3D Altered Beast

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Wireless)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Sega 3D Classics Collection Compilation on Nintendo 3DS, along with 3D Fantasy Zone II W, 3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, 3D Galaxy Force II, 3D Maze Walker, 3D Power Drift, 3D Puyo Puyo 2, 3D Sonic the Hedgehog, and 3D Thunder Blade)

Altered Beast is an Action-Platformer (with heavy emphasis on the “Action” over “Platforming”) originally released in Arcades in 1988 and later ported to numerous other platforms over the years (including two ports to Nintendo Switch), with the 2013 Nintendo 3DS release of the game adding stereoscopic 3D. This game has you fighting through hordes of monstrous enemies and eventually transforming into different monster forms to fight said enemies.

The visuals in this game feature decent 2D pixel art visuals, a forgettable soundtrack, and some delightfully cheesy digitized voice clips (who can forget “Rise from your gwave!”). It’s nothing impressive, but it’s still really iconic and memorable all the same.

Would that the same could be said of this gameplay, which suffers from slow and clunky character movement, awkward attacks with stiff controls, and enemies that it’s often unclear how you’re meant to fight them. While not horrible, it’s clear that this game was remembered more for its iconic imagery than its gameplay.

The Nintendo 3DS release of the game adds a few extra features, such as the ability to play the game with different emulation modes or different international versions, screen settings, button reassignments, save states, and a “Random Form” mode that enables players to use additional power-ups to cycle through the different beast forms when fully powered-up.

In the end, as endearing and iconic as Altered Beast is, it’s just not all that fun to play. Add to that the fact that this game is already playable on Nintendo Switch, and the only reason to get this game is because you really want it in stereoscopic 3D, or you really want it specifically on Nintendo 3DS for some reason. Most players are better off skipping it.

tl;dr – Altered Beast has you fighting through hordes of enemies until you’ve “power up!”-ed enough to fight each level’s boss, having transformed into a monstrous form. An arcade classic to be sure, but it’s a bit rough by today’s standards, with slow character movement, stiff controls, and some enemies it’s unclear how you’re supposed to fight.

Grade: C

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