Altered Beast
Altered Beast (1988) is a side-scrolling beat ’em up by Sega. You play a resurrected warrior empowered by Zeus, collecting spirit orbs to transform into powerful beasts and rescue Athena.
Game Data
| Release Year | 1988 |
| Developer | Sega |
| Publisher | Sega |
| Platform | Arcade / Mega Drive (Genesis) |
| Genre | Beat ’em Up / Action |
| Players | 1–2 |
| Original Media | Arcade Cabinet / Cartridge |
Gameplay:
Brawl through stages, defeat undead enemies, and collect power-ups that evolve you into beast forms with new attacks.
Story:
Zeus resurrects you to rescue Athena from the underworld—fight through mythic horrors to reach her captor.
Trivia:
Famous for its “RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!” intro and for being bundled with early Sega Genesis hardware in some regions.
Altered Beast stood out with its transformation gimmick: power-up orbs progressively mutate you into forms like the Werewolf and other beasts, changing your move-set and adding spectacle to classic arcade brawling.
Sega also released an arcade cabinet version—its presentation (voice samples, large sprites, dramatic bosses) helped define late-80s arcade “wow factor”.
Screenshots / Media
Timeline / Versions
Buy Altered Beast Now!Why Altered Beast Was Historically Important
Altered Beast is remembered for popularizing transformation power-ups in a mainstream arcade brawler, adding clear “power progression” and spectacle to straightforward beat ’em up design.
Its voice samples, large character sprites, and dramatic boss encounters captured the late-80s arcade feel and helped set expectations for audiovisual punch in action games.
As a high-profile Sega title (and a notable Genesis-era showcase), it became part of the cultural shorthand for early 16-bit console identity and arcade-to-home conversions.
