A TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPERIENCE
ALTERED BEAST 1988
Sometimes a game doesn’t need to be good in order to grab attention, it just needs a cool gimmick. That was certainly the case with Altered Beast, an early attempt by Makoto Uchida to transfer the fantasy tropes he loved to the Eighties arcade scene. While it feels a little crusty today with its limited moveset, straightforward action and simplistic mechanics, Altered Beast’s epic transformations still manage to impress. Watching your warrior slowly level-up until he turns into one of several powerful beasts still looks imposing, while the oddball enemies and huge bosses remain extremely striking. Like many Sega arcade games, Altered Beast soon clawed its way to the home systems, with the Mega Drive version being particularly decent and acting as a pack-in game in the West. Just ignore its two sequels!