=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _______ _ _________ _______ _______ _______ ______ ( ___ )( \ \__ __/( ____ \( ____ )( ____ \( __ \ | ( ) || ( ) ( | ( \/| ( )|| ( \/| ( \ ) | (___) || | | | | (__ | (____)|| (__ | | ) | | ___ || | | | | __) | __)| __) | | | | | ( ) || | | | | ( | (\ ( | ( | | ) | | ) ( || (____/\| | | (____/\| ) \ \__| (____/\| (__/ ) |/ \|(_______/)_( (_______/|/ \__/(_______/(______/ ______ _______ _______ _______ _________ ( ___ \ ( ____ \( ___ )( ____ \\__ __/ | ( ) )| ( \/| ( ) || ( \/ ) ( | (__/ / | (__ | (___) || (_____ | | | __ ( | __) | ___ |(_____ ) | | | ( \ \ | ( | ( ) | ) | | | | )___) )| (____/\| ) ( |/\____) | | | |/ \___/ (_______/|/ \|\_______) )_( =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ************************************************** * * * Altered Beast * * * * Sega Genesis * * * * General FAQ/Walkthrough * * Version 1.0 * * By Justin Morgan * * Created 6/18/2010 * * Last Updated 6/19/2010 * * * ************************************************** Version History: 0.0 (6/18/2010) - Started the guide. 1.0 (6/19/2010) - First complete version of the guide. ===================== = Table of Contents = ===================== Introduction I) Basics 1-01 General Information 1-02 Story 1-03 Controls 1-04 Gameplay Details 1-05 Forms II) Walkthrough 2-01 Round 1 2-02 Round 2 2-03 Round 3 2-04 Round 4 2-05 Round 5 III) Extra Info 3-01 Enemy List 3-02 Secret Codes IV) End 4-01 Credits 4-02 Copyright 4-03 Contact Information ================ = Introduction = ================ "But, Klaej", you ask, "why would you randomly be writing an FAQ for such an old game so suddenly in 2010?" Well, that's a good question. Let me explain. When I was a very young boy, I would get to go to my older cousins' house every once in awhile, and I loved it. I was a gamer more or less from the time I was born (brought into the world into a household with an NES) and going to my cousins' place meant getting a chance to play their Sega Genesis. They had the ancient original Genesis model, the really clunky one from the late 80s. They had a collectin of mind-blowing 16-bit games that were all wonderful to me such as Golden Axe, Space Harrier II and the brand-new Sonic the Hedgehog. There was one more that was equally fun to look at and listen to when it was played on the magnificent blast-processing unit that was the Genesis, but was brutally difficult to us young gamers; it was the pack-in game for the very early days of the Genesis/Megadrive outside of Japan, a game by the name of Altered Beast. Now, about two decades later, I've gotten ahold of a perfectly emulated port of the game thanks to "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection" for the PS3 (which I highly recommend), and I've been bent on mastering it once and for all. And after a generations-long wait between sitting in that cool room in front of an old glass-screened TV with my cousin and hoping only to ever reach the end of Round 2 at best, I've finally done so. If you ever read this, Brandon, you can consider this guide dedicated to you. In my ventures to beat the game as flawlessly as possible I got the sudden idea to make a guide detailing how I managed to finish each stage unscathed, barring accidents. I figured there'd be little reason to as I was sure such a classic game would have a massive number of guides online, but upon looking I only found one single, solitary FAQ on GameFAQs that hasn't been touched in nearly ten years. What's more, it would seem that this--what I thought up until now was a well-remembered game that still seems plenty fun to me in 2010--is a very badly reviewed clunker of a game by many peoples' standards. I feel that I definitely owe it to this game and the role it played in my childhood and helping initially form my strong positive view of the Genesis and Sega itself, that holds strong to this day. I've just gotta make a guide for it. ============= I) Basics ============= ----------------------------- 1-01 General Information ----------------------------- Title: Altered Beast (International Jyuouki [Beast King's Chronicle] (Japan) Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Genre: Action/Beat 'Em Up Release Dates (Genesis/Megadrive): Japan - November 27, 1988 North America - August 14, 1989 Europe - 1990 --------------- 1-02 Story --------------- The setting is ancient Greece. The great god, Zeus, is embroiled in a war amongst gods, and all of his soldiers are engaged in the conflict. Using this as an opportunity, the demon lord Neff has captured Zeus' daughter, Athena, and made her into a hostage. With no way of leaving his own post in his current situation and not a single warrior to spare, Zeus turns to you, a fallen soldier who died fighting for him in ages past, and bids you rise from your grave once more. With a promise of immortality and the hand of Athena should you succeed, you advance toward Neff's lair, using the power of the sacred beasts to aid you in the fight against the demon hordes. ------------------ 1-03 Controls ------------------ (AS HUMAN) Basic Controls - + Control Pad: Moves your character left or right. A Button: Punch. B Button: Kick. C Button: Jump. Start Button: Start the game from the title screen, pause. Advanced Controls - Down + A: Crouching Punch (very fast). Down + B: Upwards Kick. A (in air): Aerial punch. B (in air): Aerial kick. Up + Jump: High jump. (AS BEAST) Wolf - A: Fireball B: Flaming Dash Dragon - A: Thunder Breath B: Electric Charge Bear - A: Stone Breath B: Roll Tiger - A: Wave Ball B: Vertical Dash (Note: All attack moves in all Beast forms