i havent played it for about 12 years but have fond memories of going to a friends house and playing it. he was the only guy that i knew that had it and my family didnt go over to his place much.
wen i went over i was like a junky getting his dose
My girl gamer friend left it with me, on permanent loan (she and her sister were all into Columns and Sonic the Hedgehog, but not so much this one ... I wonder why?!)
If I remember correctly, the instructions gave two cheats away!
My favourite transformation was easily the dragon (level two). I mean, what's not to like? It breathes electricity blasts (not fire, but who cares?), can surround itself with lightning (making you borderline invincible - even against the boss, if rightly handled), and it FLIES, for crying out loud!
I never understood why when the second player turns into a bear (level three), it's blue. A blue bear? The nearest I can figure is that it was a SEGA in-reference to Sonic the Hedgehog, given the bear's Sonic-like spin attack.
Honestly though, the bear was my least-favourite transformation. It's stone-breath wasn't half as good as the other beasts' projectile attacks - it wasn't even a real projectile! The spin attack was also the hardest power-attack to control.
All in all, I respectfully disagree with Mr Halfpenny. I enjoyed it, back in the day, and still can!
What interests me, is what people think of Altered Beast, in comparison with Konami's Metamorphic Force. Any takers?
I remember in 1988, Altered Beast was probably the most ubiquitous arcade game next to Double Dragon. Every single place I went, there was Altered Beast. I have fond memories of it, in just that it signifies a very magical time period for me...but ugh, gameplay wise I just never had any interest in playing it after that. I never played the GBA sequel, never fired up a rom of it. They did come out with an Altered Beast(as well as a Shinobi and Golden Axe) shirts at Hot Topic based on the arcade cover art a couple years ago.
I played Altered Beast a few times in the past, but never really cared much for it for some reason. I was actually looking forward to Project Altered Beast, but it only came out in Japan and Europe and I read it wasn't that great.