[{"TitleName":"Altered Beast","Publisher":"Activision Inc","Author":"Jason Austin, Mark A. Jones, Paul Hiley","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0000173","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 71, Dec 1989","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":76,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Mark Caswell\r\nStaff Writers: Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nEditorial Assistants: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION DEPARTMENT\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell (Supervisor), Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Jenny Reddard\r\n\r\nDesign: Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Lee Watkins\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Viv Vickress a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1989 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Activision/Software Studio\r\n£9.99 cass only\r\n\r\n'Rise from your grave and rescue my daughter' is the command Zeus gives the player at the start of this multi-level romp into the realms of fantasy and vicious great monsters who do their best to return him to his original state (ie dead). Zeus's daughter Athena has been kidnapped by Nelf, the evil Lord of the Underworld. You (and your mate if you wish, and he lets you) play a fallen warrior whose eternal slumber is disturbed by the search for the lovely daughter.\r\n\r\nLevel one takes you to a ruined tempts where the meanies' condition is rather grisly - most of them seem to be in a state of severe decomposition (have you noticed George A-zombie Romero's influence on this issue's games?). But they can still inflict a fair bit of damage if their blows connect. At the start your character is a fairly muscular chap whose punch would probably stagger the likes of Rocky Balboa: but as wolves attack him and are destroyed, glowing 'spirit balls' are revealed, which if collected transform him first into Schwarzenegger proportions, then into one of the strange were-beasts that bestow incredible powers.\r\n\r\nIn this guise sprite hero faces Nelf, who himself changes into a strange and frightning creature. When beaten, Nelf takes away the spirit balls(!), and spriteling reverts to a puny human who must battle his way through the rest of the levels - only changing into were-beast when enough spirit balls are found - until Athena is found and returned to her father. After which he returns to zombie state - thanks, after all it only took balls to do the job. Altered Beast, along with Galaxy Force is one of my favourite Sega arcade games. But once I started playing the conversion I was disappointed. The game is faithful to the original but the graphics are so horribly clashingly garish to make most of us in the office leap for our sunglasses. Scrolling is a bit of a shambles as well, waiting for the slow and juddery screen to catch up with the hero isn't my idea of fun. Altered Beast isn't dire, but Activision could have done better.\r\n\r\nMARK 61%","ReviewerComments":["When you first load up Altered Beast, the presentation just knocks you back. All the front end is excellent with animated sequences, a great loading screen and an abundance of colour. The game itself is full of detailed backgrounds and characters with colour everywhere. The only fault is the scrolling, and this spoils all the other aspects of the game. Walking along the screen scrolls character by character, which makes it very jerky, and with it being slow to boot the game is not a joy to play. The sound is of a good standard, with a tune and spot effects. I have played Altered Beast on the PC Engine and the Amiga, and the playability would be exactly the same on the Spectrum if it weren't for that one problem. Never mind, if you think you can stand a bit of a jerk (no Mark Caswell gags please!) give this one a whirl.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n74%"],"OverallSummary":"Good conversion, beastily unscrolled to near undeath.","Page":"63","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"61","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"74","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"73%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"67%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 95, Jan 1992","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1991-12-27","Editor":"Lucy Hickman","TotalPages":68,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Coming to you live from CRASH Towers are:\r\n\r\nEditor: Lucy 'Whiplash' Hickman\r\nDeputy Editor: Nick 'One Drink And He's Anybody's' Roberts\r\nProduction Editor: Warren 'Monster Munch' Lapworth\r\nStaff Writer: Mark 'Whip Me' Caswell\r\nAdventures: Ian 'Pot Noodle' Osborne\r\nArt & Design: Mark 'Not tonight I've got a headache' Kendrick and Charlie 'Chastity' Chubb\r\nSystems Manager: Ian 'Soft-top' Chubb\r\nScreenshots: Michael 'Fatso' Parkinson\r\nPublisher: Roger 'Sir' Kean\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sheila 'Vera Duckworth' Jarvis\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: George 'Dougal' Keenan\r\nAdvertisement Production: Jo 'Little Bum' Lewis\r\nProduction: Jackie 'It's not my job' Morris\r\nReprographics: Rob 'Go 'n' Wash' Millichamp\r\nManaging Director: Jonathan 'Call Me In A Restaurant' Rignall\r\nCirculation Manager: David 'Sir Chris' Wren\r\nAccounts: Sheila 'Pin-up' Adams\r\nSubscriptions: David 'Jingle Bells' Bingle\r\n\r\nProduced using Apple Macintosh II computers running Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator 3.0. Printing BPCC Business Magazines (Carlisle) Ltd\r\nDistribution COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis month's cover: Titanic Blinky/Bubble Dizzy. Cover design by Oliver Frey. Powertape inlay by Mark Kendrick."