perform the same way whether standing, crouching or in the air. The one exception is the Bear's Roll attack, which propels you into the air from the ground, but simply falls when used from the air.) -------------------------- 1-04 Gameplay Details -------------------------- The basic idea of the game is that you're always moving from left to right as the screen slowly scrolls to reveal more of the stage all the while. Monsters will attack you from above and below the ground and in the air but they always spawn in exactly the same pattern every time you play, so you can memorize how to tackle any given point in any stage with enough practice. Occasionally you will find groups of three-headed wolves, usually (but not always) in a pack of two brown ones and one blue one. Slaying the blue one will always yield a powerup, and collecting it will cause your shape to shift as your character shouts the memorable catch phrase, "Powerrr up!". Every so often, you'll encounter Neff, the main antagonist, who takes the form of a ghastly pale bald man in purple rags. Though harmless (and unharmable) in this form, he will summon a boss monster if (and only if) you have attained your Altered Beast form for the round by collecting three powerups. Otherwise, he'll retreat and you'll be forced to play more of the stage until facing him again, during which time you must try and reach Altered Beast form once more or the same scenario will repeat. The longer it takes you to face the boss, the lower of a bonus score you will receive at the end of the round. After the boss is defeated, Neff will return and steal all your powerups before moving on to the next round, with you close at his heels. You will begin the game with three blue health bars, as seen on the bottom-left of the screen, and a total of two extra lives. Each health bar will change color from blue to green to yellow to orange to red then disappear as you take damage, then go on to the next--though some attacks can erase an entire life bar at once, even if it's blue. Lose all three bars (or fall into a pit in Round 3) and your extra lives will subtract by one, but you'll be allowed to start again exactly where you left off. Lose all three of your lives and it's Game Over-- and, as far as I know from playing this game many times now, it's impossible to ever earn more health or extra lives throughout the game, and your health isn't even refilled between rounds, so in order to win you'll just have to practice until you can finish the entire game with what is given to you at the beginning. --------------- 1-05 Forms --------------- The unique aspect about Altered Beast that sets it apart from other action games (of the era it was released, at least) is the fact that you can change forms, collecting powerups to grow from a modest human to an increasingly bulky hulk of a man and finally to an Altered Beast. The Beast form you take varies by stage (known as Rounds in this game) but all of them are extremely fast and powerful, and offer abilities far beyond what was capable as a human. The forms you can take are as follows; Human, Level 1: You begin each Round as a strong, but sadly ineffective human. You are capable of punches and kicks that can damage all normal enemies but most of them will take many hits to defeat in this form. Grab a powerup as soon as possible. Human, Level 2: Once you've powered up a single time you will bulk up and your punches and kicks will glow with superhuman energy. This form is quite identical to Human, Level 1 but is twice as powerful. Human, Level 3: Two powerups and you will burst out of your shirt, growing to immense proportions muscularly. Your attacks are a bit slower in this form than Humans level 1 and 2 but the superhuman energy left by your punches and kicks will linger for a moment after delivering them, effectively creating a "wall" that damages enemies even more effectively than the most rapid punches or kicks from either previous form. Your attacks also have a longer range due to your massive body, and you can walk around noticeably faster. Wolf: An Altered Beast form obtained in Rounds 1 and 5 after collecting a total of three powerups. Not only do you run very fast, your punches now launch Fireballs which fly across the screen and your kicks have been changed into a charging move which envelops you in flames and launches you across the screen. Dragon: The Beast form of Round 2, you're capable of flying freely in any direction and no longer have the ability (or need) to crouch or jump in this form. Instead of punching, your dragon will breathe a long-ranged electrical bolt, and in place of kicking you can blast a sheet of electricity that covers your entire body briefly. Bear: Round 3's unique Beast form is surprisingly extremely fast. Your punches become short-ranged stone breath attacks that can petrify enemies before destroying them, and your kicks become a rolling attack that sends you in an invincible upward/forward arc then down again. Used in the air, it will simply roll downward/forward. Tiger: This Beast form only found in Round 4 turns you into a tiger-man that's able to crouch extremely low to the ground. Your punches will deliver a flying energy ball that's slower than the Wolf's fireball but weaves up and down as it travels, sweeping a much larger area. Your kicks will cause you to dash straight up into the air then back down to the ground while an arrow-shaped shield of energy covers you. =================== II) Walkthrough =================== This is a good time to point out that, in case you were wondering, there is no main menu, no option