Games of the 8-, 16- & 32-bit era

Altered Beast

Title	Altered Beast
First release	1988
Developer	Sega
Publisher	THQ
Platforms	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcade, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, Master System, Mega Drive / Genesis, NES / Famicom, PC (Windows), PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16, ZX Spectrum
Genres	beat 'em up, platformer
Also known as	Jyuouki · 獣王記 · Juuouki
Players	1–2 players
Co-op	Yes
ESRB rating	E Everyone
Releases	Arcade: 1988-06-30 (NTSC-U) NES / Famicom: 1988-08-01 (NTSC-J) ZX Spectrum: 1989-01-01 Amiga: 1989-01-01 Amstrad CPC: 1989-01-01 Commodore 64: 1989-01-01 MSX: 1989-01-01 Master System: 1989-01-01 (PAL), 1989-06-01 (NTSC-U)
Wikidata ID	Q1355850

Software Studios developed this 1989 beat 'em up where players collect spirit balls to trigger shapeshifting transformations. By absorbing these power-ups, the character mutates into various mythical creatures like a werewolf, dragon, tiger, or bear to combat undead hordes and demons. The side-view gameplay supports up to two players in co-operative mode as they fight toward the demon god Neff.

Description: REG-Vault, CC BY-SA 4.0

View on Wikidata Read on Wikipedia

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), gaps filled from REG-Vault and TheGamesDB and Arcade Database (ADB). Only retro platforms tracked by this site are listed; the year is the earliest release date recorded on Wikidata.

Sources

Wikidata (Q1355850) · last updated 2026-09-27 · CC0

REG-Vault (c64/altered-beast) · last updated 2026-09-29 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

REG-Vault (amiga/altered-beast) · last updated 2026-09-27 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

REG-Vault (zxspectrum/altered-beast) · last updated 2026-10-02 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

REG-Vault (amstradcpc/altered-beast) · last updated 2026-10-13 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

TheGamesDB (5529) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (118,5528) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (36794) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (24491) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (28242) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (6506) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (36566) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (5244,110318) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (38083) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (42103) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (23616) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (28717) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

Arcade Database (ADB) (mt_beast) · last updated 2026-10-04 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · internal use only

Arcade Database ADB

MAME romset	`mt_beast`
Title at ADB	Altered Beast (Mega-Tech)
Manufacturer	Sega
Year	1988
Genre	Platform / Fighter Scrolling
Players	2
MAME driver status	PRELIMINARY

Artwork: ADB (Arcade Database); artwork © original manufacturer (Sega); snaps by ProgettoSnaps via ADB. Non-free, internal use only (hotlinked, not downloaded).

Scraping using Arcade Database by motoschifo · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · romset via Wikidata P2451 (wikidata-qid) · fetched 2026-10-04 17:01 UTC · no fields filled (other sources take precedence)

Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © THQ · internal use only

1 / 27 Box art Box art (front) 1

Image credits

Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (17): Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © THQ · internal use only. REG-Vault page

Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (7): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded) · © THQ · internal use only. TheGamesDB page

Screenshots (3): Source: libretro-thumbnails (upstream libretro-thumbnails (art by developers/publishers; see repo README)) · © THQ · internal use only.

Sprites

No sprite sheets yet. Find sprites on The Spriters Resource ↗ /

Videos

Mega Drive Longplay [031] Altered Beast (US)

World-of-Longplays · Mega Drive / Genesis version · longplay · 46:29auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:41 UTC

Altered Beast Mega Drive Longplay Gameplay By Urien84

By Urien84 Longplays · Mega Drive / Genesis version · longplay · 20:50auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:42 UTC

"Auto-matched" videos were found automatically (title + platform match via the YouTube Data API) and may occasionally be wrong. Videos are hosted by YouTube (embedded via youtube-nocookie.com; nothing loads from YouTube until you press play) and belong to their channels.