},"MainText":"The Hit Squad\r\n£3.99\r\n\r\nAltered Beast takes us back to a time when nasty mythological creatures roamed the Earth and the only mighty heroes around were six-foot under. A good example is the heroic-type corpse resurrected by Zeus (the head honcho of the Greek gods) to rescue his daughter, Athena, from the clutches of Nelf, Lord of the Underworld (cue evil laughter).\r\n\r\nBut of course, Nelf, despite having a stupid name, is pretty sharp in the smarty-pants department. He isn't going to give Athena up without a fight, but not to worry 'cause our zombie lad (when alive) won honours in monster mangling and wrote a best-selling novel titled '100 Places To Stick A Very Sharp Sword' (I've read that one, so watch it - Ed).\r\n\r\nThe game's a multi-level affair with most of the attacking creatures looking like extras from a George Romero flick. In normal mode, the player sprite could probably go a couple of rounds with the likes of Nike Tyson. But once in a while glowing 'spirit balls' (ahem!) appear. Collecting one means our hero can leap buildings in a single bound, catch bullets in his teeth etc (well not quite, but you know what I mean). Grabbing a second ball (madam), the character transforms into a strange were-beast with awesome powers (able to push tall buildings over, throw unfeasibly large objects around etc).\r\n\r\nWhen first reviewed way back in Issue 71, Altered Beast didn't receive a particularly warm greeting. And now, two years later, the story's just the same. Don't get me wrong, the game isn't dire, but the programmer should have been shot a birth.\r\n\r\nThe colour scheme is horrendous, a definite case of 'pass the sick bag, please Vicar', but the real problem is the scrolling - it rarely keeps up with your movements so when you advance it often takes a few seconds for the screen to catch up.\r\n\r\nOverall, Altered Beast is a slightly above average beat-'em-up that may just appeal to fans of the coin-op.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"61","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"69","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Saturday night on the town in Tenbury Wells. A bit rough isn't it punters? They've all had a bit too much down the Cellar Bar."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"66%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"63%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"69%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 47, Nov 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-10-16","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: David Wilson\r\nDesigner: Catherine Peters\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Duncan MacDonald, David McCandless, Phil South\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Alison Morton\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Chris Skinner\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nNewstrade Circulation Manager: Stephen Ward\r\nSubscription Manager: June Smith\r\nPublisher: Teresa Maughan\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Point Five [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinted By: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1989 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Activision\r\n£9.99 cass\r\nReviewer: Phil South\r\n\r\nGrrroowwlll! I'm an altered beast... but then again you already knew that. (At least those people who come into the office when I'm in a leg-bitin' mood know. And they still walk with a limp too!)\r\n\r\nBut this time it's all a game, and what a good sort of game it is too. Altered Beast was a corking, ripping, snorting game as a coin-op with all sorts of fab 'n' groovy undead beasties to beat up, not to mention a whole googolbyte of sound and graphics. And looking at its conversion I can but marvel (gasp, gasp) at the capacity of the average Spectrum programmer to shoehorn this much game into such a small memory space. Tsk! Y'know I still remember when 48K was a LOT. Still, enough of this foolish reminiscing... sniff... on with the review.\r\n\r\nOnce upon a time, a young bloke died and before he could even get comfy in his grave, some bleedin' wizard came along and raised him from the dead. \"What do you want, you whiskery old goat?'' he shouted politely. \"I wuz just gettin'settled in me grave, an' now you've blinkin' come along and resurrected me, yer big dimmock.