screen, nothing of the sort. Simply press Start at the title screen (or wait, if you want to see a game demo first) and you're thrust into the action. There actually IS a way to access an options menu, but it's technically in the form of a secret code. Simply hold the B button on the Genesis (or the Kick button if you're playing Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection) and press Start. This will take you to a menu where you can set the difficulty, health and lives you start with, though it also gives you access to a level select feature, which I'd heavily advise against using before you've actually finished the game at least once. Also, this walkthrough is designed to get you to the boss as early as possible, while taking as little damage as possible. As of this point I have no plans to write about the parts of the stages past Neff's first appearance in them, though they shouldn't be any more challenging than the first part of the stage. Don't expect to reach every boss on Neff's earliest appearance your first time through a given stage; though I would like this guide to help you, you will also need to practice on your own if you hope to finish. (Note: Difficulty ranges from 1 to 4 stars, 4 being more difficult) -------------------- 2-01 Round 1 BEAST FORM: Wolf DIFFICULTY: * -------------------- Zeus will summon you from the ground in one of the most memorable (and short) opening scenes in video game history, then immediately you're off on your quest as the screen scrolls and zombies start popping up to fight you. Stay toward the left edge of the screen at first so no zombies will intercept you and damage you from below as they crawl upwards. After three zombies, you'll reach a set of tombstones. Break the first one and you'll see a blue wolf atop the graves; ignore it and focus your attention on breaking the second tombstone, THEN kill the wolf as it falls. Killing it on top of the stones may cause the powerup to float higher than you can reach, and if you take too long at this part all of the graves can potentially turn into zombies which can be overwhelming. Once you've powered up for the first time, run to the right and jump-kick the Headless Horros as it enters the screen. Duck and punch the brown wolf, run left to jump-kick the next Horror, then right to jump-kick yet another one. After this, duck and punch a blue wolf and collect the powerup. Wait until two zombies have appeared around the Headless Horror to the left before you go and punish all three enemies with standing kicks. Run right and dispatch another Horror with a kick, followed by a brown wolf (which may run into the same kick). High jump and punch the Skinny Orcus (little dragon enemy) then squat and punch at the blue wolf. The powerup it drops may float around Neff who appears here and pushes you back harmlessly with a thunder spell. If this happens, high jump into Orcus and you should grab the powerup as you're pushed back. If you've achieved Altered Beast form by this point, it's time to fight the boss. ///////////////// BOSS, ROUND ONE AGGAR DIFFICULTY: * ///////////////// This freak looks like a massive, disfigured brown torso of a man with a hideous face and horns atop his head. Sure scared me as a kid. He just sits in the corner and attacks by tossing severed heads at you in sets of four. He always tosses them to the top of the room so that you can see their formation before they fall onto you, and can position yourself thusly. The traditional way to battle Aggar would be to either simply attack him between "toss phases" then position yourself correctly when he starts to throw another set of heads. Just use fireballs (punches). You can also use the flaming dash (kick) attack to quickly dash out of a trouble spot and destroy heads on the way but make sure not to dash too far to the left, or you'll hurt yourself on Aggar's body. A skilled player could dash into Aggar from a step to the right of the left edge of the screen, then dash left again and repeat, which would kill him more quickly as the flaming dash is much more powerful than the fire- balls, but doing so can be risky. There is a very easy, "cheap" way to defeat him without taking a hit, which is advisable if you simply want to go through the game taking as little damage as possible (which I'd recommend until you've at least finished it once). As Naff is summoning (or transforming into?) Aggar, look closely at the background. See that object in between the two sculptures? Kinda looks like some kind of monitor, or television, or chalkboard? Well, see that winged sculpture on top of it? It's holding what looks to be a rectangular object with a sun emblem on the front. At the bottom of that sun emblem, where it meets the "monitor/chalk- board" portion of the carving, you'll see a little "point" where the bottom of the sun juts out slightly. I know it's a complicated description, but damn, the Sega boys really did a good job with the backgrounds in this game. Anyway, you need to position yourself so that the very top tip of your wolf's ear is pointing upward juuust barely to the right of that lower point of the sun emblem. Like, so that the sun is pointing down to the back of your wolf's head/ hair or your shoulder. If you positioned yourself correctly (the more times you fight this battle the easier it'll be to know how to correctly position yourself due to trial and error, anyway) you'll be completely immune to all of Aggar's heads. That is to say, he'll never throw them in a pattern in which any of them will fall on you at that position. Just hammer the punch button to shoot fire- balls