Altered Beast
  Originally an arcade game, Altered Beast is a simplistic but fun and fairly cool side-scroller (no platform jumping)  in which you are employed by God (or some kind of god, anyway) to rescue his daughter from the giant rhinoceros who rules the underworld. Or something. In each stage you begin in your normal human form, but one particular enemy (the blue-white wolves) leaves behind a powerup when killed (the only powerup in the game). Getting one bulks you up a bit, getting another increases your power farther, and getting a third trasnforms you into that level's "beast".
  Here's your guy in his various forms. You become a wolf in the first stage, a dragon in the second, a tiger in the third, and a bear in the fourth. In the fifth stage, you become a wolf again, but with different powers. Each form has two different attacks. The dragon is the most interesting, as it can fly anywhere on the screen and can electrify its entire body to damage anything too close.
Enemies
  These are the only enemies encountered in every level, and the rarer blue version is the only thing that drops transformation pickups. The manual calls them "three headed wolves", but both the sprite and the actual manual artwork show that they are two-headed.
Rattle tail - from the swampy second stage. Displays its rattle, then emerges from the floor or ceiling. Round Leeches - blobby things that leap up and come down on your head!
Skinny Orcus - a flying enemy.
When killed, a Skinny Orcuses's's wings fly away without it.
Headless Horrors - stronger, punching zombies.
Slow Feet - zombies with a funny name. That's about it. Headless Horrors - stronger, punching zombies.
Skinny Orcus - a flying enemy.
Skinny Orcus - a flying enemy.
Round Leeches - blobby things that leap up and come down on your head!
Round Leeches - blobby things that leap up and come down on your head!
Round Leeches - blobby things that leap up and come down on your head!
Grave Master - tough, horned zombies. Grave Master - tough, horned zombies.
Grave Master - tough, horned zombies.
Cave Needles - giant, flightless wasps! Cave Needles - giant, flightless wasps! Cave Needles - giant, flightless wasps!
A Cave Stinger stopped by the bear's petrification attack.
Rock Turtle - rare, snail-like enemies.
Chicken Stingers - hit you with their tails full of finger lickin' venom. Chicken Stingers - hit you with their tails full of finger lickin' venom.
Chicken Stingers - hit you with their tails full of finger lickin' venom.
Hammer Demon - flies overhead and drops down.
Hammer Demon -flies overhead and drops down.
Rad Boars - yes, they are called rad boards. They don't really do much.
Dark Unicorn - runs and kicks. That's it.
Gory Goat - bounces back and forth, punching.
Saw Fish - rolls along the ground. Cute!
OUCH! Dark Unicorn - runs and kicks. That's it.
Saw Fish - rolls along the ground. Cute! Saw Fish - rolls along the ground. Cute!
Saw Fish - rolls along the ground. Cute!
Rock Turtle - rare, snail-like enemies. Rock Turtle - rare, snail-like enemies.
Bosses
  Every boss is first encountered in a human form, and always the same bald guy. The bald guy stands in place generating lightning bolts for a while before shouting (in a high-pitched voice) "Welcome to your doom!" and transforming into that level's boss...
-Aggar-
A big, ugly, legless giant made of stone and soil. He has an infinite number of heads (the game's manual typos this as "beads") that he rips off and throws in groups of four, which fly overhead and drop down on you.
-Octeyes-
A cool, hive-like plant that attacks with swarms of (according to the manual) "spores that resemble eyeballs". It can be damaged in any of its eyes (even those detached from it), but this is very difficult to do with a projectile attack (it must hit an eye dead-on). The dragon's electrical attack is gaurunteed to hit, but you'll have to let the eyes pass very close.
-Moldy Snail-
The boss of the caves, this half-dead monster barely moves and attacks with strings of weird, floating globs. The manual calls it "part snail, part salamander". It scoots backwards a bit when attacked, but this doesn't seem to make any kind of difference.
-Crocodile Worm-
Not really very worm-like at all, this pudgy little boss is wrapped around a large fireball that it duplicates into a big, long beam while spitting tiny, fiery dragons from its mouth.
-Neff-
The main villain and final boss. This evil rhino dude charges, punches and kicks with frightening speed and power. He's a rhino!
  When Neff is defeated, he leaves behind a bluebird that transforms into the girl you're after. You are then treated to the boring genesis credits, which you can walk your guy around in for no reason. If the credits bump into him he reacts as though damaged. In the original arcade game, the credits were accompanied by cool and/or humorous images of the characters and staff. No idea why this was left out.
 

 

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