\"\r\n\r\n\"You are to be my agent in this world,\" said the wiz, with a voice like an old wallet. \"You shall take on the beasts of the night and rescue my daughter. Art thou worthy of the task?\" He prodded a lightning bolt into the wretched dead-un's kidneys, making his eyes bulge out like mushrooms. Being brave about death but a complete wimp about pain, the lad accepted and trudged off through the Graveyard.\r\n\r\nIt wasn't much, a trifle overpopulated with zombies perhaps but it was the only home he had. He ploughed into the zombies without much ado, but soon realised, as he progressed through his next four picturesque locations of the Forest, the Cave, the Temple and then back again to the Graveyard, that something rather peculiar was happening to him. Whistling merrily along as he ker-splatted his fiendish foe he'd find himself turning into a flying dragon and a blue bear, and a funny humanoid tiger. Sometimes even a golden werewolf! That wizard's got a rum old sense of humour, he would mutter to himself. Ha... ha...\r\n\r\nHey, YOU, wake up! It isn't a bed time story, you prannock, it's the game. Ahem. Right, sitting comfortably? (Chuckle.) Then I'll continue.\r\n\r\nOn the Speccy it's easier to do a monochrome version of a blockbustin' coin-op beat-'em-up game, because it's less hassle than finding out new ways to bamboozle your way around the attribute problem. I think this is a bit of a cop-out, personally, especially when the one thing that the Speccy actually does rather well is fast colour graphics. Okay, so it's not many colours, but with care and attention you can achieve a multicoloured game which moves at something like a realistic speed. Which is exactly where Altered Beast comes in. (Lumme! At last! Ed)\r\n\r\nIt's a multi-coloured game, a bit like Karnov in design and execution, in which the sprites all have their own colours. The technique works better if you layer the colours and do calculations to match the sprite colour with the background colour but that all takes up processing time, so the backgrounds take on the sprite colour as it moves across the screen. It's easier to do, faster to play, and so much closer to the original game in looks and speed. Altered is as fast as it can be for the amount that's going on, and it rates a higher score for that, but it does judder a bit. The graphics are first class, and the sounds are none too bad either although a trifle annoying if we're talking about the theme tune.\r\n\r\nThe game is quite satisfying as beat em ups go, and my only real criticisms are a) if anything the levels are too short b) shame the players look like they re doing ballet kicks rather than karate, and c) with the background and 400 bits of zombie flying around it's hard to see what's going on. But Altered pushes the Speccy to its limits, and although it's a flawed execution in some ways, I'd still say it's a good game.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Little niggles here and there but very adventurous (and gory).","Page":"72","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Phil South","Score":"80","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"At the end of the levels there are the usual Big Baddies, but, this being a Sega game, they're sicko nightmare rock creatures. It is possible to kick them to death but easier if you're a fire-flinging werewolf."},{"Text":"In the Swamp section you have to watch out for the wiggling tail of the Dragon. If you can kick it you get a pile of points. If you miss you better jump out of the way!"},{"Text":"When you kick the zombies on the Graveyard level, they first lose their heads and then blow apart like this."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"66%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"76%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"80%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 72, Dec 1991","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1991-11-07","Editor":"Andy Hutchinson","TotalPages":76,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor (Libra): Andy Hutchinson\r\nArt Editor (Leo): Andy Ounsted\r\nGames Editor (Virgo): James Leach\r\nStaff Writer (Cancer): Linda Barker\r\nArt Assistant (Pisces): Maryanne Booth\r\nAdvertising Manager (Aries): Cheryl Beesley\r\nProduction Coordinator (Scorpio): Melissa Parkinson\r\nPublisher (Scorpio): Jane Richardson\r\nPublishing Assistant (Gemini): Michele Harris\r\nGroup Publisher (Gemini): Greg Ingham\r\nCirculation Director (Libra): Sue Hartley\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair, Future Publishing [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: Pearl Stokes (Aries) [redacted]\r\nDistribution: MMC [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Illustration (Taurus): Colin Jones\r\nISSN 0269 6983\r\nABC Jan-June 1991 65,444\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is lovingly carved out of raffia by the same insane bunch of lollipop theieves who create Commodore Format (Libra), Amstrad Action (Libra), Amiga Format (Leo), 8000 Plus (Libra), PC Answers (Leo), PC Plus (Libra), Sega Power (Virgo), Amiga Power (Taurus), Amiga Shopper (Taurus), Classic CD (Gemini), Needlecraft (Aries), Mountain Biking UK (Gemini), PC Format (Virgo), Public Domain (Virgo) and ST Format (Leo).