until he's dead. After Aggar is defeated, Neff will reappear in the form of a giant head in a beam of light and steal all your powerups. This happens at the end of every stage and there's no way to avoid it, so don't worry. Your character will jump into the whole that Neff escapes to to reach the next stage, then you get to watch a strange bright purple "cinema scene" that consists of a single vague picture. These indescribable... things happen after every round, though you can just press the Punch or Kick buttons to skip them. ---------------------- 2-02 Round 2 BEAST FORM: Dragon DIFFICULTY: ** ---------------------- Run to the right. You'll see a Round Leech, the slime enemy. Crouch and punch it a couple times as soon as you're in range; if it leaps high into the air, perform an upwards kick to try and deter it. If you fail and it lands on your head, quickly tap left and right repeatedly to get rid of it. Once it's taken care of, just keep heading right, and try to keep yourself just a bit to the right half of the screen, squatting and punching rapidly to take care of the wolves and two leeches that pop up. Once you kill the blue wolf and grab your first powerup, head right to avoid the Rattle Tail and stay just to the right of the middle of the screen again, punching the next set of wolves and leech and getting another powerup. Now run to the far right, past both Rattile Tails, and deliver a standing kick to the Chicken Stinger just as it appears. Run left after the Rattle Tails pass and squat just to the left of the middle of the screen this time, punching the wolves as they come, but don't run into the powerup until you wait for the leech to drop and destroy it. Once you're a dragon, use your Kick button to release an electric charge all around your body, which should destroy a second falling leech. Wait for the Rattle Tail to go by then fly right and up, shock the Orcus and fly down to shock the next leech. Turn to the left and fire off a thunder breath attack to kill the Chicken Stinger; by this point, you'll be at the boss. ////////////////// BOSS, ROUND TWO OCTEYES DIFFICULTY: ** ////////////////// This monster may seem less intimidating than Aggar at first; an egg-shaped bulb of a plant atop a stem, with a single eye peering at you. That changes when he opens up to reveal a grotesque array of freakish eyeballs that multiply and spray outwards to overtake you. The strategy to defeat him would involve slipping past the projectile eyes and letting loose on the main oculus in the short opening between waves of attack. The boss and all his projectiles will flash red with assumed agony whenever you damage even a single rogue eye but as much as I've tested it this seems to not actually deal any real damage to the boss whatsoever; when you actually start hurting him he'll begin to "phase out' in that same eye-straining fashion Aggar did in Round 1 as he inches closer to death. Luckily, though, there's also a "cheap and easy" way to deal with this guy, that takes him from extremely challenging to laughable. It can still be tricky to pull off, though; like with Aggar, you have to position yourself in just the right spot on the screen as Octeyes is being summoned, but this time it's more complicated since you have the Y axis to take into consideration as well. Basically, look at the background, to the roughly Y-shaped tree on the right. The left branch, which is pointing out toward the left side of the screen, is your goal. You want to position yourself so that your dragon is sort of on top of/in front of it, so that your dragon's feet are touching the very edge of the branch and his body is "covering" the rest of it. It can be hard to explain but once you've fought the boss a few times like this you'll get a feel for exactly where you need to position yourself and adjust it so that you're safe. Anyway, start spamming the Kick button so as to spam your electric charge move and once Octeyes is on the screen he should be taking heavy damage immediately. The severe damage he receives from the charges plus the fact that his attacks are slowed by them means you should defeat him without taking any damage yourself within just a few seconds. If you take damage or are shoved backwards position yourself a bit higher and/or further back than your initial position and try again. -------------------- - 2-03 Round 3 BEAST FORM: Bear DIFFICULTY: ** -------------------- Squat down and await the Cave Needles (yellow ant/wasp guys) to drop in from the upper right. Walk a bit to the right and punch forward so that the next set of Needles fall into your fist, or at least safely in front of you. Run to the right quickly as soon as they're out of your way and run under the brown wolves leaping overhead. After the second wolf, pay close attention to the above plat- form and high-jump + kick just as soon as you see the blue wolf so that you kill it without it escaping. Grab the powerup then run to the right edge of the platform you're on. Crouch and punch the air until the pair of Grave Masters walk into your fist and die. Run to the far left of the screen, crouch, and punch to pre-emptively kill another Grave Master as well as a set of wolves just as they spawn. A Grave Master will walk toward you from the right but will fall to his demise if you leave him alone and stay glued to the left edge of the screen until you reeceive your second powerup. Jump across to the rightmost platform just above the rock on the ground to the far right. Tap left to turn around, then crouch and start punching the air again. Watch the first Needle that approaches fall haphazardly