During the game's attract screens we learn Neff has captured a princess -- the fiend! In an usual twist, when you insert a coin and start the game, your character is already dead, but is summoned to rise from your grave by a god (who I always assumed was Zeus, but I have no proof of that).
At first it seems you are ill-equipped to deal with the demonic and undead minions sent by Neff to stop you. It's not long before some suspicious-looking wolf wolves appear, which when killed, drop a floating power-up orb, adding some much needed beef to your centurion. Collect two more orbs and you alter your form to become a beast-man. During the course of the game the hero transforms into a werewolf, a dragon, a bear-man, a tiger-man and finally a golden werewolf, but that's nothing compared to Neff's repertoire of bizarre transformations. At the end of every level, Neff stops our heroes in their tracks, grows to the full height of the screen, then in a puff of smoke he transforms forms into some bizarre monster.
At the end of level 1's graveyard Neff transforms into a pile of corpses, with a orge-like head and body. He attacks by throwing his head at you, which respawns instantly, allowing him to throw half a dozen of them in a few seconds.
Level 2 is set in a swamp and ends with Neff turning into a plant with eye-like spores, which it fires across the screen at you.
Level 3 sees our hero travel underground, at the end of which Neff transform into giant snail with a dragon head. This is the first boss to move, although he doesn't move very much. Not that he needs to, as he can launch shells that loop around the screen and burst into flames.
Level 4 is set inside a Greek building and ends with Neff transforming into some kind of baby dragon, that floats around the screen blasting you with fireballs that emit from its swollen belly. If that wasn't bad enough, miniature versions of the dragon you transformed into in level 2 will sometimes appear and hover slowly around the boss, just to stop you getting close.
Thee fifth and final level is set on some surreal alternative plane and features lots of man-beasts, including fauns and unicorn men. Given everything you face up until this point you would expect Neff's final form to be the craziest of all, but instead it's just a giant rhino-soldier, who charges and punches you. Nonetheless, this final boss is the toughest of all and takes a lot of punishment to beat.
After each encounter Neff's disembodied head emerges from the ground, robs our hero of his powers and promptly disappears, making the next level a fresh challenge, no matter how well you did before. Between each level you also learn a little more of Neff's plan, which is to use his powerful magic turn the princess into a bird and keep her locked up in a cage. If you weren't dead set on kicking his ass before, you will be now!
To have any real hope of beating any of these bosses you really need to be fully powered-up, especially as you have no projectiles in your base form. Like most arcade games, Altered Beast was punishing and overall not that fun, but we kept hammering away just to see what our hero and Neff would transform into next.
GW
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