\r\n\r\nBut what we really want to know is... have you ever leapt into a bowl of trifle from 15 feet wearing nothing but a pair of slippers and a slightly bemused expression?"},"MainText":"ALTERED BEAST\r\nKixx\r\n£3.99\r\nReviewer: Rebecca Norley\r\n\r\nOriginally released by Activision in '89, this was also included on Ocean's Power Up compilation pack back in June. And here it is again! Spook, eh? if you're into bright colours, whizzy graphics and lots of fighty-jumpy action then you'll love Altered Beast. It's crammed full of lovely colourful stuff and might well be the gamette for you. A rather large eyeball has captured a powerful wizard's daughter and you have been personally chosen to rescue her. You'll need brains and a steely physique to complete this difficult, yet romantic, task.\r\n\r\nThe beast who alters is you! You run the whole gamut - from good-looking chap, to dragon, to blue bear, to gold plated wolf. Before you can change, you'll have to travel along the five different levels and collect the souls of three white wolves. Along the way. there's all sorts of sprites, head-suckers and snakes that aren't the friendliest of creatures.\r\n\r\nTo get the most out of this game you'll have to possess the oriental skills of the next Bruce Lee. Yes! You too can astound your friends with your ace karate skills as you destroy the evil beasties.You too can prove what a He-Man, or She-Woman, you really are. If you haven't got Altered Beast already, then don't miss it this time round.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"67","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rebecca Norley","Score":"81","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Spook! Gosh, it's all change around here!. If you collect the soul of that white wolf, your pic will change colour. Good, eh?!"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"81%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 92, Nov 1989","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1989-10-18","Editor":"Jim Douglas","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Meet the SU Pop \"Personalities\"\r\n\r\nJIM \"GLAMROCK\" DOUGLAS (Editor)\r\n\"Yeh. I like to think that these clothes and the whole, like Glamrock scene helps me through the rigours of a tough month on the mag,\" says Jim, \"It's like, when you've got a section going to bed and a problem with the colour pagination of an on-off thirty-two litho, there really is just one thing that'll make you feel alright. Do You Wanna Be in My Gang? by the Glitter Band. You see?\"\r\n\r\nALISON \"RAP\" SKEAT (Production Editor)\r\n\"Don't touch me now/I'm too cold to hold/Gonna pass these pages fore the deadline gets old/Get those Drop Caps outta my face/Cos I'm gonna s.s.s.s.sSUB on through this place, man./Printing men just ain't my scene/They don't help me with my magazine/So if you want to get me to your joint/Just let me check your pica-point.\r\n\r\nTIM \"SCREWDRIVER\" NOONAN (Art Editor)\r\nAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaa aaAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAaa aaaA Arenenenen aaaaaadadadanananananeaaAAAAANAAAAOAAAAA dadadNNNAAAAAAAAAABA-NGB AN-GAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaAAAdadadNNNAAAAAAAAAABAN GBANG'\r\n\r\nGARTH \"MUSIC HALL\" Sumpter (Staff Writer)\r\nI'm leaning on a Spectrum at the corner of the office/In case an exclusive preview of an exciting Christmas blockbuster comes by/Oh me, Oh My/I hope something to fill that page comes by/Now I've been reviewing all about town/So don't you try to do me down/I can even review a game/When I'm cleanin' Windows\"\r\n\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nDirty Tricks: Garth Sumpter\r\nHow The Hell: Andrew Hewson\r\nI've Got This Problem: Rupert Goodwins\r\nCoin-ops: John Cook\r\nWayne, etc: Chris \"Charity\" Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Nigel \"Presentation\" Taylor\r\nSenior Advertisement: Martha 'Tell me now' Moloughney\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nMarketing Manager: Dean 'Knuckle Of Lamb' Barrett\r\nMarketing Assistant: Sarah 'Well, roughly...' Ewing\r\nPublisher: Terry 'The Head Roller' Pratt\r\n\r\nOur Address: [redacted]\r\nOur Phone Number: [redacted]\r\nOur Fax No: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Untouchables from Ocean\r\nCover Artist: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nTypeset by Professional Reprographics Services [redacted]\r\nAnd Jim at EMAP\r\nDistributed by EMAP Frontline.\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1989 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"Label: Activision\r\nAuthor: In House\r\nPrice: £8.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\n\r\nBeing dead's no fun, but one thing that can be said for it is you're safe as houses. And it's quiet, like a tomb in fact. So imagine your surprise when you suddenly wake up to find yourself alive and well and not in the usual state of decomposure that you'd expect after spending a few years dead.