to his death, then punch the next three. A group of wolves will attack next but don't grab the powerup until the Stone Turtle has fallen and promptly killed himself on your fist. Once you've become a bear, turn and jump to the right then destroy the Fossil on the left by crouching and using Stone Breath (punch button) which will freeze it then kill it. Turn right, still crouching, and repeat this for the approaching Grave Master and Cave Needle, then you're at the boss. /////////////////// BOSS, ROUND THREE MOLDY SNAIL DIFFICULTY: * /////////////////// A gargantuan upside-down snail shell-like thing with a draconic head peering out from the top. Certainly an interesting enemy, and a bit less disturbing than the first couple bosses. He hides in his shell, with the head on the very top- right portion of the screen being his only weak point, which makes attempting Stone Breath on him very difficult. He attacks by blasting highly-damaging strands of nuclear flame that coil around the room for a bit, and depending on his stance he will launch one in different ways. His normal "looking forward" sort of face means he'll launch one high, whereas his "leaning back" face signifies that he'll fire a lower shot from the "navel" in front of his shell. Of course, yet again, there's a cheap way to defeat him, but as far as I know it's really the only way to defeat him regardless. Basically, get just in front of Neff's lightning storm, as close as you can inch, then wait for him to summon. Stand still until you guess the smoke is just about to clear and reveal the boss, then use a roll attack from the ground. You'll hup up and into the shell, possibly damaging Moldy Snail in the process, and if you did it fast enough you'll surely avoid damage. Once you've done this, just keep pressing the kick button as fast as you can and you'll either roll straight up from the shell to the boss's face, or be pushed out but immediately jump back in. As long as you keep pressing kick he'll never be able to hurt you and you'll have him destroyed in no time. It may be worth noting that instead of "phasing" as he takes damage he changes color, which is much less painful on the eyes. --------------------- - 2-04 Round 4 BEAST FORM: Tiger DIFFICULTY: **** --------------------- First, run right and kick the zombies to death; remind you of Round 1 yet? Well, Round 4 has many of the same enemies but in much greater quantities, and more of the harder ones too. Anyway, after the set of three zombies, crouch and punch the wolves as they come. Before collecting the powerup, wait for the Headless Horror to fall down and jump-kick it. Get the powerup and repeat this for the two to the left, then crouch and take out the next wave of wolves. Again, before collecting the second powerup, jump up and punch the Hammer Demon then drop and grab the sphere. Walk to the right edge of the lower platform and deliver a standing kick to the zombies, then run to the left edge. Wait for the Horrors to drop and perform standing kicks to both of them. Turn, jump and kill the next Hammer Demon then run to the right side of the screen and prepare for a Chicken Stinger to come out. Kick it then turn left and kick the two Horrors to death. Turn right once more and get rid of the Slow Foot then jump and punch the Hammer Demon out of the sky. Drop down and kick the Horror before turning around to take out the wolves and claim your third powerup. Jump into the air and shoot a wave ball to dispatch the last Hammer Demon before the boss. ////////////////// BOSS, ROUND FOUR CROCODILE WORM DIFFICULTY: *** /////////////////// As opposed to the rest of the bosses up to this point, Crocodile Worm is not gigantic, is not scary and is not even that mean looking. He's like a cute little bluish dragon hugging a red orb (either that or he just has a fat round tummy). What's funny about that is that he's by far the most difficult boss yet and also unlike the other bosses up to now, there's no cheap easy way to defeat him. Basically, he'll move up and down in a sort of crescent pattern on the right side of the screen and never moves in any other way. Periodically he'll release a straight-line barrage of fireballs that moves left across the screen. Then, after a bit, he'll belch up a little red dragonling that will fly around the room and attempt to ram into you until it's destroyed. He'll then keep alternating between these two attacks, always moving along the same set path. Sound simple? It isn't, at least not compared to anything you've fought up to now. It would seem safer to stay to the left and use wave balls but not only are they weak, slow, and hard to hit with, but his fireballs will absorb them. The key is to use your vertical dash, but it's not easy. Dashing directly into him will deal heavy damage to you, and accidentally mis-timing your dash so that you run into one of his fireball barrages means VERY heavy hurt. You have to dash just to the left of him, just in front of him, so that the energy from the dash hits him but your actual doesn't come in contact. It can be tricky to pull off over and over until you practice a bit. Of course, you also have to get used to his timed pattern of shooting fireballs, so that you don't get roasted; a great tip to remember as well when fighting this guy is that his low, near-the-ground barrages can be avoided by crouching, putting the Tiger's ridiculously low crouching stance to good use. The good news is that your vertical dashes will destroy the dragonlings before they have a chance to do anything, so have at it between fireball rounds. Like the Moldy Snail, Crocodile