Altered Beast review: walk, punch, and wait to transform

A Roman centurion climbs out of his grave. Zeus has brought him back to rescue Athena from Neff, the ruler of the underworld, and the only tools he starts with are his fists. He walks slowly. He punches slowly. And then, if you are lucky with the wolves, he becomes something else.

The first half of every level is a promise

The fighting on its own is plain. You punch, kick and jump through graveyards full of undead, and a white two-headed wolf shows up now and then. Beat it and it drops a Spirit Ball. Each one increases your strength and size, so your soldier visibly bulks up on screen. The design turns a basic brawl into a countdown. One ball, two balls, and everyone watching knows what comes next.

Collecting three Spirit Balls triggers the transformation, and that scene is the reason the game exists. The screen stops, the body twists, and you are a werewolf throwing fireballs, or a weretiger, or a werebear whose breath turns enemies to stone, and later a golden werewolf. Then Neff appears, and you finally feel strong enough.

The first half of the level was the wait. The second half was the reward.

Why it feels thin, and why that is honest

The game is short and simple, and there is a reason. Makoto Uchida wanted a pressure-sensitive button, and when that deal fell through, half of the planned character actions had to be cut. You can feel the gap between walking and transforming. But the team poured its energy into the change itself, and Uchida took cues from The Howling and the Thriller video, and it shows every time the beast appears.

The joke at the end

Finish the arcade version and the credits reveal the whole thing was a staged film production, a monster movie shoot all along. It is a wink, and it fits a game built for spectacle first. Two players at once made it better, trading glances when one of you powered up first.

What it meant back then

In American arcades this was the cabinet with the growling voice you heard from across the mall. But for a lot of us the stronger memory is at home: it became the pack-in title for the Sega Genesis when that console launched in North America, so it was the first thing many families saw on a new machine. Kids who had watched older teens play it at the bowling alley suddenly had their own copy.

Playing it now

Go in knowing it is a short brawler with a single great idea. Play it with a friend, count the Spirit Balls out loud, and enjoy the transformation every single time. It is not deep, but few games have made one moment land this hard.