\r\n\r\nActually it's all down to Zeus who, upon finding his daughter Athena kidnapped by the evil Nelf, opens up his yellowed pages and finds the number of dial a corpse and guess what? He sends a bolt a lightening down and hits your tomb, sending a life giving shock which travels through your head, across your chest, down your leg, across the road and hits a bus stop.\r\n\r\n\"It's a miracle, I'm cured gov nor an' no mistake\" And so the scene is set. You must rescue Athena from the clutches of the evil Nelf who has taken the descendant of the Godsif you succeed she'll probably give you a book token which is not a great deal but if you fail you'll end up dead again. To avoid dying twice in one lifetime, you must negotiate the various levels, the first being the trip to the gateway of the underworld (no it's not a large supermarket) where Nelf is holding Athena. You must punch and kick your way to the portal and when the occasional pulsating beastie appears, kick it's orbs out 'cos the orbs, when collected, power you up and give you extra fighting power. Collect three of theses on a level and kerpow! A startling metamorphosis takes place and transforms you into one of three creatures; a wolf, a bear or a dragon with each one possessing a special fighting ability with which to battle your way onward.\r\n\r\nControl is by joystick and keyboard with all the leap up, crouch down, left and right stuff with fire button unleashing a punch or kick and, when you're all powered up with your three orbs and undergone your metamorphosis, it will unleash the supercharged attack, sending all the beasties to their well deserved doom. At the end of the level, Nelf will provide a monstrous guardian who will bar your onward path. Defeating this is tricky, especially if you haven't managed to collect enough power spheres to warrant a change to a meatier disposition.\r\n\r\nThe Altered Beast Sega coin-op is a fairly wicked affair with some great graphics, especially which is why this conversion seems a little lacking. The graphics are pretty and the backdrops are quite good but the scrolling from left to right is slow and jerky with the attribute clash bordering on the painful.\r\n\r\nHowever the gameplay is there and it's okay so Altered Beasts should look attractive to fans of the coin op, if only because they can save a fortune in 50 pees.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Big licence gets the Activision treatment.","Page":"10,11","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"67%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"74%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 118, Dec 1991","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1991-11-18","Editor":"Garth Sumpter","TotalPages":68,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Garth Sumpter\r\nDesign: Andrea Walker\r\nDesign: Yvette Nicholls\r\nSoftware Editor: Steve Keen\r\nSU Crew: John Cook, Pete Gerrard, Phillip Fisch, Ian Watson, Alan Dykes\r\nAd Manager: Jerry Hall\r\nAd Production: Jo Gleissner\r\nMarketing Man.: Mark Swan\r\nMarketing Women: Sarah Ewing, Sarah Hilliard\r\nPublisher: Graham Taylor\r\nManaging Director: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\n(c)1991 EMAP IMAGES\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nColour by Proprint.\r\nPrinted by Kingfisher"},"MainText":"Label: Hit Squad\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nPrice: £3.99 Tape\r\nReviewer: Steve Keen\r\n\r\nAltered Beast was very popular with me in the arcades. I especially liked the idea of visually transforming into different beasts for the tasks ahead. The animated bits in between were evocative and imaginative and have been retained in this version.\r\n\r\nThe gomeplay is very simple - walk along the preset routes and punch/kick shoot anything that gets in your way. A wolf patrols these routes and once dead throws up a spinning ball which you collect to complete your transformation. He-man, Were wolf, Flying Devil and Were-Tiger are all part of the arsenal available to you and along with each animal's special weapon.\r\n\r\nGraphics in the first world are terrible, with disgusting colour bleeding and blocky animation, but it's made up for in some of the later screens. Scrolling is slightly jerky, but not too much. The multiload system employed does not enhance the game and unless you can't live without this conversion it's probably best forgotten and left alone.","ReviewerComments":["It's not a beat 'em up and it's not an adventure just a pure arcade conversion. Not much went into the coin-op and this cousin reaps little out of it. Pure let down!\r\nGarth Sumpter"],"OverallSummary":"Looking rather dated by today's standards. When first reviewed we said it had great graphics, but you'd be hard pushed to find anything, even the lowest of games, looking this dire today. Could be fun for some.","Page":"49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Keen","Score":"70","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Garth Sumpter","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"70%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]