Worm will change colors as he inches closer to death. He'll go from blue to purplish to completely red, but then at the very end he'll change once more to a ghoulish black and red, like he's perpetually stuck in his "being damaged" animation frame. Once he looks like this, he'll only take a couple more hits before he's had it, so don't give up! -------------------- 2-05 Round 5 BEAST FORM: Wolf DIFFICULTY: *** -------------------- Immediately run to the right, crouch, and punch. The goat dudes may or may not fall victom to your assault but this will at least keep them at bay while you wait for the two brown wolves to leap overhead, and for the blue wolf to take the lower route straight into your fist. Grab the powerup and finish the goats if you haven't, then turn around to face a Dark Unicorn. Jump-kick to make him go splat then turn to the right, where a Rad Boar, the most fearsome normal enemy in the game, will approach. Jump-kicks are the way to go but he can jump too if you take too long. Turn left, crouch and punch to stave off the goats until the wolves arrive. Kick or jumpkick away the remaining goats to grab the next powerup then turn right and high-jump + punch to get the Orcus out of the way. Fall down to the lower level, ignoring the brown wolves up top, and immediately turn left to hit the blue wolf which, like the one earlier, takes the lower route. Jump and strike the next Skinny Orcus, drop and dash through the Saw Fish then jump again to hit the last Orcus. Fall to meet the final boss. //////////////////// BOSS, ROUND FIVE NEFF DIFFICULTY: **** //////////////////// Finally, the ultimate showdown with Neff himself... who, for some reason, turns into a rhinocerous instead of fighting you with his normal body like one would expect after all these flukes. Well... maybe it's his own Altered Beast form? Anyway, he's got a lot of nasty moves that can combo you into a pulp from full health in a flash if you're not careful. The basic plan of attack is to punch a fireball at him one time, then high-jump and dash over his head once he charges at you. It's possible to just barely scrape his head for extra damage from the dash, but it's very tricky to do and you're much more likely to accidentally run into his horn, which just pushes him back and pisses him off. Just keep repeating the pattern; fireball, high-jump, dash, turn, fireball, etc. Sometimes, if your timing gets off, you'll stop his dash too soon and he'll start trying to combo you. You'll still be able to quickly high-jump and avoid it if he happens to perform a kick first but if it's a punch get ready to spam pressing the Kick button so you get out of it as soon as possible with a dash--which will also damage Neff, at least to pay him back for what damage he caused you. It actually is possible to dash through his body from the ground to damage him without getting hurt yourself, but he tends to immediately turn around and combo you if you do that and it can throw off your pattern if you attempt it. The only time I'd say it's worth even trying is if he's almost dead (he glows red, though not as deep a red as the bosses of rounds 3 or 4), you have at least one extra life to spare, and you simply wish to finish the game at all costs. Once, and only once, I've gotten Neff to do some kind of continuous charge at me during which time it seemed like I could charge right througth his body over and over without him stopping until he ran into me standing straight up (as opposed to jumping over him or charing through him). I'm not sure how to trigger this, but it would seem to be the key to unlocking the "cheap strategy" for him, if it is actually logically reproductable and wasn't just a bug. Once you defeat Neff, a blue bird will fly around and eventually shapeshift into Athena. She walks up to you and you're greeted with the final purple "cutscene" which consists of Athena hugging up to your sexy wolf self. Afterwards is the short credits sequence, and then you're prompted to pressy any button to "start the next rounds". This puts you back at Round 1 with your score intact, but you're playing the next higher difficulty (so Hard if you just beat Normal, and Hardest if you just beat Hard). This new difficulty boasts a much more challengin and action-packed placement of enemies across all rounds, but also much more potential for much higher scores. Good luck! =================== III) Extra Info =================== -------------------- 3-01 Enemy List -------------------- In order of actually seeing them. Like before, difficulty ranges from 1 to 4 stars, with more meaning more difficult. ---------- Slow Foot Difficulty: * Lumbering zombies in purple garb. They're the first enemies you see in the game, immediately after you've risen from your own grave. Hit them once to de- capitate them, again to destroy them (unless in any form higher than Human Level 1, in which case they will die in one his regardless). They have a habit of satisfyingly crumbling to bits when destroyed. Watch out, though; if you touch one it'll explode and deal a full health bar's worth of damage! ---------- Headless Horror Difficulty: ** Not counting the very first Blue Wolf which would look better situated after its companion anyway, this is the second enemy you'll face. Carrying their heads around like a Dullahan from Castlevania, they're far smarter than their braindead cousins and actually make a valiant effort to avoid your attacks by standing just out of reach. Attacking frontally against this defensive stance is just asking to take a hit from their long punch attacks, but they will gladly walk right into a