but move closer to your goal. You must survive four different chiling encounters with Neff's evil creatures and Neff himself in order to rescue Athena.
Green grass, tombstones, and crypts--a peaceful cemetary scene? Far from it. Here the dead won't stay dead. To escape this nightmare, you'll have to kick or punch a few headless and horned zombies and assorted flying demons intent on swooping down to claw you into submission. Capture the first spirit ball and you receive greater strength and size. Your blows smash the demons with greater ease. The second spirit ball changes you into a ferocious, howling Werewolf. In this form you shoot fire balls, or become a flaming arrow, sizzling evil beasties and burning them up. Aggar himself confronts you at the end of the level. He is a grotesque being who cuts off his head, hurtles it at you, then grows a new one to throw!
In this bone chilling scenario, you battle through a dark, dank cavern. You take on creeping, crawling creatures, called Chicken Stingers, that whip their tails at you. Round Leeches try to cling to you, bite you, and drain away your power. Watch for Ratlte Tails, the ground and slither down from the trees. As quickly as possible, alter yourself to the form of the Weredragon. Then you can fly, flash lightning, and electrcute anything that touches your body with your protective shield. Becoming the Weredragon is your only chance of zapping Octeyes, a pithy plant creature who tosses poisonous spores at you.
Breach the gates of Neff's underworld fortress and face a new horde of horrible demons. Cave Needles (giant mutated ground wasps) run along the ground and try to sting you. Hammer Demons attack from above, trying to smash you with their huge hammers. Zombies and demons appear form all directions as you get closer to Athena. Alter into a Weretiger and you'll have golden fire to blast you foes. Defeat them and you face Crocodile Wyrm, aterrible reptilian creature who flies and spits fire.
Your hair stands on end as you enter the stronghold of Neff, Lord of the Underworld, where skeletons and corpses stick up from the ground. Neff's lair is populated by the most evil brutes of all. You'll battle jump-kicking Dark Unicorns and swift Gory Goats. Jump over Saw Fish who'll slice you with their spines that are sharp as saw blades. Watch out for the clever Bad Boar who is smart, defensive, and difficult to destroy. In the end you face Neff himself, the final and toughest of your foes. He takes on demon form and it's a battle to the death. To defeat Neff you must take the form of the Golden Werewolf, the most powerful of the altered beasts. Triumph in this ultimate challenge and victory is yours!
Altered Beast is another great arcade translation for Sega owners! The excellent graphics and sounds, along with the exciting play make this game one of the hottest new titles for the Sega system. So go ahead, let Altered Beast bring out the savage beast in you!
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By Charlie T. Aslan
The king has summoned you, Rastan, abarbarian of great strength and skill, to rescue his beautiful daghter. She is the prisoner of the minion lords in the darkest reaches of Semia. Untold riches await you if you succeed.
Armed with only your deadly broad sword and your wits, you set out into the wilderness, ready to do battle.
This is a difficult quest, even for a barbarian with your skills. You'll have only one life per game. There is, however, a continue mode that lets you start from the beginning of the last level you reached. You can continue in a game up to three times.
As Rastan you must survive seven grueling rounds of battle, each with three different scenes. As you travel through dark and mysterious Semia you find deadly weapons and magic items to aid you in your quest. Grab weapons such as the razor sharp battle axe, the mace, and the flaming sword. These help ensure that you'll beat the evil brutes who try to do you in. Watch for protectove items such as the shield, the mantle and the armor. These help you to survive and ward off the attacks of your foes. You'll also find special items such as medicine, magic rings, a golden necklace, and gorgeous gems.
Plenty of evil villains populate Semia and their only desire is to destroy you. The first enemies you encounter are the Gradis, slimy lizard creatures that walk like men and attack with swords. The Gardis are easily killed because they aren't too bright. Simply swing your sword at them and they're history!
But don't get too confident! Next, you'll face the nasty bug-like Mantis, you tosses knives, and the evil Kemmler, a beast with three heads (wolf, goat and dragon!) who tosses fireballs at you. Jump high above these creepy pests and land on them with your sword pointed downwards. In fact, overhead attack is effective against most of the beast that populate Semia, except for flying creatures like the Gorgon and Harpies. To shoot down these winged horrors jump and stab them with your sword as they fly overhead.
But wait! There are even more horrible monsters. You'll also have to fend off Meduza, who sprays you with poisonous gas. The skeletal Spartoy attacks with a sword and then fades into the ground. A faceless Wizard hurtles scrolls at you that take away your weapons and other protective items.
In addition to your enemies you'll face obstacles, including lava pools, that erupt with flaming rocks, falling icicles, rolling boulders, poisonous water, and many other unpleasant surprises.
The last section of each round pits you against some of the foulest foes you'll ever encounter. Defeat there brutes as quickly as possible! The air in their chambers is toxic, and sucks energy from your life meter continously while you battle them.
Each of the Lords of Semia is uniquely menacing and dangerous. Kentorous, the first lord, is half-man, half-beast. Beat him by jumping in the air as he approaches, and landing on him with your sword pointed downwards. Hit him three times and he's gone!
The second lord, Aryous, is a mighty Viking-like warrior. Defeat Aryous by standing on the block to the left of the screen and jumping under him as he goes into the air. Stab quickly as many times as you can. Slayer, the third lord, has bat wings and a dangerous sword. It's easy to destroy Slayer; crouch down and slash his legs quickly while dodging the fire he shoots.
As for the remaining lords, you, mighty Rastan will discover these horrible villians on your own (we don't want to give the whole game away). Remember this, though; the final battle with the Red Dragon is the most perilous you'll ever face. It takes all your strength, wits, courage and experience to defeat this migthy beast. A victory against the Red Dragon ensures the safety of the beautiful princess, and you will go down in history as the greatest hero of all time!
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