nice jump-kick. At Human Level 3, your normal ground kicks will out-range their punches and make them easy pickings. ---------- Brown Wolf Difficuly: * More numerous than any other enemy in the game, these guys are found in every section of every round. But they kinda have to be, since they serve as the "guardians" for the powerup-filled Blue Wolves. They leap across the ground and will occasionally stop between leaps, especially in Round 1. Just crouch and punch fast to create a "wall of fist" they can't get past for an easy 1,000 points, except in Rounds 3 and 5 in which case you may need to perform jumping attacks or well-placed upwards kicks if you want to take care of them all. They take but a single hit, even as a Human Level 1. ---------- Blue Wolf Difficulty: * These special enemies are the only ones you'll ever see drop an item, the one and only item in the game, which I've so eloquently dubbed the "powerup". They are every bit as weak and defenseless as their brown bretheren but tend to be at the back end of the pack, as they're usually being "protected". Theere is only one I know of that doesn't travel with Brown Wolves, the very first one in the game, atop the graves at the very beginning of Round 1. ---------- Skinny Orcus Difficulty: * The first flying enemy you'll encounter, it's found every once in awhile in Round 1. It flies along the top of the screen until it intercepts you vertically, at which point it'll slowly dive toward you. Either high-jump and punch it from the front, or wait for it to descend and deliver an upward kick. ---------- Grave Master Difficulty: ** Powerful yellow zombies that will only be found in Round 1 if you miss the first boss encounter chance, but you're sure to see them in Rounds 3 and 4 regardless. They're like much more aggressive and more offensively and defensively powerful Headless Horrors. Their aggressiveness can be their undoing if you simply crouch and punch as they advance toward you, which is the preferred method of defeating them no matter what form you're in. Otherwise, be prepared to deal with some very powerful and long-ranged punches. ---------- Round Leech Difficulty: ** Little round piranha-faced pinkish slime creatures. They'll bounce around and, once close enough to you, leap high into the air in an attempt to couple with your head. Be aggressive and crouch-punch them before they're able to fight back (takes two hits as a Human Level 1). If they do leap, try to intercept them with an upward kick. If they attach to your head, tap left and right repeatedly to shake them off and kill them in the process. ---------- Rattle Tail Difficulty: ** What appears to be a weird random rattlesnake tail poking out from the ground turns out to be an Eastern-style dragon that bursts out where the tail shook and then flies vertically in the opposite direction. Take out the tails as soon as you see them to dispatch the Rattle Tail early, or smack their head while they're flying to cause the rest of the body to become harmless. ---------- Chicken Stinger Difficulty: *** These little guys seem easy enough but they can be an outright source of rage if they catch you into one of their little tail combos. They basically just scuttle across the ground, looking like a mix between a bird and a reptile, until they get near you, then they hyperactively tail-swipe over and over. The best way to deal with them is to deliver a well-placed standing kick from optimal distance (or an even safer and longer-ranged Beast form attack) but if they start attacking you and you get "caught" in the combo there's little you can do until you fall backwards. A couple words of note; first of all, you may recognize these guys if you've every played Golden Axe; this was their first appearance. Also, this is the only enemy I was able to find the name of anywhere outside of Khaos' FAQ, but according to Wikipedia their name is "cockatrice". That's boring, I like Chicken Stinger much better. ---------- Cave Needle Difficulty: ** Fast-running bizarre insects that look like wingless wasps, or giant yellow ants with front-facing stingers. They prefer to run like a human than walk like a normal insect, too. They just run from one side of the screen to the other wildly, but this alone plus the fact they usually come in pairs can make them quite a nuisance. Just squat and punch or get ready to jump over them. It's too bad that the Bear, the Altered Beast you attain in the one round these guys infest, is like the least efficient form in the game for dealing with them, though rolling from the ground can avoid them quite well. ---------- Rock Turtle Difficulty: * A turtle with a rock for a shell, obviously. They'll drop down in Round 3 about once per section. They're slow and weak but their arrival from the top of the screen can catch you off-guard if you don't expect it through practice. ---------- Fossil Difficulty: * Like the Rock Turtles but it can be seen plain as day as a large rock on the battlefield. Take it out quickly or it'll start hopping around you and stunning you. ---------- Hammer Demon Difficulty: ** The only new enemy in Round 4. It flies around the top of the screen just like the Skinny Orcus (which, interestingly, is the only Round 1 enemy missing in Round 4). The difference is that this guy'll drop straight down on you like a ton of bricks if you don't react instantly with an upward kick. The best way to deal with them is to just high jump + punch them as soon as you see them on the screen. ---------- Gory Goat Difficulty: *** The first of several new enemies you'll face in Round 5, these guys attack you as soon as you enter the stage. They hop around left and right and attempt jab punches at you. Crouch and punch to keep them at bay, and move in when you think you can intercept one as it leaps toward you. Usually comes in pairs. The Wolf form's flaming dash move is extremely useful against them. ---------- Dark Unicorn Difficulty: **** For whatever reason this dude looks way more cartoony than any other enemy in the game, but don't let this lull you into any sense of security. At first opportunity a Dark Unicorn will deliver a flying kick that's extremely painful and hard to dodge. The way to avoid such a bad situation is to immediately assault one with a flying kick as soon as you see it. It comically "splats" upon defeat, which has got to be my favorite enemy death animation in Altered Beast. They can also leap onto higher platforms if they pass under them, so keep that in mind. ---------- Rad Boar Difficulty: **** Far and away the hardest non-boss enemy in Altered Beast, I'd say. These yellow pigs are somewhat slow but take a lot of punishment and deal it back with powerful electrified swipes. The one way to combat them without serious danger is to fight with jump-kicks. Like Dark Unicorns, these can also leap onto higher platforms if you leave them alone long enough. ---------- Saw Fish Difficulty: *** Looks like a buzzsaw, kind of like Silver Sonic from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 when he's rolled into a ball. These guys zip around the ground left to right, and can be very painful if touched. Just jump over them unless you have a few power ups; a good standing leg sweep can take them out, but the safest way is to use the Wolf's flaming dash if you have it. ---------- Fish Difficulty: * Not sure of the name of these guys, they aren't mentioned anywhere online that I know of. They're only encountered in the later sections of Round 5, if you don't reach the boss after the first section. Unlike the Saw Fish it has no dangerous armor and simply meanders slowly from the right edge of the screen to the left, along the ground. ---------- ---------------------- 3-02 Secret Codes ---------------------- Altered Beast may not have a main menu or any visible options menu to speak of, but it at least does host some secret codes that will allow you to roll with the punches of the sometimes-annoying difficulty and change some stuff around. All codes are performed at the title screen. ---------- Options Menu Hold B and press Start Takes you to a menu that, aside from one option, looks like it should have been available from the main menu. You can alter the difficulty from Normal to Hard to Hardest (no Easy here, guys!), change your health meter to contain anything from one to five health bars, and allow yourself to start with anywhere from one to five lives (zero to four extra lives as shown on the upper-left of the screen during gameplay). Also, and perhaps most notably, is a Round Select feature. (Note: You have to hold A and press Start at the title screen--which you return to after you press Start on the options menu--to actually begin at the round you selected. Otherwise, you'll just start at Round 1 with the other options you selected in effect.) ---------- Continue Hold A and press Start Allows you to continue the game from the last stage you got a Game Over on, with three lives and full health. ---------- Sound Test Hold A, C, Up and Right and press Start Takes you to a sound test menu. ---------- Beast Select Hold A, B, C, Down, Left and press Start The ultimate code, and the hardest to pull off on any kind of controller... this allows you to change which Altered Beasts you earn with a third powerup on any level, which not only can make the game easier but also a lot more interesting once you've finished it. Want the Wolf on every round? Done. Having trouble with Neff and want to be cheap and destroy him with the Dragon? Done! ---------- =========== IV) End =========== ----------------- - 4-01 Credits - ----------------- Thanks to Sega, for creating Altered Beast for the arcades and eventually porting it to so many other consoles; for creating the Genesis (Megadrive); and for overall just being a fantastic video game company, giving me and many others many happy memories. Here's to you ever getting back in the console business, Sega; we miss you. Thanks to GameFAQs for giving me the idea of writing guides like this in the first place. It's always nice to indulge in this hobby, especially if it ever helps anyone else in any way with a game. Thanks to Khaos' Altered Beast FAQ on GameFAQs from which I took all the names for the enemies and bosses, as nowhere else on the internet could I find those names no matter how hard I looked. I hope you don't mind, though if they're in fact the official names it should be no matter anyway. ------------------- - 4-02 Copyright - ------------------- (c) Copyright 2010 Justin Morgan This guide may only be used (outside of personal, private use) with credit given to the author. Altered Beast and all related characters, names, etc. copyright Sega. All other trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. ----------------------------- - 4-03 Contact Information - ----------------------------- As with all my FAQs: Be sure to send me suggestions, additional hints and tips, spelling or grammatical error alerts, and anything else you can think of! (Note: If you send me a hint, error report or anything else you feel should be added to my guide, be sure to include the name or alias you would like for me to use to credit you in future versions of the guide!) E-mail: jkm553(at)gmail(dot)com